Wrapping Up The Year

Ok. So let's get on with the cliche. Here's a reflection of my 2006. Done month by month, with my personal favourite entries for each of them.
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January 2006
I started out the year with high entrepreneurial ambitions indeed. In the midst of our experiments with cupcakes, Raihan was imploring me to do gourmet sandwiches as well. As a result, we had a LOT of cupcake and sandwich testing sessions, much to the delight of family and friends. Schoolwise, I started on the revered Final Year Project. Got introduced to my tutor and laboratory managers. Applied for minor.
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February 2006
This month was an eventful one. First, I celebrated Valentine's Day in the funkiest way possible with the girls in school; and that was to dress up hip-hop style! We didn't want to be one of those demure cotton candy girls did we? Hell nooo! Haha! Then came my debut to my cousin's lovely home, where she whipped up a feast with a red theme! Soon, I received the good news that I was accepted in the minor programme. Towards the end of the month, Parvin, the bestie who came back from Sydney since December departed again to foreign land.
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March 2006
Shortly after that harsh farewell came another, with the departure of Kakak Wagiyah back to her home country. It was extremely hard to let go of her, but still. Then came the gruelling 3-day OBS camp at Ubin where I had to sleep on hard rock on an island just ready to get submerged by the tide. But at the end of the month, things got happier when we celebrated my sister's birthday and I had sushi mania?
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April 2006
Month filled with exam preparations, but in the midst of it, made time to witness Hana's awesome performance. But one of the most definitive moments in my life occured this month when my sister and I garnered enough balls, no, courage, to open up The Baking Bug at www.thebakingbug.blogspot.com. After our successful first order, we've been on sugar high on business eversince, Alhamdulillah. I can remember the all the excitement to think of a logo, choosing fonts, figuring out HTML. Wow.
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May 2006
Despite PAP winning in the elections and us having our first family chalet, without a doubt, Raihan's birthday was definitely the highlight of May!! Part 1 and Part 2 please. But somehow this entry garnered up the most response in my blog ever.
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June 2006

Raihan and I celebrated 2 years of being together in the coolest way- literally! But it was hell of a hectic month completing the minor and then starting on my experiments. It took a LOT out of me, but in the middle of it, I had complete fun shooting Raihan's shortfilm, Sunat!

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July 2006

Parvin came back from Sydney!!! With lotsa great stuff for ME! Then soon after, I attended NTU's Convocation with much envy, as I watched my best friend June in her gown. Was mighty proud of everyone I knew there! Oh yeah, World Cup finals: Italy versus France. Who could forget Zidane's butthead? And also the opening of Shortman Films!

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August 2006

School reopened, and life started being hectic once more. Wanting it to be my last semester, I started it with lots of fervour and determination, but it was the same pressure that I exerted on myself that wore me down within weeks. However, I finally got to celebrate my best friend's birthday party after 2 years!

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September 2006

And then what happened? The first day of the month earned me MY DRIVER'S LICENSE!! Uh-huh, I remember the test well. Very well. And soon Ramadhan came.

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October 2006

But fasting certainly did not stop us all from feasting on my birthday! It was the most awesome barbecue I've had in my life! And also my birthdate that involved a very thrilling ride up high in the sky... Ooo! Now THAT was out of this world! But after the birthday frenzy, things simmered down quickly as the double E's drew near: Eid and Exams.

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November 2006

This month is the one that should be least remembered because all I did was to drown myself in miserable studying and sitting for examination papers; one after another. So no fave entries for this month.

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December 2006

The first screening of Shortman's first project! Woohoo! Followed by a fantastic Melbourne holiday and then of course the wonderful news of my own graduation!

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For me, 2006 can only be described in superlatives. It was indeed a year filled with hard work and effort, but I'm only so glad to God who had bestowed upon me His blessings and rewards. And of course I'm extremely thankful for the dearest friends, family and my favourite boy on this Earth (that's you, Pe-man) for sharing the year together. Thank you! And cheers to a roaring 2007!

I've Earned It!

Remember the gown they earned?

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Well...

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I've earned it too!!!!

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Got the results today, and I'm proud to say that despite spending 4.5 years in the school (thanks to the semester I spent in the US), I've completed the course in 4 academic years and earned myself a:

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Bachelor's Degree in Engineering (Civil & Environmental) with Merit

& a Minor in Entrepreneurship

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Wowzer. I think I had wet my pants in pride. :)

Screening!

Today, Shortman Films' maiden project is being screened on HD Channel at 10pm!
da Guess what greeted them at their office door? Hehehe.

I rushed to the CC to try and catch their program, Love Under Covers, but to my dismay... They've swtiched off the TV by then.

Bob The Builder's Birthday

Doesn't this adorable little boy remind you of Bob? As in Bob-the-builder-can-we-fix-it Bob.

Hehehe. Baby Aizrul.

Anyways, all of us celebrated his first year today at the barbecue pits near Raihan's block. It turned out to be a very intimate celebration involving close family, and as usual, it would be an utter sin if there wasn't copious amounts of food present at his family functions.

There was a wide spread. Raihan's aunt and grandmother prepared roti kirai and the works. Egg salad. French loaf. Black pepper seafood spaghetti. Egg and sardine sandwiches. Kuih kaswi. Fried bee hoon. Fishballs. And my contribution: roasted whole chickens from NTUC. Heh.

But what was most terrific was the mix-up that had caused the celebration to have not one, but TWO birthday cakes for Aizrul. And both were from hotels!! So one can only imagine how exquisite the chocolate mousse on the cakes was, right?

Wrong! Cos I had the honour of going a little beyond imagination to actually tasting both cakes!! Haha! They were heavenly. Great choices of cakes!

How I love babies' birthdays!! For all the fun, food and cakes. But then again all birthdays have fun, food and cakes. Oh heck, I love birthdays.

The End Of It All

Today I had my last paper.

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And I so want to totally ignore the huge chunk of November that reluctantly involved me being miserable and otak-cramp and other what nots that just made academic life totally unpleasant.

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Except the most delirious times I had studying in school. (Ouch! I said the "S" word!) With the girlssssss...!

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Look who paused revision to ogle at BB?!

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Guess who wore pink socks to keep her feet warm in the library?!

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Awww. Thank you so much sweety pies. And the guys too.

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I hope and pray for the best. After all that's all that I can do now, right?

The First 1983 Engaged

You must have read the title and went, "What the heck is Sofia talking about?"
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Ok. There were 3 babies born in 1983 on my father's side of the family. There's Nurhafizah, myself and Zakky. There had always been a comparison or competition between the 3 of us... But really, those were all the parents' business. We 3 had always shared a bond that is strange. Although we meet so rarely, there's this common sense of fondness, closeness.
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Or this is how I think anyway.
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So out of the 1983 cousins, Fizah turned out to be the first to get engaged. And it was very lovely.
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My warmest congratulations to you and fiancee!

Raya With His Family

It took a while for everyone in his huge family to make it on the same day. And when it was decided that they could all make it today, my mother cooked up a storm in the kitchen to greet Raihan's family and relatives!
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There you go! My mummy has assimilated herself with the gang as well! Hahaha!

And here are the pretty-pretty girlies!

Engineer Jalanraya

After thousands of messages being ignored, the guys suddenly decided that replying the girls' SMSes were a good idea after all. And when they did, a CEE Raya gathering was successfully planned.

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Opps. Not that successful because the group wasn't as huge as the 2003 one! But nevertheless, it was to be gathering that was as merry as any could be!

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The stipulated meeting time was 5pm at Rasyidah's home. I left my home frantically at 520pm, thinking everyone was going to kill me. But lucky as I was, I was the FIRST in attendance!! Hahahaha! It is really amazing coming to think of it. Our punctuality skills are so funny I swear I'm not even sarcastic here as I laugh my head off!

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Hahaha, and so there I was. First I tried being the 'guest' by sitting down nicely, sipping my green tea and wiping off the condensation droplets that pooled at the base of my glass. Eventually, after lots of persuasion from Rasy, I finally lifted my skirt and sprawled across her oh-so comfortable bed while she pranced around the room doing her make-up.

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And hour later, Rachmat knocked on the door. He looked hungrily at the pizzas that were waiting to be eaten. I could tell their prayers were going to be answered. And soon enough, yes he was gulping them down. Little did we know that Rasy's mum was preparing a superb mix of quote-unquote (from Rachmat) "head-scratching" spicy noodles.

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Needless to say, we left her home bloated. Baddddd move.

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In the lift we all knew what happened when I pressed the 'alarm' bell twice instead of the 'door closing' button.

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We travelled a very, very long way to Toa Payoh to Shark's home after that, just to beat the jam. There, we were greeted by Shark and Far and Rabbit! Here too, we were served noodles again with mango pulp juice. And then Shark brought out her ultimate lethal weapon- her cheesecake!! That experience was so good, it should only be told in person.

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I was so full by then I totally ignored her cookies. But Rabbit though, was too much of a handsome rabbit to ignore. So I did go by his cage to say hello!

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The third home that we went to was Rachmat's. There, my bladder was bursting so I rushed to their toilet. Their toilet is so cute. It was decked with a shelf of Doraemon comics and there were a pair of Super Soakers. Hahaha! Now we all know.

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Back down, his mother had prepared noodles too! But somehow all the noodles have not repeated themselves, so it was great trying each dish bit by bit. But the wings were the ones that I remembered so vividly since 2 years ago! And boy did they still taste good! I badly wanted to get a better look at his cat, Gray. But that monster only showed 2 seconds of himself before disappearing again. Sigh.

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Next home: Sulaiman's! It is interesting to note here that this Sulaiman had been calling repeatedly since we were still at Shark's place! Hahaha, he really reminded me of a girlfriend that we all don't wanna have! Hahaha! But the only reason why he did that in the first place was because we promised we'd show at his home by 7pm. It was already way past 9pm, and we still weren't there. So sorry...

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There we had... You guessed it! Noodles! We tried the best as we can to eat and drink and taste the cookies. But really I was getting nauseous by then. Oh yes! Darwis was there at Maan's place too! Finally the complete group!

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And so Darwis' home was next. Fortunately for us, his parents were out of town, so we had a break from food. We sipped down plain water, which was really a relief for my throat. And then I went into his room. My goodness, his room is gorgeous. I never knew Darwis was such a sentimentalist. His room is really like a museum of memories. His pictures, his badges, his collections, his toys, books, collectibles. Wow. I wish I had that much dedication towards my possesions.

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I was tired by then. And somehow a feverish wave swept over. It was threatening.

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It was a long trip back to the far east, where Far lives. Mid way I badly needed to go again. I was so tempted to ask Shark to drop by a coffee shop to pee, but the expressway just went on and on and on! Good thing though, in the middle of our journey, we managed to see a massive pre-cast concrete beam being transported on a huge truck. It was escorted by a squad of policemen. Wow, like president like that.

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And then there came the re-runs of the BeeGee's "Stayin Alive". Hahaha!

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Once at Far's, again I rushed up with her just in time for me to not make a mess of my skirt, or anyone's shoes. Relieved, I plonked myself down and helped myself to nougats. Then her mother and brother (who was so kind to stay up to greet us- it was midnight!) brought out delicious noodles and rice! Yes, noodles again- but this time it was mee hong kong! My favourite!!

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It was super duper. So very nice. It was such a pity I came by with a very filled stomach though. All I could do was to taste a little bit. But it was damn good.

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When we were about to go to the last house (ahem!), Far and Shark told me it was too late for them to join the rest. So Far stayed home and Shark drove home. And so we were left with the 3 guys, Rasy and me.

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We reached Kembangan at around 1am. Mummy was asleep already. So Mud was the one who stayed up to open the door. I quickly switched on the television and the guys decided to play Austin Powers.

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In the kitchen, I was really shorthanded when sweet Rasy came in to offer some domestic help. Hehehe. So we heated up the prata puffs and made Neslo (nescafe+milo). Once the food was out, the guys then shifted to the dining table where we all just started to chat and chat and chat. Quite deep chats we had. Mostly about our future. Our career prospects. Politics.

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Hahaha. You never know what you'd get from a post-midnight conversation with anyone.

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And that was how the night ended.

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It was awesome. And I really wish that this will remain an annual affair.

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PS: Find photos at the side.

It's Eid! It's Eid!

The cliched and over-mentioned phrase of the day:
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SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI! MAAF ZAHIR & BATIN!!

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(no I don't have a photo of myself in baju kurung right now)

Deepavali Delights

Just after my parents' Deepavali invitation yesterday, I received my own Deepavali invitations! One from Parvin and the other from Ray!
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The girls and I immediately jumped at the chance to meet up, since:
1. We've never been to Ray's home before and
2. I haven't met Jo-jo-joanna in the longest time and
3. We love Deepavali!
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So off we went to far, far away Redhill. Not that far, considering all of us spent at least 4 yrs studying in a hellhole chucked in the armpit of the west.
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I was soooo delighted to meet Joanna! She's a full-fledged practising civil engineer now! I'm so proud. Hahaha. But engineer or not, she never fails to make me laugh with her stories. And during her company retreat, she got me this gift!

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Ta-dah! A green shell bracelet!

Once at Tiong Bahru, we 3 decided not to go to Ray's home empty-handed, so we walked into Breadtalk and walked out with a beautiful mini green tea cake in a very sweet cake-box. NOW we were polite guests!

The journey to our destination was a very memorable one. Like a treasure hunt. We had to look out for a right turn where "2 schools are on each side of the road" before alighting. Once we at the bus stop, we had to look for "a tall flight of stairs with metal railings leading to a carpark". There, we were attacked by a horde of pigeons, as though they were the guardians of the palace where Ray lives.

Finally we saw block 32. But it was wrong. There was another block 32 across the road, and that was the correct one.

So difficult one.

Like most Hindu homes, we were greeted at the door with a beautiful kollum design painted on the floor. We removed our shoes and met Ray, who looked stunning in her copper-coloured Punjabi suit. We said hello to the rest of the family and sat down to an array of wonderful cookies. It was a pity I was fasting. All I could do was to watch Shi Min and Joanna get their fingers dirty with cookie crumbs. Sigh.

And then Ray's mum brought out her homemade briyani. Complete with the works: curry, achar, dhalca and papadum. Yum, yum, salivate, salivate. But what better way was there to distract myself from the food, but to capture the girls eating it!

Just when the girls finished their awesome-looking lunch, Chermaine popped in, along with her boyfriend and 2 friends. More people= more conversation= more photos of course! :)

After nearly an hour later, we finally made our move. We thanked the family for their kind hospitality (because of us, Ray's relatives who visited resorted to just staying in the room while we girls lounged and occupied the living room).

Ray then gave us a surprise token! She took out pretty pretty bangles that were tied with silver twisties, and let us choose which set we wanted! So niceeeeeeeeee!!

I chose a set of 6, consisting of dark blue and cyan coloured bangles, bound with gold thread! Pretty!

Of course, this meant more pictures. On the side!

Ramen 7

Yeay! My dad's back from Geneva, and we all finally went out together as one big family to celebrate Mud's birthday! The location was an immediate unanimous decision between the siblings: Ramen Ten!
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It was really exciting cos I, personally, had been looking forward to it since a week before. Furthermore, it was my brother's birthday after all. One of the 2 people in the world (apart from my sister lah) whose irritating antics I'd so-gladly grown accustomed to.
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Anyway, it was really boggling as to what gift to get a 16-year-old boy without offending the parents. Hehe. Finally, I asked him, and his request was for me and Raihan to share the cost of wrapping his PSP with a protective film.
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Yea, you thought correct! Gmask of course!
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So after flipping through the pages of designs, Mud decided on something really cool.
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Nice right!
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Anyway, back at the restaurant, everyone was first-timers except for Raihan and myself. So it was so cool watching the rest, especially my parents scour through the menu for their preffered choice of dinner. Orders were made and the food eventually came. And everyone has slurped to their hearts' delight!

I love it when my dad is in an awfully happy mood. Just now he was super funny, and to see him joke and laugh so much is truly so contagious.

He was so comfortable and relaxed, he actually removed his shoe to rest his foot on my thigh underneath the table. Tsk tsk.

After dinner was done, we gave the waiters more than a few obvious winks before they finally brought out the cake that my sister had placed there prior the dinner. It was sad that it wasn't much of a surprise, but Mud looked so pleased anyway.

We ate the delicious chocalate-banana cake in no time.

Later my parents left us to go to a Deepavali invitation. So what are the youth supposed to do in Orchard at night on a bloated stomach? Chill out at a coffee joint of course!

My sister, her husband, Mud, Raihan and I then headed down to The Coffee Bean, where we eventually sipped our way through hazelnut lattes and equally satisfying conversations. So fun!

And we took lots of photos too. So check 'em out at the sidebar!

Guest Entry -- A Girl Named Zarith Sofia

This is Raihan here.

Let’s get that out of the way.

Yep, this is me filling a guest entry spot for my lil missy.

I would dare say that I am the second luckiest man in the world. (The first place has to go to Brad Pitt -- dude’s got looks and Angelina Jolie to boot!) Way back, way before I had a girlfriend, I always said that I would take anything -- anyone who would want me to be their boyfriend.

So it didn’t happen. Thanks to websites like Friendster and the now defunct anakmelayu.com, I met some some nuts and much worse crazies. From a tudung psycho chick (“Which is more important, me or your platoon mates?”) to a suicidal 7-11 chick (“I want to bear your child!”)…I have seen it all.

Wait, hold up. What makes these girls crazier is the fact that I have never met them before. The “relationship” only reach the handphone level before they release their crazy from within.

So I realised that I won’t be taking just about anyone.

And then SHE came along. And oh boy…she did.

Zarith Sofia.

Check out the name people! Then check out how she looks on friendster. To say that I was hooked was an understatement.

I was cautious with this chick. The last thing I need is for her to go nuts on me. This girl was amazing. She talks to well, so poised and her sense of humour is amazing.

And then came that one creepy message…

“I am not complete. If you are looking for a complete girl, I am not one…”

Yup, her own words. And the imaginative side of me kicked in. What could she be missing?

A boob? I could live with that…wait…let me think again…okay, yes. I can.

Maybe she is dying? Oh man…this sounds like a movie already?!

And my friends weren’t helpful – “Maybe she’s in a wheelchair!?”

I panicked and I quickly asked her what is wrong with her. And then she told me that she is missing a right leg.

And I said – “Is that it?!?!”

Oh come on! Hahaha….

As we talked and began falling in love, Zarith Sofia became more than just a friend. I got to know her better and eventually saw her uber-cool cyberleg.

She became a girlfriend, a critic and eventually -- my biggest fan.

You know what? Screw you Brad – I am the luckiest SOB in the world.

I love you missy!

Sweet Sixteen

My brother turns 16 today! Happy Birthday Half-hair-half-face-diagonal!
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Seriously! His side-view looks like this:
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He brought 3 friends over for break fast just now, 2 of which are the devils I teach. As usual they teased their tuition teacher (me) to the point of me nearly fuming.

Luckily there were the pizzas and chicken pies to keep me contented at the dinner table.

To end our dinner, I returned my brother a favour by buying a cake for him too. But this time I bought a simple Fiesta cheesecake. Yum nonetheless. See more in the album here.

Gay-Lang: 3 Nights In A Row

On Friday, to mark the end of yet another bout of miserable quizzes, I dashed off from campus the minute we were let off from the quiz.

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After the familiar 40-minute long train ride to the East, I hopped off at Paya Lebar. This time of the year, this particular station is notorious for its crowd. Not only is it appalling, but sightings of the mat and minah species are anything but rare.

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But I was happy. I was practically skipping my way towards my very own Mat, who I haven't met in like... 2 days? Hahaha! We were all set to scour around the Geylang bazaar in search of his baju kurung!

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We started our hunt at the tent that was closest to the MRT station. It was really hot and a bit stuffy, but we did manage to have fun looking at the things. Until we saw something he really liked!

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Our friend has been wanting to wear black this year, and the set that we found was made of gorgeous Thai silk material. Hearing a reasonable price, he asked to try it out, and it fit him to a T. And so we bought it.

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Yesterday, shortly after dinner, Raihan called me up sounding a little unsure. He then sheepishly said that when he tried the baju kurung on, it was far too big! Apparently our judgements the day before were skewed by our hunger. Or perhaps it was because he tried it on with his t-shirt and shorts with bulky pockets.

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But this situation only meant that he had to go back there again. I readily volunteered. And that was how we ended up there the 2nd time.

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However! When we got there, we asked for an XS. To our utter dismay, the pakcik said that the smallest size he had was a Small, which was what Raihan was already holding on to.

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Disappointed, we stuffed ourselves with greasy Ramly burgers and inedible keropok lekor.

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Today, we had a *new* situation. Raihan called me up again, saying with a laugh that he just realised that the baju kurung set that was sold to him was actually a LARGE! Patutlah besar! That gave us all the reason to return to the huge white tent to pick a fight with the shopkeepers.

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Well, not really. We just went back to ask for a change of size.

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Imagine our disbelief when he said there wasn't any more small sizes in black! After a little contemplation though, Raihan opted for the next colour on his list: Deep Purple. It still is nice, and its got this 'Western Shine' (kilat barat) effect to it.

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So those were my only 3 intended visits to Geylang this festive season, all revolving around a Purple Baju Kurung that wanted to be worn by Raihan all along. :)

Announcement From Pixie

Hey guys, I spent my whole Saturday afternoon updating my blog rather than studying. Yes, I know. I need to get my priorities right. But perhaps, just perhaps, for those 1 or 2 readers out there who miss my blog entries, this time used to update this site was worth it. Most of all, I did enjoy writing all of them, because it made me remember so many wonderful events that happenned. The updates are from Aug 12th to Oct 3rd. It is still not complete, though. There's still more between Oct 4th and today, Oct 14th to write about. Guess my life isn't thatttttt boring after all. Heh.

The Secret Dinner

Yeap. Here's yet another entry about my, my, MY birthday celebration! This time, however, I had to share the limelight, rather unwillingly, to the bhai. Hahaha!! Kidding lah! I was more than elated to be having a joint birthday dinner with Kelvin, my fellow Libran!
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The plan was to meet up at Suntec City's Secret Recipe outlet. But because of my itchy backside, I procrastinated in reserving seats until it was like... 610pm in a cab on the way there! :O
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But luckily, with our local operators, I managed to snag up some seats at the Marina Square outlet instead. Just a few steps away. Heh.
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As usual, our friends started appearing one-by-one, most of them fashionably late. Including Parvin. She arrived with a clear motive: and that is to make me green with envy over her uber-cool and gorgeous blouse. Damn pretty she looked. Then suddenly she started coughing and coughing. And coughing, and coughing.
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Aiyoh, this woman let the haze got to her. She was turning paler by the minute, but that definitely didn't stop her to snap some photos with me & Rajin!
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Yea, my hair not so happenning eh?

After happily taking all the photos, I (and the Mat) was reminded of our hunger. We ordered the food immediately after we arrived, which was 645pm? It was way past our break fast time by then yet there was still no whiff of my chicken cordon bleu. Disappointed, we took more photos!

Look at her top!!

While idling our time away by utilising my camera, I got a huge shock when this girl came up to me panting. In one huge breath, she continuously apologised for being late. She was halfway through her apology when my brain registered that she was Kelvin's sister, Neeshu.

She's adorable. Very kan cheong one. And amidst her profuse apology, she handed me a bouquet of the sweetest roses! My FIRST rose bouquet! (I always receive sunflowers) It was really so lovely of her. But before I could thank her enough, she had zipped off to return to the carpark where her fiancee was finding a lot.

Finally our food came. But honestly, I was too full with the 50 cents bottled tap water. Dammit. And Parvin was too sick to eat. Raihan was full with 2 bottles of smuggled-in Ice Lemon Tea. And Kelvin had a terrible sore throat. Argh. Only Rajin and Kiran seemed to enjoy their dinner. Hehehe!

We somehow felt a sense of accomplishment when we finished half of what was on our plates. Then we raced to the dessert counter to look at their killer cakes.

Just as we were about to start our on cakes, Neeshu and fiancee finally arrived. Parking was such a killer, they had to park at the Fullerton! And we were at Marina Square! Sigh, poor couple. They too, were also too exhausted from the parking lot stress and decided to jump straight to dessert.

A good chat really enhances the food that you eat, and this was exactly what I was feeling tonight. It was really a pity that it couldn't have lasted longer.

But I guess all good things have to come to an end, as we all parted with us giving Kelvin his gift, splitting the money that was shared for the gift in front of him, and a super embarassing moment for his sister. Hahaha. Sigh.

Happy birthday Bhai! And me!

As you all already now, photos are at the side!