Love is in the air ~~~

Congratulations Shima and Arziril for your beautiful nikah and wedding reception yesterday and today. A month ago, we surprised Shimbad with a bridal shower getaway with the rest of the girls and our partners. I haven't managed to blog about it because there were thousands of pictures to choose from but I think this video captures most of the fun we had that weekend.

Last week, my best buddies Shai and Shima Adrina (Shimbad) invited me out for dinner. Since they knew how caught up I am in my work, they told me that they'd drop by and we'll have dinner somewhere near my office. They weren't in the mood for Japanese so they suggested dinner at On The Table Solaris Dutamas, Chef Riz Redz's restaurant (the son of Malaysian Celebrity Chef, Chef Wan). I went there straight after work.. and was surprised to see not just Shai and Shimbad there, but also my other gurl friends and their partners Arziril, Hafiz and Izzwan were there to throw a belated birthday dinner for me! Fuzzlyn, Sarah and Shereen Nisa were there too. Oh, Shai also gave me two lovely balloons within one big balloon! It was very unique and I don't know how they did it. It was so pretty. :)

Way before my birthday, my close girl friends and husband organized a small dinner to celebrate my birthday in advance. I went out that night, thinking I was going to just have a quiet dinner with my husband. He told me he was taking me out for dinner because it has been a long while since we went out for dinner together because of our work.

When we reached Alexis, I was really surprised to see my friends and cousins waiting for me. Since it was quite early, I didn't even know what the occasion was and embarrassingly asked them what they were doing there. Then I was told that they were there to celebrate my birthday! No wonder my husband asked me to dress nicely. He chose what I wore that day. Hmmm~~

The 1st of November this year was a day I have been looking forward to for a long, long time. Not just because it was my birthday. Heh heh. It was also because the date would be 1/11/11, which just happens to be one of my favourite numbers. Now that date is something that will never return anytime soon. I don't know why, but I have always had a fixation with certain numbers and will always look out for them, such as on car plates and phone numbers and wherever else it may appear. My other favourite number is 7 by the way.

I witnessed the beautiful solemnization of my dearest sister Shereen in the morning and then the Minang reception for relatives and friends in the afternoon (her engagement you can read about in my previous posts The Engagement of Shereen Bahawi & Hafeez and Shereen & Hafeez:Part II).

Like I've mentioned before, Shereen and I are like sisters in that we are both the only daughters in our family, and we share a lot of things from clothes to other things that I'd rather not mention here. :p As classmates and cheerleaders together in high school, we have both seen each other grow; we remained close friends even when distance and our life path tore us physically apart. And I still cherish the fact that we went on a random trip just to see Coldplay in Melbourne Australia together too, with a banner made with lots of love from Malaysia (our efforts were not in vain because Chris Martin spotted it!) and our hilarious determination to get as closest to the stage as possible! Finally, we managed to stand at the second row near the stage, so we got a close up view. That is a story for another day :)

A quickie post. I know some of you will consider this as cheating, but I've been wanting to blog about so many things but I really haven't had the time to. I've been wanting to share this video for a long time, so I guess I'll do it now before I put it off and forget to do so, again. Also because I'm pressed for time. I'm just taking a quick breather before I continue with my work.

I really love this video because my family members and almost all of my closest friends were there to celebrate the emotional and joyous occasion. I felt really loved. Do forgive my appearance towards the end of the video.. There was a hijab malfunction and no one told me. But all in all, it was a very happy day. Credits also to Beehunt Studios (on facebook). It was their first engagement shoot and I think they did a good job.

For photos on the engagement you can click here.

Enjoy..

Towards the end of Ramadhan (27th August 2011), I had a get together at Penang Village with my cousins (and uncles and aunties). A few of them couldn't make it though, especially Zara and my other male cousins. Zara was in Kuantan for some last minute work. We all knew how bad she felt for not being able to join us, so we decided to rub it in by sending her pictures enclosing voice notes of everyone telling her exactly what she was missing via our BBM group! hehe.

The twins, Min & Cho as well as my aunt Enda Cho have been very busy recently to prepare and finish their designs for Pu3's fashion show in Paris this September. They left for Paris yesterday, although Cho did not tag along because she is FIVE MONTHS pregnant! We're so happy for her. Her baby bump is now visible and during dinner her baby was kicking her. Anyways, all the best Min & Enda Cho for your fashion show in Paris!

After reading a post by Ami Schaheera titled Fashion : Wrist wars, I rediscovered and was reminded of my love for bangles and bracelets. So, to compliment this look I took out and mix-matched a few bracelets and bangles. Coincidentally, I just realized that none of the bracelets that I wore that day were bought. They were all gifts. I didn't go all out, but I thought it was enough. I was already wearing one of my favourite, Miss Selfridges' knotted metallic belt and my studded head-scarf from Arzu and paired it with a grey frill woven cross body bag from Topshop. Oh yeah, both the teal top and grey chiffon skirt are from Poplook.
This is what I wore for the gathering during the last Saturday of the fasting month with some of my crazy-fun-loving cousins .

Eid Mubarak! Selamat Hari Raya to all of you, maaf zahir dan batin . In the spirit of Eid al-Fitr, if I have offended or hurt any of you in any way, I am truly sorry. Whoever reads this, I hope you'll forgive me for any wrongdoings that I've committed against you.

How many times have we said maaf zahir dan batin (I'm not really sure how to translate it other than to apologize for intentional and unintentional wrong doings). This had me thinking and as I was pondering about this, I had a chat with some of my colleagues and asked a random question to my twitter friends today.

Had another reunion with my ex-colleagues for buka. After the last Meat Meet, we weren't sure of where to meet up. But when Shah recommended another meat place in our email correspondences and after reading about the restaurant, we couldn't say no! We went to this place called Carnaval Churrascaria, Brazillian Buffet at Damansara Jaya. It was a buffet but not in the traditional sense. It was a 'brazilian buffet' and apparently this is how buffets are in Brazil. The only food at the buffet bar were the salad and pasta.

Hello dear readers. Some of you might have arrived at your hometown or are preparing for raya tomorrow. Me? I'm on the road, on my way to visit my grandfather and meet up with my relatives in Perak. My husband is driving at a leisurely pace. Especially because it's quite scary that there has already been a reported 78 fatalities on the road in just four days! (Got that from yesterday's New Sunday Times, front page). Please stay safe everyone.

Anyway, since it's a quite slow and long ride, I've decided to blog while singing along to songs in the car on shuffle :)

Some time in July, i met up with my friends at Meatworks Solaris Mont Kiara. These friends are my ex-colleagues from the previous firm that I chambered in and practiced at. Most of them are no longer there so it's harder to meet up as everyone works at different places as of now. However, we keep in touch with everyone via email and make it a point to meet up and plan a gathering every other month or so. Keeping up by email with these guys means that every single topic will run up to 'hundreds' of emails. Even if sometimes I get too busy to reply to the emails, I will always read the emails at the end of the day because these guys are very funny in a weird and crazy way. I love them! They were the reason why working there was so fun and enjoyable.

Last week, we had an iftar cum birthday celebration of my BFF, Shai at KGPA. The whole shindig was organized by her hubby who told her they were celebrating her birthday, but 'forgot' to mention that he invited 27 of her closest friends as well.

I have never been to KGPA to break fast before and was very surprised at the quite extensive variety of food on display, and also the number of people that day. It was quite a lot. While most people were queuing up for the BBQ, pasta, roast lamb, ikan bakar (grilled fish), yong tau foo, roti canai, murtabak, kueyteow goreng, roti john, nasi ayam etc etc, I went mostly for their Malay cooked spread. I attacked their sambal tempoyak, ikan patin masak gulai tempoyak and also their steamed ikan patin. That was seriously the bomb! I couldn't stop eating. I had a few rounds of the scrumptious food.

Finally, I have the time to blog! I'll be on leave for one whole week this Eid al-Fitr raya holidays. Forced leave. My husband is still working today and tomorrow though. So while he is at the office, I'll blog away :)

Here's a lookpost on what I wore to Shai's Shindig taken earlier in the afternoon when I left the office on a weekend (:p) for Shai's birthday surprise.

Don't we miss being carefree?

In this Next Instalment of Reflections of Raya : (Part 1, 2, 3)

After a month of fasting, one of the best parts of Raya is of course, the open houses! I truly look forward to the open houses because that is the time where we get to be in the company of our dearest relatives and friends who we haven't seen in a while. Last year was no different. And not to mention the FOOD. The array of kuih raya (cookies) and the food spread inclusive of the obligatory rendang and lemang/ketupat.. *drools*

I was invited to Hudaa's open house last year, and that only means one thing: Hudaa's famous BAKSO. Seriously it is to die for. All of her friends know that come Raya, that is one of the few must-haves. Hudaa, Lisa and Zaza are close friends who all have something in common: Brains with Beauty (I'm sure you will agree with me). Now, I don't get to meet with them often, so it's nice to just get to really sit down and catch up with them, regardless of the fact that we'll be sweating while enjoying the extra hot bakso and going back for seconds (and thirds and forth serving). Hihih. :)

At Noorul-Hudaa's with Zaznuriah @ Zaza and Lisa Surihani :)

This is a continuation from Reflections of Raya 2010 :1. On the second day of Eid last year, I visited my Tok in Perak. We stayed the night before going to Penang. We spent a few days in Penang, visiting all sorts of attractions such as the butterfly farm, the jetties, the beach and much much more. I love Penang. The island, the place, and the FOOD! Oh yes. (Penang posts click here). Pictures below!

My handsome Tok <3

Since we're already in the fasting month, I just realized that amongst my many neglected and yet-to-be-uploaded posts was supposed to be about my Raya (Eid Al-Fitr) last year which I haven't gotten round to do. So in an attempt to get it done(!) I'm going to just quickly share some pictures with you guys.

Last Raya was the first Raya I spent as a wife to my husband, and I experienced for the first time having to divide Raya between families. I suppose it was made easier because both of our families lived in KL, but on the second day of Raya, I went to Perak to visit my Tok before going of on a short family trip to Penang which you can read more about The Little Gems of Penang, Travelled Streets of Penang, Imperfections Are Beauteous and From Penang to Perak :)

For last year, I wore mostly last-minute-buys cotton baju kurung from Ampang Park. I bought my baju kurungs from Ampang Park literally the day before Raya, and I love cotton baju kurungs because it is fuss-free, very light and breathable to wear during the hot days here in Malaysia. <3

My cousins were playing with Fire Crackers in the background

Wacky & Loved Cousins

On Saturday, I pretty much spent the whole day sleeping in and chilling with my husband at home to make up for the lack of sleep this past month. At night, I went to visit my in-laws' new house. It's a kampung styled house which is very nice. After that I went to see Captain America for the second time since I dozed off the first time I watched it. Not because it was boring, but because I was too tired when I watched it at midnight last Thursday as I slept less than two hours the night before. Oh, by the way, I AM IN LOVE WITH THE CAPTAIN!! :D

On Sunday, I had an impromptu brunch with some of my girlfriends at La Bodega. The initial plan by Hasanah was supposedly to have breakfast at Levain (pronounced as leh-vaahn) at 8 a.m on a Sunday but I guess most of us were not sure if we could go out that early, so the plan was shifted to La Bodega at 10 a.m.

I wasn't that hungry and wasn't really in the mood to eat anything. In fact, I didn't even order any food at all. But when I saw the waiter serving Asyraf's meal, I quickly changed my mind. Eggs Benedict with Smoked Salmon and Hollandaise sauce.. made my mouth water and changed my 'not-hungry' status to 'I-want-me-some-of-that!'. Seriously, it looked delicious and it tasted just as good as it looked! Eventhough my friends actually said that I am biased because I would just order anything with salmon in it. Whatever! Anyway, the rest of the food were just as good.

On the 1st of July, 2011, I was interviewed on my career and other interests on tv9 for a program called Safiyya. They interviewed me at my office. I was quite nervous (to put it mildly) when the interviewer told me that the interview will be in Malay. Of course, I speak Malay, but I realize that I have a habit of mixing Malay and English without realizing it. But when I was asked to speak Malay, I felt very self conscious. I felt that my Malay was not baku (formal Malay) enough (I'm sure you get what I mean right? Right?) and not TV material enough. I was really nervous (understatement of the year) and I think in my efforts to try and speak proper Malay I may have overcompensated and couldn't speak like I normally would! erk.

With the interviewer, Syafin :)

I've been receiving a lot of requests to update my looks. Technically, it's been ages since I've done my last look post (Jagged Blues). So I found these pictures in my folder and just uploading these would be easier. Pictures taken on Mother's Day waaaaaay back in May. I'll write about my Mother's Day lunch with my family some time soon (don't know when ;p). That would probably show how outdated I am. Sorry girls. Thanks for persevering with me.

More than ever, I find myself wearing maxi dresses during my off days. It's simple and easy to wear, fussy-free, breathable and most importantly: COMFORTABLE. Certainly halves the hassle of getting ready, don't you agree?

Proud parents of Cassia Iman : Shasha Elisa & Carl Iskandar

I'm truly sorry for the lack of updates. For the past three weeks, I've been going back from office after midnight every single day (and there were a few times that I went back home from the office after 5a.m). Work has been really gruelling and extremely tough. But I'm enjoying my work and hopefully things will be less hectic starting next week when three new lawyers will be joining. Anyhow, I haven't had the time to do so many things. However, amidst the busy work schedule I've managed to steal some time to do some of the other non-work related things that I also love. I just haven't had the time to update my blog, which I hope I can do more from now on.

Yesterday, I attended Shasha Elisa's and Carl Iskandar's kenduri aqiqah for their little princess, Cassia Iman. It sort of hit me when I received the invitation because I swear it was only just recently that I attended the cute and sweet Baby Shower. Oh, how time flies. I've been saying that quite a lot nowadays.

The so called 'aunties' :)

I've been stuck in bed for this past two days. This sucks because I've been unable to visit my grandmother who is ill. I've missed weddings, engagements, family outings, watching transformers and planned meet-ups with friends. I've been down with high fever, sore throat, head throbbing, flu, teary eyes... oh, you know the drill. One thing about me is that I rarely get sick. Some people can catch a flu or fever very often, but I'm thankful that I get it very rarely. But once I'm sick, I'm really sick.

Another thing about me is that I really H A T E to go to the clinic for the simple fact that I don't like to take any medicines. Yesterday, I was forced to take panadol soluble by my husband. I almost vomitted straight after. Yucks! So instead, I was asked to try redoxon, drank a few large bottles of 100 plus (3 1.5litre bottles so far), and drank jugs and jugs of warm water. I don't think it's working because the fever hasn't subsided.

.M U S I C.

I would just like to share some of the songs that's found its way to my ears, now that I have my ipod to keep me company in bed for the whole weekend. Most of them are oldies. But bear in mind that these 'oldies' are not the 50s or 60s oldies songs, but songs I used to listen to when I was younger, in school.

1. The Dull Flame of Desire ~ Bjork

Being the gracious host that she is, Ibu Kartika insisted we stay over at her house on our last night in Yogyakarta. So we checked out of our hotel a day earlier and went on a day trip with Ibu Kartika. We visited Museum Affandi and also Kraton before heading back to her abode, which is on the foothill of the Merapi volcano.

Now, when she told me she lived there, it sort of freaked me out. Living on the foothill of a volcano which just erupted last year? Then the driver even added that sometimes the area is flooded from water spouting from the volcano. Having seen the other day some of the remains of buildings and areas affected by the volcanic eruption (whole areas and blocks of buildings burnt down by the lava), that definitely had me worried. But when we got there, the whole place was nothing like I imagined. It was just...lusciously green all around. Tranquil and peaceful. It was very serene.

Omahe Kartika. House of Kartika

Dangling Zebras.

Upon reaching her front yard, I was already smiling to myself. One could immediately tell that she had passion for arts and creativity, even if you didn't know that she is one of Indonesia's most respected artistes. Just look at the somewhat random dangling zebras. It was a very, very unique touch.

Coco Tei

I know it's been too long since my last post. Work has been really hectic for me. I'm enjoying the challenge though. In fact, I just got back after spending 10 hours in the office. Not the best way to spend my Sundays, but I'm really satisfied that I managed to complete my work. :) Anyways, I've been meaning to publish this post for a while but I could only publish this post now because blogging on weekdays at the moment is impossible. Maybe in the future, things will change hopefully.

Hi guys, I'm back! I know I've been MIA for almost 2 weeks without any updates here. Truth is there are just too many things to blog about but I have been really tight up with work, family and other things these past few weeks. In fact, I just got back from my brother-in-law's wedding just now. This has been long due so I'll just do a quick post on my visit to the incredible Museum Affandi in Jogja the same day I went to Kraton.

The late Affandi was an Indonesian artist from humble and simple beginnings, who started out drawing from left-over paint when he was working as a painter doing movie posters and billboards. He became famous and was then known worldwide for his unique expressionist paintings. The museum was one of the first places I planned and in fact I wanted to go there on my first day in Jogja (but I had to shuffle my plans). I can't describe how excited I was to go here. We went there with Ibu Kartika, Affandi's eldest daughter (also my dad's friend) as her guest. I guess I'll have to blog about her in another post.

So here I was, after arriving at the museum. The whole building s architecture was individually unique and the interior and exterior of each building was really artistic. The whole compound was where Affandi lived (his several houses were all in the compound) and it was even where he was buried. The compound now houses 4 galleries of Affandi's paintings and personal collection as well as his daughters' and grandchildren's paintings.

On my way to one of the galleries

We were hoping to make it in time to see Kraton which is the Sultan's royal palace since the 9th century. The most interesting thing about the Sultan's palace here is that it is surrounded by houses and shops. You wouldn't be able to spot the palace from far, hidden in the sea of houses and shops surrounding it. A real 'people's sultan', they say. In fact, the residence of the Sultan's brother is also nearby, amongst the maze of houses and shops and I was told his residence actually doubles up as a fine-dining restaurant!

Felt a little small

The gate doors look really sturdy and heavy. 18th century style. Love the locks on the door. I imagined battering rams and all

Yogyakarta is a "special" province in Indonesia, the only province (or there may be others, I'm not too sure) where the province is still ruled by the Sultan but as Governor. All over Yogyakarta I saw posters pledging support to the Sultan because apparently some people wanted the Governor to be elected, and not automatically given to the Sultan's successors.

So on to the Prambanan temples. Although we stayed up very late the previous night to watch Kiai Kanjeng (will get to this soon), we set off very early in the morning to reach here on the same day we went to the gorgeous Parangtritis Beach.

Welcome to Prambanan. It's so small kan?

I just got back from Jogja. How was it? It was SPECTACULAR! We loved the place so much that both me and my husband felt like we did not want to leave. We felt that our stay was too short and there were just too many more things to see there. Honestly, it was perfect. I couldn't imagine my honeymoon to be at any other place. Well done Khubby! (He planned everything since before we were supposed to go in July 2010). It was worth all the wait and extended delays to finally get here. We just left everything behind in Kuala Lumpur and enjoyed exploring various parts of Jogja and digging up the rich and glorious culture and art there. The trip really opened our hearts, souls and minds. Jogja and the whole experience was, for me, incredibly romantic as well as spiritually absorbing (You can read my longing to go to Jogja in '10 months ago').

There are just too many stories to share about my incredible discovery of Jogja and (you may be able to guess) too many photos that we took there to sum it all up in one post. So, I am going to post in several parts the things I love most about Jogja.

I really can't believe that my marriage was almost 11 months ago, it feels that it wasn't that long ago. Too many things happened prior to my wedding day which will take quite some time to tell, but not yet. I'm going to leave for Yogyakarta (aka Jogja) now, which will be my first twice-postponed honeymoon due to me being hospitalized in July. My husband then re-arranged the trip to November, but I was hospitalized again. I'm pretty stubborn and I really wanted to go the second time, but it was impossible to go because suddenly there was also an earthquake in Jogja at that time. Yes, I know right??

I suppose the third time is the lucky charm. I'm so excited because I've always wanted to go to Jogja since forever. My first planned trip to Jogja was in 2006 with my uni gamelan group. We were supposed to go there to watch performances and meet with gamelan groups there. But would you believe it that the trip also had to be cancelled because of the terrible earthquake in 2006?

Now, I think you'll understand why I just can't wait to explore Jogja. Especially because it is rich with culture, art and heritage.

So anyways, I promised to upload photos of my wedding here since some people asked me to share what I wore during my wedding. I guess for this post I'll start with my nikah (solemnization) ceremony at home. Since there are so many photos and I'm in a bit of a rush, I'll blog about the actual ceremony later when I have the time. The solemnization and the receptions, were truly few of the most memorable days in my life.

Pictures with a few of my friends and cousins who were there early. My wedding wouldn't have been so beautiful and went so smoothly without the HUGE help of my family, relatives and friends because I was in the hospital for almost all of the preparations period and was only discharged the day before the wedding. I also remember the day before my wedding when my house was full of my relatives and friends who were helping out tremendously. I will forever be thankful to them. Love you guys.

This is my nikah wedding dress designed by Cho (Azalea Ramli) of Pu3. The cloth material for the kurung modern top was beaded chiffon which was a hantaran gift from my husband during the tunang (engagement) ceremony. I just love the design, texture and details of the material. The beadings were non-symmetrical as you can see. Cho did a fantastic job with the dress design. I just love it! I especially love the vintage-y and stylish yet funky shoulders which she says was inspired by Lady Gaga! -_- Some of my friends who saw the dress told me that it was 'just so you' and I was so happy to hear that on my wedding day. It helps that Cho knows what I liked and designed it that way. It was already perfect the first time I went for fitting.

I bought the following books recently..

Stories to Get You Through the Night

Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

(I must be the only person who hasn't seen the movie!)

Stories edited by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio

I've only started reading Frida and Eat.Pray.Love (simultaneously) but haven't gotten round to finishing either of them. I think I read depending on my mood, so that's why I'm reading both books at the same time. Frida is one of my favourite female artists and I've posted about some of her paintings that I like. Check out my post back in 2009, Viva La Vida.