When MCBs Meet.....

During the last MCB – Mak Cik Blogger meet I came sans my ole and faithful camera. Hence, no pictures to flaunt here in the blog. Fearing the repeat would happen, just before I left home for another MCB meet last Sunday, I took extra effort to ensure the lil’ device had its battery fully charged and nicely tucked in my handbag. All geared, my noble intention was to capture as many great moments as I could.

But then after arriving at Kak Puteri Kamaliah’s place, after the ooooossssss…..ahhhhh….hiiiii….ohhhhhhhh picture taking didn’t seem that important anymore. All I could say was this – it was a great feeling being in the company of such admirable ladies – Kak Puteri (our gracious host ), Kak Teh (our guest of honor all the way from London), Kak Nana (you look greattttttt!!!), Zendra (if only I could be slim and tall like you!!), Mamasita (love you…love you darling!!), Sab (we definitely have similar stories of the other halves!!), Kak Ezza (whose hug was so, so motherly), Zai (hope I didn’t confuse you with the way I gave directions!!), Yani KG (your macaroons....ooooooo), Zaimah (yesss…my worigh whose travel boots take her everywhere), Wan Shana (whose yummylicious dalca saved my Lebanese rice), Emylia (if only I could eat like you and nothing happens to me!!), Aida (whose intro was well said in one breath!!), Dee (a lady who’s so gracious and so calm), Jannah (Mamasita’s eldest – so pretty like Mommy!!), Ollie (finally get to meet you after reading the exchanges in FB).

To all…thank you ....thank you…thank you for an awesome evening :)

Ahhh...you are finally here Zen!!!

Kak Nana, Kak Teh, Mamasita & Jannah all so attentive listening to Yaya's fluent lines on how we communicate.

Desserts.....all the way from Tanjung Lumpur, Kuantan

More food....will not say how many of those murtabak I walloped

Yani KG's mouth melting macaroons.....

Ahhh....I made this moist choc cake...he he

Mak Cik Bloggers & FB sistas :)
Too bad we didn't get everyone in the picture. Next meet kena get paparazzi tu snap a group picture.

Yani and Muhammad - such an adorable fella

Nissa who got to lepas kan rindu with Kak Puteri's furry Lillie

Moving Forward

The year is new, five days down and many more to go. Kids are back in school, all set for another year of facing head on challenges in academic pursuance. With one child sitting for a public exam this year, I am already getting butterflies in my stomach.

It felt rather awkward this morning when I wrote in my note book the new year – 2010. How time flies, in fact it zooms, a more accurate way of describing it actually. At the speed things are progressing, next thing we know first quarter is up; goals and targets would need looking into, and be reassessed for any realignment and readjustments.

Beautiful and colourful blooms of Ho Chi Min City

Ho Chi Min City - local fruits, rambutans anyone?

Talking about goals, targets and new year resolutions of any sort, do I have any for 2010?? Simple answer to that – NO. Being as unoriginal as the next person I could buddy with, I just did not want to bother drumming into myself about loosing weight, committing to putting more into my savings account, having control over those impulse buying etc..etc… I’ve tried doing all these for the past what, two, three years?? And not much has changed since. So why bother renewing these vows. Let it be…let it be…

Having said that, I do not want to go astray either. Thus, in my mind, I pretty much know what I want and where my focus would be this year. Alhamdullilah, I have started working on some of my undocumented goals. Tough…tough but the tough has to get going, no matter what.

View of Batang Ai Dam, Lubok Antu, Sarawak

Morning market in Lubok Antu

Moving forward, at times does require looking back. As I do leaps in 2010, I must not forget to look back at 2009; and indeed it was a great year. Many things happened both at the office and home front. Alhamdulillah, I was able to deliver what was expected of me, and came out with minor bruises.

Heavy beaded kebaya in Pasar Tanah Abang Jakarta.

Nasi padang indulgence in Jakarta

Shanghai's Nanjing Road shopping heaven

More shops on Nanjing Road

Year 2009 was great; lots of jalan-jalan, be it work or personal. With RTs thrown in at planned intervals, I couldn’t have asked for anything more. There was that trip to LA (Lubuk Antu lahhh…), friendly neighbors Indonesia and Singapore, and the other adventurous destinations like Ho Chi Min City and China. But the most memorable one was Umrah to the Holyland with my Mom and daughter Farah.

Masjid Quba, just outside Madinah

Along walkway of Masjid Terapung by the Red Sea in Jeddah

2009 was a year where I networked with more blogger friends. To be so up close and personal with sifu bloggers – Kak Teh, Mamasita, Kak Puteri and the rest of the gang was an overwhelming experience; one I will treasure close to heart.

Kak Teh & Kak Puteri....my Blogger Idols

So much power from these ladies...I thought I felt the floor shake that new year's eve at OU
Kak Puteri, Naz, Kitchen Guardian, Datin Mamasita & my favourite cup cakes are from none other than Zaitgha.

Northern beauties

It’s fun to look back, but it’s even more fun to look forward and I am confident with the positive outlook for 2010. No doubt life is going to be hustling with “excitement”, but come what may, and to quote Lord Vader, I'll “do what must be done”.

Have a beautiful and great year folks!!

Beautiful & great....just how we felt after that bliss at a hideout in Bangi. Betul tak Kak Teh?? Tak percaya, tanya Kak Ezza too. If tak percaya lagi, ask Nisa, Kak Teh's SIL.
No point asking me coz the answer will be a definite YES!!

What a Lunch!!

Edgy was the feeling in me when I saw my watch ticking towards midday. Janji nak jemput Kak Ezza and Desert Rose at the Subang Jaya commuter station around noon. I'm gonna be late, and goshhh....I hate making people wait. Very quickly I called Desert Rose to inform I've just left the office and I would be there in a little while.

Today's event was something we have been looking forward to all week. Yesss....Datin Mamasita had asked us to have lunch with her at TV3. Datin has been coming down to KL for the last two weeks for her Pahang Art Exhibition show. Isshhhh rezeki kan, tak kan nak tolak.

Mamasita's camera yang memory card nya came later

When we arrived at Sri Pentas, Mamasita was already there with two pretty ladies, NanDJ and Zendra. Uhh..segan pulak rasanya bila jumpa power bloggers ni. After the salam-salam & kiss kiss, Mamasita told us to go get our food. Haa..part yang ni yang best coz the food spread at TV3 cafeteria was ........ (boleh tergolek drooling!!) You all bayangkan lah sendiri, the ikan patin, ikan bakar, gulai perut with nangka (unfortunately, nangka is my enemy # 1....so I stayed away from it) and other mouth watering lauk pauk. There was a good spread of dessert too. Mamasita went for the tapai pulut as I controlled all temptations, reserving myself for that special sweet treat Mamasita had brought with her.

Seronok bercerita round the table as we ate. Not long after that Kak Puteri Kama joined us. Makan lagi dan cerita lagi topics of all sorts. Then it was time to celebrate. Yours truly slipped away from the table with a red box in her hand. Got the cafe lady to arrange candles on the cake and then light it up. I then carried the cake to our table.

You sure you didn't know what us girls were up to eh?

Mula-mula when Kak Puteri saw the cake, she looked so puzzled. Birthday siapa kah today, well that's how I read the expressions on her face. Surpriseeeee....the cake was for you lah Kak Puteri, with lots of lurve from Mamasita (and the rest of us too).We sure got heads turning when we sang that melodious birthday tune.

Apalagi...cake time and it was creamy cheese cake from SR!! Diet out the window please....just indulge, work out and worry later.

It was a good meet today. Unfortunately the few of us (me, DR & Edelweiss) who work had to return to our respective workstations. Rasa tak cukup time to borak-borak tadi.............but it was all worth it. Good lunch with such GREAT company :)

NanaDJ, Zendra & Desert Rose

Orang kuat....Kak Puteri, Mynn Edelweiss & Kak Ezza yang selamba dan cool

Happy faces upon being fed by Mamasita..heh..heh.

Thank you Datin for the lovely lunch.

These beautiful ladies were....ehem...contestants bagi program "Gadis Melayu" yang confirm akan menang tanpa bertanding :)

Pixs as Promised

As promised, here are some pictures from last week's meet with Kak Teh and AG and other fellow bloggers at the Lake Club. Other bloggers like Elviza, Tireless Mom, Puteri Kamaliah, Jaflam have since published their picture collection in various postings. If you haven't seen them yet, here are some of mine. Enjoy the pics folks (note to myself.....I do need to polish my skills in photography).

Cat-in-Sydney, Mamasita & Dato' Sak. Ishhh...Datin, bisik apa tuh?

"Who else wanna take centre stage?" asked Pak Abu..heh..heh :)

Alamak Mamasita...where's that Colgate smile of yours???

Siapa lah punya angkara...sampai we ladies tergelak besar!!!

It has been a week and I'm still smiling. It was a GREAT do. Thank you to all :)

Lake Club "Do"

It’s been a while, yes I know. Sembang at Kay’s is pretty neglected, huh? My umrah stories are so, so behind. So much to tell, but just couldn’t spare the time to do so.

And this posting is a rather short one too.

I’m going under the radar for a few days. My bags are packed and there’s just no point trying to sleep coz my ride to the airport will be at 4.30am. Some might know already that I’ll be off to Ho Chi Minh City with my friend Muni for a few days. Saja je ..nak chill for a couple of days. Will be doing some RT, that’s for sure. Lain-lain acara…uumppp?? Nothing in mind yet. Looks like Muni and I will just decide on what we will be doing once we get to HCMC.

And the other contributing factor to me being “Sleepless in Shah Alam” is the “do” at Lake Club last night. Yesss…it was THE MEETING with Kak Teh and AG!!! What a blast and it was so, so gempaq. And I've never been in a room, with so many power bloggers and the big names in the blog world. I’m pretty sure Kak Puteri Kama, the graceful and charming host will write about our meet in her blog. I have this to say, “Wow!!!! Best…Best..Best!!!” A million thanks to Kak Puteri and Pak Abu for organizing the meet. Food sedap dan lagi seronok when listening to their beautiful voices during the post dinner karaoke session.

To Kak Teh and AG, it was a real honour meeting you both, rasa so on top of the world sangat-sangat!! To the rest who were at Lake Club last night, thank you, thank you for being such great company.

p/s Will post pics of this meet after my return frm HCMC. My new toy si Nikon ni suddenly didn't want to cooperate with me this morning.

Short but SWEET

photo courtesy frankmoosmann.de

I posted in my blog that after my return from Terengganu, I was to make my way down south to Malacca. The trip was purely business and the plan was to meet the client at where the event took place - the Av*****n Leg*** Hotel in Jalan Hang Tuah. Purely business??? Heh..heh....read on folks :)

Just the night before, Kak Ezza (yess THE Kak Ezza - this GREAT lady, the MCB talian hayat) texted me Ms Hart's number. Pelik kan, dok berbalas-balas comments in Blogland but I didn't have Ms Hart's number. Haa...sebab tu gunakan talian hayat :) Then somewhere nearing KL during my return journey from KT, Ms Hart texted me asking if I was coming to Malacca. A few text messages went her way and my way, but there was no definite conclusion if we could actually meet.

We'll see how things develop, I told myself. But dalam hati I was really hoping I could meet up with Ms Hart.

The moment I got to the hotel, work conquered my time. It wasn't until after lunch that I managed to text Ms Hart to inform her that my assignment was done and we could meet. As the hotel was just opposite Ms Hart's work place, before I knew it she was already knocking on the door!! Wahhh sepantas kilat, you Ms Hart !!!

So there we were in Room 932, chatting our lungs out. Cerita macam-macam....kids, family, Kak Ezza's trip to her place and banyak lagi lah, all in that short while.

It was really, really GREAT meeting up with Ms Hart again. And memang she lives to the true qualities of orang Melaka, so berbudi bahasa, so beradap sopan and so pemurah. Mana tak nya, siap membekalkan satu bag of goodies for me to carry home.

Thank you..thank you Ms Hart....muahhhhh!!!

Short it was our meeting, as I had to be back in KL by 5.30pm. Rasa macam tak puas sembang dengan Ms Hart. But tak pelah, InshaAllah, kita buat repeat visit yah :)

To Ms Hart, this dedication is especially for you.

Bonding, Laughter and Intimacy

The story on the Makcik Bloggers meet went onto cyberspace a few days back. I think it was Kak Ezza who first wrote about the do and a few other ladies followed suit. I have been wanting to say something about the joyous event, but my busy schedule has completely kept me away from blogging.

Work front has been a challenge off late. Tough times call for tougher acts to keep going - where business is concern. I've been in out of meetings for the past two days. Some meetings had good outcomes, while some ended with a not so nice taste to wrap up the day with. But we must all stay resilient and brave the storm. I believe the rainbow is somewhere out there, waiting to appear when the time is right.

Anyway, on a much happier note, I'm still ecstatic and excited from our Makcik Blogger meet last Saturday. It was a blast. Nothing deterred us from enjoying ourselves, not even the heavy downpour that came halfway during our meet. Hujan rahmat, I’d put it, as it helped cool the hot and humid afternoon and permitted us to enjoy the scrumptious food spread.

One word to describe the afternoon. It was totally AWESOME. The bonding, laughter and intimacy was apparent in everyone.

To the Makcik Bloggers:

Wanshana - sedapnya kway tiau goreng & sambal tochu, makan tak nampak sesiapa lalu belakang
MrsN - anggun sungguh in that green kurung and yesss…lurv the new hair do
Zai - ayooo…both fruit tart and cheese cake were mind blowing!!
Silent reader, Zay - hey…now you have been officially accepted into the group
Madam Principal - thank you for the umbrella, Bibik & Nissa have put it to good use yesterday morning when it rained
Chahaya - you are so petite and so young, plus orang kampong…..I LIKE!!
Kak Ezza - what can I say, you show love and lots, lots of love
Bella - wooo…the roast chicken was mouth watering and you are pretty cool, sis
Jabishah - you are so sweeettttt, se sweet dessert that you brought and got dimples some more!!!
Waterlily - really, really glad you made it, mana taknya even after di “bomb” many times, still you made it to my place
Aida & daughter Ainul - so happy that you managed to join us, all the effort, despite the long detour and last but not least,
my sister TM - thanks for the t-shirt, ABE complimented on it, so pass QC Inspector Sahab.

Thank you, everyone!!! Thank you for the lovely afternoon.

Jom Sembang-Sembang

I guess by now most of the Makcik Bloggers would have read MrsN's posting on the 2nd meet. Mahal tu invitation dari Puan President :). Dan as the tuan rumah, this is another invite from yours truly.

Date: 28th March 2009 (Saturday)

Time: 3-5 pm

Venue: Kay's House in Shah Alam

Theme: POT LUCK

Food?? Well, I leave it to you guys to fill up the table. But I am so, so hoping (harapan setinggi Gunung Ledang, Ms Hart a.k.a. Gusti Raden Ayu..) that Ms Hart would come with her signature dish Ayam Bali, so that my briyani ada partner nya :)

Besarlah juga harapan dari tuan rumah jika fellow bloggers like Kak Puteri Kama, MA & Brood, Jabishah, MyHeartBleeds, Roti Kacang Merah, Laracroft, Naz (kata dah check flight kan..heh..heh), dear Kak Teh (ohh..bila kita nak berjumpa agak nyer..), Madam Tai Tai and Waterlily (manalah tau..kot-kot ader travel home plans in this week or two) dan juga kalau boleh special apprearance by Pak Malim kucing ray yang alim, yang selalu menghiburkan kita semua with his brilliant gurindam.

Revert a.s.a.p (coz...kalau ramai as MrsN kata, nak cari khemah..heh..heh )

Pls email me your contacts so that I can provide you the map to my place.
My email is kay_noor@yahoo.com or YM ID kay_noor

Hope to see everyone yes!!!

Kita sembang-sembang sampai tak mau pulang.... :))

Waterlily in Shah Alam

The stretch of road at Batu 3 Shah Alam looked like a spilling river when I drove pass it this evening. There were already a few cars stranded by the roadside. I just hoped that I’d be able to get home safe. As I focused on the traffic, I recalled the YM conversation I had with Kak Ezza earlier. She buzzed me just after I finished my meeting. We chatted for a short while, nothing specific, just the ordinary gurl stuff. I welcome chats such as these, more so after head banging meetings like the one I had today.

Kak Ezza said that she may be meeting a fellow blogger, Waterlily later tonight. She asked if I was free to join. Ohh…of course, I wouldn't want to miss this opportunity. Then Kak Ezza was silent, and I thought perhaps tak jadi kot the meet tonight.

I had just finished dinner when Kak Ezza called. She said that she was on the way to Pelita in Shah Alam Mall to meet up with Waterlily. She asked if I wanted to come along. Ohhhh sure lah. I changed, grab my tote and told ABE that I was going to Pelita for teh tarik. Asked him if he wanted to come along. Half asleep, he replied with a lame NO. Ohhh…lupa pulak, jam sudah lebih 9.00 pm, it’s like way pass his bedtime (yess, he sleeps much, much earlier than me!!!)

Kak Ezza, Waterlily, her son Shafiq and adorable girl Sasha

It didn’t take me long to get to Pelita at SA Mall. As I walked towards the restaurant, I could already see Kak Ezza’s back. Waterlily was already there with her family, 3 beautiful kids and her DH. I approached the table and we hit off from there. As expected, bercerita tak habis, macam dah kenal for ages. Guess that’s the power of blogging, even though we have never met in person, but we surely know so much about each other.

I’m glad to have gone out to meet both Kak Ezza (who had her hubby, Abang Aziz as her chaperone) and Waterlily just now, even though my head was still pounding with the lingering headache that started earlier during my meeting.

Makcik Bloggers We ARE!!

I just had to get the message across to ABE. My eye signals to him for the last 5 minutes had not been able to catch his attention. Poor Nissa had to be the messenger. She was to deliver this one important message to her Daddy, “MAMA AJAK BALIK NOW!!!”

We were at ABE’s cousin’s wedding yesterday noon and my mental calculations had it that we should be heading back to Shah Alam latest by 1pm. I’ve gone to jengok the bride and did what was necessary at mingling with the in-laws. From a distance, I could see MIL looking at me from the corner of her eyes, giving that funny look and wondering how come I was making my rounds at greeting and saying good bye to folks at one go.

Thank God ABE read Nissa’s cue. The kids salam-salam with the cousins and finally when they salam with the Grandmother she popped THE question, “Kenapa nak balik cepat sangat?” I’d normally leave Farah to answer these type of questions in her subtle yet sharp words, worst still when said with her usual “berlagak” tone. The rest was history and we were well on our way back to Shah Alam. Fuuhhhh…lega!!

I wouldn’t want to miss today for anything, it’s the Makcik Blogger meet day!!! It didn’t matter much if we were a makcik ker, kak cik ker, dik cik ker, we all had this one thing in common, we have been blogmates – sharing our life stories, ups and downs, food for thoughts as well as food for the taste buds etc, etc (too long of a list to put up, if you know what I mean). It would be the day when we were to meet face to face with the so many familiar online names like MrsNordin (who was kind enough to organize the event), Madam Tai Tai, Ms Hart, Kak Ezza, Ummi365 and the other blogs which I’ve been stalking off and on like SuperWomanWannbe, Wanshanna, Ibu, Zaitgha and also the regular commenters like Bella and Busybody. Of course, there was also TirelessMom – whom I am ever so familiar with.

Having TirelessMom with me definitely eased the butterflies in my stomach. But then as we approached the long table where a group of ladies was already seated, the whole quirky feeling just flew out the window. There was so much warmth, easiness and bonding amongst us already. Everyone was going like “ooo…”, “ahhhh…”, “wahhhh…” followed by loud cracks of laughter from various corners of the table. Tak sangka everyone could just "click", feeling so at ease talking to each other, recollecting some of the entries we had posted in our blogs. I could have sworn I saw the envious look on the waiters and waitresses faces when they saw us having fun all afternoon long. Like one of us said to them, “Hey, we ni semua makcik bloggers tau!!!” and may I add to that yang we are so proud and happy to be one. Personally, rasa tak puas nak bersembang with everyone, so I’m putting some of the words I wasn’t able to express to all here.

Here goes…

MrsNordin – Thank you so much for making it happen, what’s with initiating the meet, and taking you from your time with Nizzar to make the other necessary arrangements. And thank you for the gift too. It was beautiful, sayang nak pakai and dah letak dalam showcase!!! Love your bubbly self, and love that smile of yours (yang now boleh dilihat on Nizzar too!!)

Madam Tai Tai – Ahh,..you are off on your hols already. Thank you so much for the gift and yes salam perkenalan, though I don’t think we are strangers of any kind here. Demure, pretty and so, so proper you are and the title Tai Tai is one very suitable one for you. Happy Belated Birthday too dear!!

Ms Hart – I knew it was you when I saw you!!! Tak lain tak bukan itu lah Ms Hart, girl you are so YOU and that’s what I like best about you. Never mind the “baju ayam”, love your outfit..lip lap gitu kan!!! InshaAllah we’ll meet at tanah tumpah darah Hang Tuah when I go send Faris back in a few weeks time.

Ummi356 – Next time I see a Laura Ashley, I’ll be thinking of you!!! It was a lovely tote, brought it to work this morning and have paraded to my girls at the office. Then my girl came up with this brilliant idea. She said, “Puan next time we have training boleh kita bagi bag like this eh!!” Wallah girl, there you have it, the tote is an eye catcher, for sure.

Kak Ezza – Akakkkk…..you are so cool lah!!! I salute you akak, so full of confidence and there’s just so much compassion in your words. Both baju and orangnya manis. Padan lah Abang terpikat and Abang was so nice to have sent you to the meet. No wonder lah eight children!!! Muakkksss…..!!!

Ibu – It was so nice meeting you. Like the part when you said, “Dapur berasap tiap-tiap hari even during the absence of Bibik…berasap Maggie!!” Bila baca blog, rasa macam tak berani nak mess around with someone as confident as you are. But bila dah kenal, heh..heh…lebih kurang satu kepala je kita and respect the “peaces” during the photo sessions.

The Principal – Lovely top you had yesterday, so well coordinated. Even though we didn’t get to chat longer yesterday but I know just like with everyone else, we could click kan. I like the things you are doing with the children at your centre. And because of that we have a couple of things in common. Thanks for the muffins. Had that for breakfast this morning :)

Wanshanna – Wished I had managed to chat longer with you too. Tak pe lah the next time around we catch up ok. Must also thank your girl for helping to snap pics of us before we left yesterday. I’ll be frequenting your blog from now on :)

SuperWomanWannabe – Memang will be frequenting your blog after this, who knows I could get a tip or two about becoming a superwoman as well. So much in common kan we are, the “wannabes”. Well at least we try kan…and is the maid back already? :)

Zaitgha – Thanks for the tarts. It was sinfully delicious. Rest assured, you’ll be hearing from me very, very soon!!! Ni tengah clicking on your blog to see which is the most sinful to order. Watch out for my email yah :)

Busybody – Wished I had more time to chat with you too. Do come and busybody at Sembang at Kay’s yah!! That way we can both be busybodies :)

Bella – Hurry girl, get that blog going, pour all your heart out in it. We all have lots to say about “that” department. So no worries yah dear.

And last but not least, TirelessMom – glad you made it to the meet, fresh in the Phuket tomyam scent..heh..heh. The privy in the car helped a lot. Thank god yah, I didn’t mix up the names for that would have made it in to my cringe list then.

Yess…as collectively “yeah-ed” yesterday, we’ll have another meet. I am extending the invitation to everyone to my humble home, as the venue to our next “happening plus gempaq” session.

Thank you all, thanks for making me smile even till this very moment!!