Don't smoke your life away.

I don't care if you want to smoke your life and die a slow death.

But I think that it's simply rude and inconsiderate when you walk around while smoking.

MyBudakTapai and I have encountered this numerous times - walking past some idiots who were smoking and we would have to inhale their cigarette smoke.

It's so annoying!

Some of them would purposely exhale in front of us and pollute the surrounding air.

I like the smoking area at Ngu Rah Rai Aiport, Bali.

It was a small enclosed room with some chairs at a far end of the airport.

To me, I imagined the smokers inside the "cage" taking their "deadly breaths".

The room was obviously filled with cigarette smoke and if you're close by when someone opens the door, the smell was absolutely horrendous!

The funny thing was, the smokers were actually enjoying themselves when they were in that polluted, disgusting room.

I don't know whether to laugh or feel sorry for them.

I cannot imagine the damage they are doing to their body parts, most importantly, their lungs.

I mean, aren't the gory pictures on the cigarette packs enough to make you stop smoking?

I remember Bapa's (classic) reply when I encouraged him to stop smoking when he was buying a pack of Gudang Garam.

"Alah, kalau nak mati, hisap rokok ke tak hisap ke, mati juga aper."
Translation: When you're dying, it doesn't matter whether or not you smoke, you will still die.

Typical!

He had to go through a near-death experience before he could finally come to his senses.

Eventhough what my family went through a few years back was hard on us but it was a blessing in disguise.

If we had not gone through it, Bapa would still be smoking right now.

Alhamdullillah.

A little organisation would do you good.

From Discover My space...

He helped with the folding since I can't sit on the floor. Awww...

From Discover My space...

My Handy Manny.

I know what a mess, right?

I assure you that my house is not usually like this.

It's just that we went furniture shopping at Ikea a few days back and though, the items were delivered earlier, I have not had the time to update my blog with it.

So as you can see, from the pictures above, we practically brought down everything that were kept at the top of our master bedroom wadrobe.

We found a great deal of stuff that we thought we had lost and those that we thought we didn't have but actually had tonnes of!

Duh!

So eventhough we don't celebrate Chinese New Year, we had our very own version of spring-cleaning!

I love spring-sleaning!

I love the idea of getting rid of clutter!

Have you ever watched this reality show on Discovery Channel (I think) called Hoarders?

It's about individuals who kept piling up on stuff and you should see their houses.

Oh my goodness!

I seriously don't know how they can live in very tight, cramped spots with a huge pile of rubbish!

It was simply unhygienic and disgusting!

Anyhow, it felt simply marvellous to have MORE empty space!

You should try it someday.

Spring-cleaning can be quite therapeutic, actually.D

During my singlehood days, I remember how I would clean my room (get rid of clutter, vacuum etc) whenever I was feeling down and heartbroken.

Amazingly, I would feel so much better after that!

Cleaning out my house (or room) felt like I was also organising my life.

Some of you may not see the connection but that's how it feels for me each time I indulge in some organising of the sort.

And when you get more organised, you will be able to see life in a much more positive perspective.

Problems don't look as bad because they are just challenges waiting for you to conquer.

So there, happy cleaning, guys!

When all else fails..

It's a Friday and it should be a great day, no?

Unfortunately, it has not been such a good day for me.

Everything that I hoped for has not been going my way.

Things are just going down south.

It does get harder and harder to stay positive and be determined when you keep on pumping in effort for things to go right but it kept going wrong.

What else do I need to do to make my dream come true?

I really don't know what I need to do.

I'm lost.

The simplest things are the best.

Like the saying goes, "The best way to a man's heart is through his stomach."

Since I cannot exactly whip up a scrumptious, yummy fummy buffet dinner, I decided to treat MyBudakTapai to something along that line.

From Discover My space...

He liked the scrambled egg.

From Discover My space...

The naan was my favourite.

It was intended as a thank-you gift for putting up with my crazy hormones for about nine months (or maybe even more?).

I was not hoping for such a big crowd but the response was quite good, judging from the number of empty tables.

Nonetheless, the food was yumm-o and we had a great time eating and chatting under the monlight sky.

From Discover My space...

The pool was very inviting.

It was romantic and fun - I sort of missed these simple moments.

From Discover My space...

Siap dengan rose lagi. Semangat betol.

It was refreshing to talk about things other than the baby.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I love being pregnant and we are both extremely thrilled about being parents. Insya ALLAH.

But all the preparations and excitement can be a tad bit too overwhelming at times.

So the dinner was also an excuse for us to relax and take our minds off the topic of parenthood.

From Discover My space...

A BIG smile to match a BIG tummy. Heh..

If I sing it often enough, it might just come true?

Bruno Mars - Billionaire

This song is on repeat mode - for the past week or so.

I don't think I can ever get tired of it but I would not say the same for MyBudakTapai though.

"Tak ada lagu lain ke, Sayang?"

Maybe if I sing it more, it might just come true?

Heh..

One can dream, can she?

MyBudakTapai's favourite past-time

This is no alien monster.

This is MyBudakTapai's new fetish hobby.

From Discover My space...

He likes the way it makes his pictures turn out.

I think having a hobby is really healthy.

But of course, it depends on what your hobby is.

Photography is a very interesting choice, B.

Like the saying goes, "A picture says a thousand words."

Gong Xi BBQ!

What a great way to end the long Gong Xi Fa Cai weekend!

I finally got to satisfy my craving for BBQ-ed food!

BBQ-ing the chicken wings with loved ones was a fabulous way to spend the day.

Best of all, the weather was on our side.

Yeah, it was a bit too sunny for my liking but at least, it didn't rain!

From Discover My space...

MyBudakTapai & Papa starting the BBQ-ing.

From Discover My space...

Happy parents-to-be. Insya ALLAH.

From Discover My space...

After a whole day playing sand.

It was extremely tempting to jump into the beach waters at East Coast but I didn't.

Because it would be too cumbersome to have to change and shower after that.

So I just watched and enjoyed watching everyone else swim.

Let me know what you think.

My dear friends, I really need your opinion on something because I have been sitting on my behind for the past 3 hours reading and researching on this whole idea of "earning money by doing paid surveys on the Internet".

It seemed quite harmless.

But I was a little sceptical about joining them because we would be required to include either our home address or bank account in order for the cheques to be sent in.

My question is:

1) Would companies actually PAY people to do surveys on their products?

2) Can these sites really be trusted?

These are some of the sites that I came across.
a) GetPaidsurveys
b) SingaporePaidSurveys
c) OnlinePaidSurveys
d) ValuedOpinions

I really need your opinions.

Please do let me know what you think of the whole idea.

New Sony Digital Photo Printer FP-65 with box

Item condition
New (accessories are still in its original condition and packaging)

Package includes (as seen in the pictures below)
a) AC Power Adaptor

b) AC Power Cord

c) Paper Tray

d) CD-Rom

e) Cleaning Kit (which includes Cleaning Cartridge and Cleaning Sheet)

Price
$200 (Mustafa Centre is selling at $245)

Mode of collection
Self-collection from Bishan

Requirements for printing from a memory card
1) Supported memory cards
a) "Memory Stick/Memory Stick Duo/Memory Stick PRO/Memory Stick PRO Duo/Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo" without requiring a Duo adaptor.
8-bit parallel transfer of "Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo" is not supported.
M2 adaptor is required for "Memory Stick Micro" ("M2")

b) SD Memory Card/SDHC Memory Card/MMC
SD card size conversion adaptor is required for miniSD and microSD card.

c) xD-Picture card

*Operations with all commercially available memory cards are not guaranteed.

2) Compatible image data formats
a) JPEG: DCF 2.0-compatible, Exif 2.21-compatible, JFIF (Baseline JPEG with 4:4:4, 4:4:2 or 4:2:0 formats

b) TIFF: Exif 2.21-compatible

c) BMP: 1,4,8,16,24,32 bits Windows format.

*Some image file formats may not be compatible.

Requirements for printing from a PC
a) Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista/Windows XP SP2/Windows Professional 2000 SP4 (factory-Installed)

b) CPU: Pentium III 500MHz or higher (Pentium III 800MHz or higher is recommended)

c) RAM: 256MB or higher is recommended (512MB or higher is recommended)

d) Hard Disk Space: 400MB or more (Depending on the status of use, more free disk space may be required)

e) Display: High (16-bit) color or more (1024x768 dots or more recommended)

f) Port: USB Port

g) Drive: CD-ROM drive (Installation is required)

*This printer does not run on Macintosh

From Discover My space...

Everything that is included in the package

From Discover My space...

Sony Digital Photo Printer

From Discover My space...

AC Power Adaptor and Cord, Paper Tray & Cleaning Cartridge

From Discover My space...

Instruction manuals and CD-ROM

Like a Ghost town.

The plan was to go down to AMK Hub and do some grocery shopping.

"NTUC buka ke?" MyBudakTapai asked.

"Alah, bukalah. Takkan tak buka. Abih nak beli barang-barang semua macam maner?" I replied.

So we met at Ang Mo Kio MRT Station after work and headed on down to Basement 2 of AMK Hub and guessed what?

We were greeted by the iron grilles of the freaking hypermart!

Tak ke membingitkan!

Frustrated and hungry (Me not him. Eventhough I just had a large, juicy red apple), we walked out of the mall and headed towards...Popeye's!

It was one of the few shops that were open.

From Discover My space...

Comfort food!

From Discover My space...

No groceries today, honey!

Patience is a virtue.

"Thank you for your interest in joining our organisation...but we regret to inform you that you are not selected."

How can something as harmless as words manage to shatter your dreams and just bring down your self-confidence?

I mean, they are just words, right?

Nothing dangerous about them.

It cannot affect us in any way...right?

But it did.

Maybe ALLAH s.w.t is trying to teach us something.

What is it?

That not everything that you hope for will be given to you?

That not everything that you hope for is good for you?

But what if you have prayed so hard for it happen and it didn't?

What if you made all the necessary efforts and sacrifices but it still didn't happen?

Do we then have the right to be angry at HIM?

Why didn't you grant my prayers?

My intentions were good and sincere, so why then didn't YOU make it happen?

Are we then allowed to be furious at HIM?

I did all that YOU ask of me but YOU didn't give me what I want.

But then I ask myself a different set of questions....

Who am I to be angry at HIM for not answering my prayers?

Who am I to be angry at something that do not belong to me?

Who am I to say that I rightfully own the right to have "it" happen to me?

Because I don't.

Nothing belongs to me.

I have all that I have because of HIM.

Oh ALLAH, as I wipe away my tears, I am asking for YOUR forgiveness.

I have been so consumed by my emotions that I have allowed myself to be angry at YOU when deep down, I know that what is happening to me right now is a sign of love from YOU.

YOU test me because YOU love me.

Astaghfirullah.

How blind was I?

How can I not see that?

Forgive me, O ALLAH.

As how YOU have promised, guide me O ALLAH.

Guide me as to how what my next step should be.

Show me the path that will lead to YOU and not away from YOU.

For there is no one else that I can turn to, if not to YOU, O ALLAH.

Amin.

HE surrounds us.

Mr. Golden Sun

Ada lyrics lagi.

I was loving the cool, rainy weather but MyBudakTapai wasn't.

So I shared this song with him.

Obviously, my version was waaaaaaay cuter.

Heh..

Gong Xi! Gong Xi!

It's that time of the year where nuts of all kinds are in abundance and Bee Cheng Hiang prepares sliced BBQ pork in tonnes.

So here's to all my cheena friends, Gong Xi Fa Cai & hong bau na lai!

Heh..

Word of advice, drink all that you want but please let someone else do the driving.

From Discover My space...

Bugs Bunny wishes all a properous Lunar New Year.

Khlomar Preggers!

From Discover My space...

It's official!

I wonder how their baby will look like.

Teh susu, anyone?

Be careful what you ask for. It might just come true.

Yesterday, I got what I have kept "asking" for.

Itulah mulut masin.

I was "asking" for it not because it was good for me but it was something that made me wonder and I remembered MyBudakTapai's reaction each time I shared it with him.

"Sayang, why in the world would you want that to happen? It's all over between me and her. It was ages ago, siak."

Hehe...

But yesterday, I got it from him.

"Asyik tanya ajer. Kan Allah dah kasi jumpa. Hahahaha..."

Idiot! How dare he laugh at me!

But I was quite proud at the way we handled the situation.

We are all adults with a past.

However our past may look like, it still is a past.

No use brooding over it or trying to dig it up.

Learn from your past (mistakes) and move on - I certainly have and so has he.

Alhamdullillah.