Just imagine if we won World Cup...

Actually, I'm not really excited on having a public holiday tomorrow. Don't take me wrong, I'm one of the proud Malaysians. Yay, our team won the A.F.F cup! Congrats. I do think the holiday is justifiable with regards to 1Malaysia. This kind of event brings us Malaysians together.

I'm not that excited because I already planned to take leave tomorrow to go somewhere. Purposely decided to go there on working day. I think since it's school holiday now, the place will be crowded enough. Now that tomorrow is public holiday, I'm afraid the place will be way too crowded.

Well, I don't expect much from the place since I heard the food & drinks are so expensive & bad in quality. Outside food & drinks are strictly not allowed. Even though we already paid to enter the place, still we need to pay deposit for the wrist band & need to pay more for this & that.

I've never been there. So, I guess why don't I give it a try. There's always a 1st time or might be as well the last. We'll see tomorrow.

Just one week away...

I don't feel like celebrating, especially when there's no extra holiday. Not that in previous years I did celebrate, but since it was holiday, I thought it was kinda necessary to do something. But I do want a cake! Somehow lately I have a sweet tooth. Not from the famous Secret~Recipe though. Dah muak. But of course I want a delicious one.

I'd like to have a year-end-vacation. But since I just came back from US, had a blast shopping spree & an enjoyable trip to S.Francisco, I feel like keeping the experience as the closing of the year. It's an early celebration for me & I already bought myself a gift there. A few hours before leaving SF while having dinner at the airport, it hit me - Hey, I just won a free trip to SF! A free trip with pocket money!! That was how I suddenly felt. Luckily the feeling didn't hit me earlier or else I'd enter high-end designer boutiques to buy myself a new handbag maybe as a gift. Just kidding. Don't think the pocket money is that big & I won't buy a new handbag for the next 3 years :P.

Another fact also hit me - one door shuts, another opens. Allah maha adil. When one door shuts, just believe, another door will be opened. So don't be sad upon the closed door. Don't be arrogant over the opened one.

A view from an opened door.

Just one week away to shut 2010 door & open a new one that leads to 2011. Hopefully 2011 will be a brighter year as I grow a year wiser, insyaAllah.

Sneak peek: Up on the hill

Esok, merasalah sore muscles...

P/s: Just got a news from my senior that my colleague's mother which currently studying at OSU, where I had a training a few weeks ago, has passed away this evening. Al-fatihah.

Dream night

Actually, the main reason I went to KLCC last Saturday was to attend this event held at a place nearby.

The emcee of the event...

Performance by a group of hot dancer...

Michael~Jackson (fake) pun ada...

Finally, this is it. The new bike is revealed.

The same new bike but in custom color.

Unfortunately, we don't know the price yet.

Lucky draw pun ada. I did win something but I passed up. Hadiah tak best.

Test ride (in a static mode)...

Last but not least, with the emcee...

Saturday's nite at KLCC

I think this is one of the most elegant Christmas decoration that I've ever seen. Simple, yet elegant, almost like a fairyland.

Instead of shopping or window shopping, I spent the evening browsing for food & eating.

Our ultimate landmark.

& here I was.

Ok, let's travel to San Francisco!

I'm in the mood to write about my journey from SF airport (SFO) to Union Square, SF. Union Square is recommended by my friend, Mas. Thanx Mas!

Since I came from a domestic terminal, I didn't need to go thru custom check. 1st agenda, I had to store my 2 big luggage. The baggage storage is located at International Terminal. From Terminal 3 (domestic), had to ride an airtrain. Nasib baik naik airtrain boleh bawak troli. Btw, the charge for trolley is $4. Simpan bag pulak kene charged $8 to $15, depends on the size.

Dari International Terminal, boleh terus ke BART station. Untuk ke Union~Square, kene turun kat Powell~Street. One way $8.10. 2-way, darab 2, no discount.

Dah sampai di Powell~Street Station, pandai2 lah pilih exit yang mana satu. Nasib baik dah print Google~map siap2. The hotel that I had booked is located at Powell~Street itself. Nampak Forever~21, kira dah betul lah tu. Ramai gila manusia berjalan kat street ni! Memang kalah lah Oxford~Street kat London.

Dari jauh dah nampak signboard Stratford~Hotel. Lega. Seperti yang dijangka, I checked in at 7pm.

Ok, nanti sambung (kalau mood datang lagi).

The best place

I'm home!

I think I have had enough rest already. At 1st, I slept for 5 hours. Thought maybe I'd face difficulty sleeping at nite then. But at ~11pm, I felt sleepy. So I went to bed & woke up at 6am. Masa terbangun tu & rasa dah segar tak boleh tidur balik, wish dalam hati jangan lah baru pukul 2 pagi. Slowly I opened my eyes & checked the clock. Yes, 6am. Sedang elok lah tu. Kalau rasa nak pergi kerja pun boleh. Tapi bila terfikir pasal kerja, tetiba rasa lesu. Oh... I should have more rest.

Then I discovered that I might have a lot of things to do today like tidying up the house, unpacking & cleaning the bathroom.

*****

I wrote the above paragraphs earlier actually. I stopped writing to have breakfast, then immediately started unpacking. Lupa pulak tengah tulis blog. Haven't finish unpacking. So better continue now or else the process might stuck half way.

Killing time

I'm at the Hong Kong airport rite now. Wow, ~1 hour from now, I'll take a flight back to KL. Tak sabarnya. Just hoping that the flight won't be delayed.

Even though I'm only gone for 2 weeks & 5 days, I do feel like I'm away longer than that. I feel exhausted. But I guess, this exhaustion's actually coming from the long journey & not having a proper rest since then. Somehow, no matter how tired we feel, when we land & need to transfer, we'll find the energy to move on, proceed to another security check & finally arrive at the gate.

I will arrive this afternoon. Time for lunch! Nak makan apa ya??? Hmmm... something spicy of course. Not that I don't eat enough during the days I went away... I ate quite a lot actually. Even before taking the flight last nite (or should I say last 2 nites since it was 14th not 15th), I had a good real dinner - grilled shrimp skewers with french fries. Then, on the flight, I had supper. Ok, what actually I wanna say is, I think I don't even shed any fat. It's hard to find food that I can eat, but I guess it's harder to stay hungry. It's harder when you don't have the determination, I guess.

Bye Corvallis

Saturday, Dec 11, 11:48AM

I'm going to San Francisco!

Talking to myself since I'm alone here

Wednesday, Dec 8, 12:30PM


*Sigh*

My room's a bit messy today since I want to start packing. However I still have no idea where to begin with, not that I have lots of stuff. It just that I have 2 baggage & I have this slight compulsive disorder where I have to specify which baggage is for what. Furthermore, I have to pack for my short trip to SF.

I would love to go to Woodburn again. Not that I have particular things to buy but it'd be nice to be able to check out the place again. I have surveyed on internet the easiest way to go there. However, there's none. The easiest way is by a car. Oh how I wish I have a car. Actually car rental is not so expensive here. A new friend of mine, whom I went shopping with last weekend, rents a car for about $285/week. She has been here 2 weeks earlier than me for a 1-month training. She works with an MNC company in Msia which has a branch all over the world. Basically her company supports everything including the car rental. I think I was lucky to meet her or else I wouldn't had a great shopping spree last weekend.

I just finished doing laundry. Yup, the inn also provides laundromat. 5 quarters for washing & 4 for drying.

Fine, I can't go to Woodburn. Maybe I should just go to a shopping center nearby even though it's not that exciting. It's my day off. Takkan nak terperap dalam bilik je kan....

Hi there...

Monday, Dec 6, 10:08PM

The pic was taken by my supervisor today... a proof that I'm actually working here... (or just posing? :P)

I would love to sound professional or smart by talking about work, but I guess I'm not the type of person who actually comfortable talking about work. Guess my brain only works at work... or simply I'm not that smart :P. Even if I do, it'll be more like complaining... & I have nothing to complain on my training here. Just that sometimes I wish I'm not just an engineer, I wish I'm also a physicist. It'd be more beneficial & I wouldn't have tough time to understand the analysis part. However, I'm catching up.

Ok now gotta back to work (study in my hotel room)... more to catch up & the time's running out.

Selamat menyambut Maal Hijrah.
Semoga kita mampu berhijrah ke arah yang lebih baik.

I'm one happy lady

Murah giler wa cakap sama lu...

All the items are cheaper compare to the price in the Coach website. For clearance items, there is 50% off. Well, that's not enough. For today (Saturday, Dec 4), there is an additional 30% off for all items! So just imagine, it means 80% discount for clearance items!! No tax since it's in Oregon ;).

Ok, if you still can't imagine it, how about this... for leather handbags which are not clearance items the price are around RM500 or less. Leather ok. & for clearance items, the price are less than RM300! Giler kan? Or is't just me? Hehee. With variety of colors to choose from - black, brown, red, pink, green, purple, etc... I felt like buying them all. Luckily I didn't leave my sense outside the outlet.

The downside is no new arrival item. However, collections which are still available in boutiques in Msia are there... like Kris~tin, Madi~son & Mi~a.

Yes, in the picture I'm carrying just one paper bag. But inside the paper bag... hmmm... I told ya that I'm one happy lady today =D. Besides, the weather was very nice. It was sunny!

Oh btw, I don't think that I'll go to the outlet again since it's about 1 hour drive by car from the place I stay & this is the only weekend left for me here.

Actually before starting the shopping activity, I planned to buy Cole~Haan handbag instead of Coach. There's 40% off. However, somehow I wasn't interested with any of the design. To sum it all up, these are some of the outputs from today's activity...

30 minutes walk day & nite

I choose to walk to go to the rx center which is 1.3 miles away from the hotel. I look forward to walking actually since it's kinda fun to walk without getting sweaty. One of the activities that I miss to do in Msia. I can ride a bus but I don't like waiting for the bus & since I still consume rice here, I think I should walk. 25 minutes to be exact. Actually OSU is just 10 minutes walk from the hotel. However, the rx center is located at the edge of the campus that it takes another 15 minutes walk.

View Larger Map

My lovely cocoon

With the stressful journey, I actually felt like crying at the airport but I knew I had to compose myself since it wouldn't do any good. You know, the flight that I took to Eugene was the 2nd last of the day. At 1st, yes I was optimist that I could arrive at Eugene that nite, but as the 3rd last flight of the day departed & it was full with more than 10 people in waiting list I kinda losing hope. I pray hard to get on the 2nd last flight. Fortunately, after everyone had boarded, my prayer was answered as my name was called by the staff.

When I tried my best to compose, I told myself that I could cry my eyes out later at the motel. Just keep praying & hoping.

Yes, that was what I thought... I would cry in my room, just like when I 1st arrived at Liverpool :P.

However, I was surprised to see my room. Since in my head it's just a motel, I don't expect much.

So, I was so happy to see the room that all the stressed disappeared. No need to act like Paris~Hilton. =)

So this is my lovely cocoon for these 2 weeks...

The room is clean. There's a bathtub but I don't feel like soaking yet. The TV is big & the reception is clear. Notice a microwave next to the TV? So I cook. I cook rice. I haven't miss eating rice since the day I came. My plan to diet & lose 2kg here is ruined.

Quickie...

This is intentionally going to be a quick post. I'm gonna meet my counterpart at 1:30pm, so I better get myself ready. I couldn't sleep last nite. I slept at 12:00am, but woke up at ~2:15am.

However, I managed to get extra sleep at ~9:30am & woke up at 11:30am. I had a weird & clear dream during this 2-hours sleep. I dreamed about being mad at some people. When I woke up, I still felt mad & see... I wrote about it. It just that I don't have time to go into details now. It felt like Leonardo~DiCaprio-in-Inception planted the emotion/idea in my dream.

Ok... enough for a quick post.

Finally the journey has over....

Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah. Syukur sangat2.

The stressful journey has ended. Now I'm in the hotel at Corvallis - the pit stop of my amazing race ;). Even though I arrive late (~11pm), still I feel like a winner. Yay, at last!

Finally at USA...

Not yet arrive at the destination though. I'm at the SF airport (SFO) rite now, waiting for the domestic flight to Eugene. I'm on the waiting list... hopefully I'll get a seat. Too tired to wait for the next flight.

24 hours since I departed from KLIA. Really tiring... the problem is not just physically, but mentally as well. It's a very stressful journey. Even rite now, I feel stressed waiting for the seat confirmation to Eugene. Actually the flight should be departed at 4:57pm (SF time). However, it has been delayed to 6:12pm. In Msia now is Sunday morning, here it's still Saturday Nov 27.

I'm pretty sure I'll arrive at Eugene tonite. Just hope that I'd arrive at the hotel tonite as well & manage to get a real sleep on the bed.

Btw, the custom check was ok. I didn't face any problem with the federal inspector. Since I'm a G2 visa holder, I don't even have to scan my finger prints.

I guess that's it for now. If everything's going smoothly tonite (it's ~5:20pm but already dark), maybe I'll post something before going to the bed ;-).

Stranded

Devastated. Stranded at Hong Kong airport. Gonna miss the original flight to Eugene. Don't know when will I arrive at SF & the onward flight to Eugene will be. Wish I don't have to be stranded at SF airport instead because no flight to Eugene left for the day. Have to send this post from yahoo email since the blogspot website is in Chinese.

Live from Hong Kong airport

Yes, Hong Kong, not US. The flight to SF is delayed. I'm worried since I have another flight to catch at SF airport.

Btw, we didn't know about the delay. We landed at the HK airport at around 1:15pm. Then as usual took time to get off the plane. So we only got 40 mnts to go to the departure terminal by train & pass thru 2 security checks. Somehow the departure terminal is quite far.

There were 6 of us, guided by a flight attendant. We really rushed. Only to find out when we arrived at the gate that the flight has been delayed.

Ok.. Need to go. Just got a news that the flight has been delayed to 6pm. Bye.

Sent from my X2

Something about...

Phewww... I guess now I can have a rest. Somehow today seems like I have many small things to do besides packing.

My flight will be tomorrow.

27Nov KL 9:30 --> Hong Kong 13:10 (3hrs 40mnts)
27Nov Hong Kong 14:05 --> San Francisco 10:00 (11hrs 55mnts)
27Nov San Francisco 13:01 --> Eugene 14:32 (1hrs 31mnts)

I will return to Msia on Dec 11. However, I'll stop at San Francisco for about 2 days.

11Dec Eugene 15:40 --> San Francisco 17:07 (1hr 27mnts)
Private stop
14Dec San Francisco 00:05 --> 15Dec Hong Kong 06:45 (14hrs 40mnts)
15Dec Hong Kong 09:00 --> KL 12:45 (3hrs 45mnts)

My friend asked me which part of US Oregon is? Somehow I haven't checked a map until last nite. I just assume based on the flight tix that it's near California, so must be at the west side of US. I was rite.

The time difference between Oregon & KL is 16 hours! I add the clock for Oregon at the sidebar. Check it out.

My senior told me that Oregon is a good place for shopping. He told me that it's the only state in US without tax charged over the shopping items. However the nearest big city is Portland, which is about 3 hours from the place that I'll stay in Oregon. He recommended me to go to Portland. For me, 3 hours is quite far.

Feel sleepy already. Hope I could get a good night's sleep.

So I guess my next post will be from US ;). Wish me a safe journey. Bye.

Yada, yada...

As usual, I have so many things to write, but don't have enough 'extra' time to do so. It has been quite a busy week for me. I thought once I obtained the visa last Friday, I'd be less busy with the preparation. However still I got to settle a few things. I was busy making calls, faxing & emailing then.

How I'm gonna watch final TARA4?? Ada ke kat TV US? I'm relief to find out that the spoiler that I've read in a forum last week is not true. The winner could be any team. I don't have any pick among the top 3.

I haven't finish packing. By hook or by crook, I have to finish packing tomorrow since my flight will be on Saturday morning. What a boring task.

Today I went out around 10:30am. I only got back home at 4:30pm. Spent about 3 hours in a salon. Somehow whenever I'm gonna set foot in a new place & stay there for quite sometimes, I'd prefer to have a short hair. I felt regret at 1st for cutting the hair because I did plan to keep my hair long. However, I think now I like the result. But yes, I guess after this, I want to keep a long hair. Never too late to restart growing hair ;). Another reason for cutting the hair is I think the longer the hair, the more the hair falls. To my surprise, the lady who cut my hair said that my hair isn't just thick... but VERY thick when she 1st touched my hair. She actually said "Rambut you ni bukan lebat, tapi lebat giler." I take it as a compliment. But still, this hair needs treatments.

I told you I have a lot to write. Will continue later.

Random thoughts

Ethan&Khairi team has been eliminated from TARA4. Sedih. Takde mood dah nak tengok TARA4.

Today I went to Wisma MCA to submit the visa application. Esok petang siap. Tengah berfikir ni, nak pegi amik ke tak petang esok. Kalau nak puaskan hati, better amik. Kalau ikutkan malas, better tunggu masa nak pegi UNDP office nanti. Tapi UNDP office kat Damansara. Hmm...

I want this!

Somehow, it's not available at Low~Yat but Maybank already offered 0% interest for the item. Sabar. Maybe I'd find a better tablet PC in US. Berangan macam betul2 nak beli. Tapi seriously tergoda.

Kaki kiri sakit tapi gagahkan juga berjalan ke sana ke mari. Dah urut 2x. Hopefully it'll get better soon.

Baru check email tadi. The electronic tix has been issued. It means, yeah I'm going to spend 2 nites in San Francisco. I'm gonna stay at Union Square area. Thanx Mas for the guide.

Ok lah, mengantuk dah. Yay, esok hari Jumaat.

Kalau gembira tepuk tangan...

Yay! I'm going to San Francisco you alls.

Even though only for 2 days & 2 nites... kira boleh lah tu, daripada duduk dalam airport sahaja kan. Woo!! =D (cubaan menjadi woo-girls like in 'How I~Met Your~Mother', tapi tanpa maksud tersirat. Am truly happy.)

Wait a minute, the new flight schedule hasn't been authorized. Jadi tidak boleh terlalu gembira. There's no fare difference to pay, should be no problem lah. Hopefully.

Ok, got to focus on the visa application. Should start today but I had meetings back to back, 9am - 1pm & 2:30pm - 5pm. Got a few phone calls to make. I was about to cancel going to the evening meeting, but when I called the person in charge, he was already in the meeting. So, not to trouble anyone as I already confirmed the attendance last week, I attended the meeting. I managed to make 2 phone calls during the meeting but nobody answered the phone.

Despite feeling tired yesterday from going to one shopping complex to another, I slept late last nite to prepare the internal forms. So, I feel a bit exhausted today.

Ok, ok... got to check on the visa application now. Focus as time is running out.

Btw, tomorrow is Hari Arafah. Niat puasa sekarang. Moga ditabahkan hati untuk berpuasa esok hari since it's gonna be another busy day for me.

Walk (jump?) for charity

The sneak peak is here.

Early 'dinner'.

On the way to Masjid Besi...

The walk was about to start...

& the walk begun. Left, right, left, right...

Yay! 2.5km... half way to go!

& more jumps...

Oily faces at the finishing line.

Banned!

Finally... I just finished watching 'Witch Yoo Hee'. Note to myself - no more Korean drama series. Need a lot of patience. Somehow the so called witch, Yoo Hee, I think is nicer & kinder than I am. So kind indeed. Fine, as we can easily predict from this kind of series, the hero & heroin would be together at the end. It's an expected ending for what we call a happy ending. Yes, it applies to this series as well. Oppsss, spoiler. However, I'm not happy. Somehow, the last episode is the worst episode of all. Hence, I don't even care whether they would end up together or not. In brief, whatever. What a waste of time. 16 episodes... means about 16 hours! So yes, no more Korean drama series.

Btw, the series that I previously watched - 'You're beautiful', not as bad as this drama series. However, I started feeling bored in the middle of the series which is episode 7 or 8 & I was off the hook. I have to admit that a love story's not my cup of tea. So in order not to be biased, I have to give credit to the series for being such a cute series with a series of cute actors.

I never follow any Korean series before even the famous 'Winter~Sonata' or 'Autumn~In~My~Heart'. Well, that's it. 2 are enough. Ok stop sounding emotional :P.

Let's layan the OST...

A gift for Edward~Cullen?

Last Wednesday... (means 1 week ago)

This was my 3rd time of donating blood. Whenever I donated blood, I'd remember the day when I was light... hardly qualified to do so. It was about 6 years ago. Now, not only I'm not that light anymore, but I'm struggling to lose weight. Wow, I gain ~10kg since then.

Ok back to the blood donation, for those who never do so but qualified, I suggest to try it out. Nothing to be scared of... just a couple of needles & blood draining from your system via a transparent tube, collected by a plastic bag that hold 450ml (1 pint) of the precious blood, which can actually save life. You're eligible to feel noble afterward ;).

Sneak peek: Walk for charity

At the event where most everybody wore a yellow t-shirt.

Killing time by taking our own pics.

The four of us.

Together we support the world hunger relief.

A hoax call from 014-728 3094

Lately I frequently receive phone calls saying that there's a promotion but they need to verified my credit card 1st by asking me the number of the card or the expired date. I'd answer that I was busy & ignored the request. The calls were from 'private number' which made me instantly didn't trust them.

However today, I got the same kind of phone call, but not from a private number & with a different reason. The caller said she was from Maybank & wanted to verified my card because they receive many complaints about credit card fraud. I did smell something fishy but somehow decided to cooperate. She read the 1st 8 digits of my credit card number & asked me to read the remaining 8 digits. Then she asked for the expired date. After that, she asked me to turn my card & said on the back of my card, the side where we signed the card, there's a 7 digits ID number. I was blank at 1st. I told her there's no 7 digits ID number. When she said that the ID number should be on the signature strip, I realized that what she referred to as an ID number is actually the last 4 digits of the card & the 3 digits CVV number.

I knew rite away that the call is a hoax. I lose my temper. I called her a liar & hung up.

I called Maybank service centre & had been informed that there's no such a call from Maybank. The 1st 8 digits of the card number is the serial number. Still it means, Maybank is not... (I don't know what's the right word even in BM...) strict? reliable?... in keeping their customers confidentiality. I have other credit card from a different bank & I never receive such a phone call for that credit card.

Btw, although I didn't give up the CVV number, I decided to block the card & asked for a replacement. Well, I think Maybank should do something since it seems like their customers' particulars such as name, phone number, type of credit card & the serial number are easy to acquire.

Looks like I can't collect TreatsPoints in this 2 or 3 weeks.

Satu hari di hari raya

I have many things to be posted in this blog, but don't have time to do so. Even some might agree that blogging is so yesterday, I still love it... in fact I love my blog. It's a space for me to reminisce. So I'd try to allocate some time to update this blog with all the things inside my head. But I guess maybe I'd end up just posting some pictures with caption since I like snapping photos using my not so new mobile phone.

So here are some of the photos which I snapped using my mobile phone during last Syawal. This entry has been in the draft folder since then actually. Did plan to write a proper entry on Eid but... you know... enough with the cliched excuse. =D

Main bunga api. The gebus hand's not mine ;).

Shopping di bandar Taiping. I didn't by the shoes, just tried it on. Nice & the price wasn't bad.

Dinner at somewhere in Penang.

Update map Garmin di Low~Yat.

Drove to Klang for an open house, the road was obstructed by a collapsed tree.

Girls' day out at KLCC.

Agency's open house for the staff.

Patiently waiting for the cows to cross the road.

The moment where I got butterflies in my stomach

The 3rd day of the seminar...

No matter how many times I had done it before, still I'd get nervous. The prof during my MSc study where I had 3 presentations during that 1-year program, said, it's normal & usually once we start the presentation the nervousness would be gone. I agree with him. But I hate feeling plagued by swarms of butterflies in my stomach especially when I could feel that the butterflies were more than usual because I realized that I didn't prepare well for the presentation.

I have one more presentation to go this year, at the end of November... which means I'm gonna have the same moment, when I got butterflies in my stomach.

Dork~Diaries

An excerpt from the book that I had read last Sunday...

Absolutely no one writes their most intimate feelings and deep, dark secrets in a diary anymore! WHY?!

Because just one or two people knowing all you BIZ could completely ruin your reputation.

You're supposed to post this kind of juicy stuff online in your BLOG so MILLIONS can read it!!!

So true, isn't it?! =P

Btw, on the same day I also finished reading the sequel.

My review... just typical chick flick novels... but in a more amusing way ;-).

Last but not least, a quote, also taken from the 1st book...

"...when life presents challenges,
you can be either a CHICKEN or a CHAMPION.
The choice is YOURS!"