BEEP!

i wasnt trying to censor anything there.

just that i discovered that i am bad at driving when im moody.

i got beeped twice today.

actually, the first time (if i may think highly of myself) was someone hitting on me. i was passing the traffic light (which was green, okay!) and got beeped mid-intersection from somewhere on the right. i turned my head around (i knoow, not the best move on the road but hey) and this guy from an SUV waved. i absentmindedly waved back, thinking it was someone i know or someone who knew my car.

retrospectively thinking, i really cudnt put a name to the face that waved me today. granted he was wearing big ass shades like mine, but definitely someone i dont knw. his SUV was unfamiliar too. so case closed. he might think i'm someone else but i'll just let myself think he was hitting on me. haha. plus my car license plate was clear as day and only 4 ppl drive the car, my parents, my one brother and myself. and i can confidently say the guy is not a friend of my brother and most definitely not my parents. so yes, somebody hit on me mid-intersection, smack in the middle of the yellow zone.

second beep was a more serious beep, albeit entirely not my fault. i was reversing out of my parking spot and i definitely remember checking the coast was clear. abt the time when i was about to stop and drive on, i got beeped by a car from behind. someone on the opposing side was also reversing out of his parking space and my rear almost hit his car's. well im sorrry but clearly u aren't suppose to reverse when another car is reversing opposite you!

stupid idiot! im sorry for the vulgarity but really, after countless bumps and scratches on my car (yes, i reli am a terrible parker. not driver. just parker) and how anal my father is with the car, its an almost miracle that i get free reign of this particular car. imagine if i had gotten it scratched just after the third time driving it since i got back!

but wait, theres a third beep. all this in less than 2hrs i might add. and in one outing. third beep was by yours truly plg. some idiot again decided to reversed while i was driving adjacent and only realised i was behind him after i beeped TWICE!

maybe its the back to school vibe. i dont knw. basically today was NOT a good day on the road for me.

jetlagged

i've never been so badly jetlagged. in fact, the most i've suffered from it is waking up at 1am the first night i came to brunei after sleeping the whole afternoon, but the next day and nights that followed, my body worked around brunei time.

now, i feel so tired and sleepy during the day its impossible to even think about staying up. i do my best but then zonk out by 7pm and then wake up at 2am. it didnt help that i felt slightly feverish ystrdy.

maybe its the demam tahunan that jirin mentioned.

since coming home on friday, i've been out saturday and sunday morning: saturday to tasek for a jog and sunday for the aids council walkathon of 3.5km which included quite a vigorous aerobic workout for the 'warm-up'. personally it was more than a warm-up, i was sweating buckets even before the cool-down bit. thank god for my nike dryfit shirt. oh, and the aerobic workout had bits of yoga in it but i was kinda resenting it because it wasnt how u do yoga.. u cant just incorporate yoga moves like that!

okay, maybe i'm a yoga snob. so be it. but it was a great workout on sunday so i shudnt reli complain.

i wanted to go jogging again this morning. i was all set and already invited 2 frens to go with me since the brothers start school today. skali since i rasa mcm kan damam.. i thought i'd give myself a break today. i think i was pushing myself. baru jua balik.. jetlag lagi. so today was no exercise day. just makan2x day!

which obviously meant i was out with the boyfren. we finally had sushi today =D

i also managed to sign up for the gym. yippee yaiiyayyy! and unlike last year, there will be no qualms of transport since i have my own ride this summer. actually, my mom's. but she's in singapore so basically the car is pretty much mine while she's away. sweet!

tomorrow is shopping kain raya day. after being MIA for 2 rayas and no new baju raya for me, tomorrow's trip is very much yang saya suka. its shopping for my brothers kain raya is what's bugging me. for one thing, theres 6 of them and they dont wanna wear the same colours like they used to do 3 years back. another thing is they want me to choose for them. hence the dilemma. oh wait, the dilemma is that between all 6 of them and 6 rayas back and 2 pairs of bajus each, they basically have worn every shade of every colour imaginable. u name it, they've worn the colour.

i actually joked that i'd get one of them white. harhar. biar ya kana pikir mcm kan nikah.

i also threatened to get one of them bright orange to make him choose his own colour for his cara melayu. to no avail.

'eh kaka sja pilih waah' bisai adik2x ku anie. they trust their kaka's fashion sense.

big day tomorrow then!

much love,
be'ah
xxx

p/s

this is special k



actually, there's a whole range of products i just discovered after googling the image. but i usually just have the cereal.

so yeah

awu aku d brunei.

i'll be saying that every summer so andangtah kali the 'oh em gee everywhere is so hot and the food is so cheap bla bla.' but i will always go gaga over meeting my boyfriend for the first time in yonks!

sekali kaan, tadi i went out with him and my three adiks.

and we watched Wanted. and ate out. typical outing except this time im with 3 extras.

oh and i went jogging arah tasik this morning! i miss working out a sweat. yoga and the exercise with the ball thingamajig does make me sweat plg.. but i guess its the tropical weather?

anyhoo, im planning to start my gyming routine 1st july. goodbye last 2kilos!

oh, and theres loads of ppl who invited me/i invited to go exercise out with. so... im free mornings! note: ONLY mornings. i only exercise pagi2x like after subuh coz then im free to do watever for the rest of the day. kadai balum jua buka kan pagi2x buta atu so might as well work a sweat. but kalau bawa jalan mkn tengok wyg and all the yada yadas.. anytime boleh. so get ur fone out and start texting me inviting me out!

its still the same number.

tadi i had my mee mamak sudah. i know.. i actually had mee mamak b4 having sushi but it was coz i was with my brothers and the youngest is a fussy eater so we had to go someplace where he will eat. kesian bah ya ah. kurus so its my job as a big sis to feed him until he becomes a blimp.

skali sudah blimp bawa jogging. lol

now i just found out i'm designated driver for my brothers who go to yayasan. apparently my driver is going home this tuesday. haissh.

oh well. at least its only one school. imagine kalau aku ambil my brothers yg d MD jua? baik jua belesen sudah dorang atu. speaking of which, i finally got in boyfren's new ride. spacious much. but kesian coz we left a lot of handprints on the car hehe biasa la kerita baru.. handprints look so obvious on newly polished cars.

aku realise this post is mostly in malay. pasal baru balik brunei atu kali? antah. but i am looking forward to these next few weeks of settling into this laid back bruneian lifestyle where i dont have to worry abt school. exercise sja la mesti ingau.. so i got special k tdi d supa save. mahal berabis plg but hey, i aint gonna forgo what made my weight loss a success in the first place.

bah. i'll see everyone soon.



much love,
be'ah xxx

we have a winner!

alhamdulillah i passed my second year of uni.

as of now, i am officially a third and final year university student.

yikes. that means i'll be a graduate in 12mths.

not that i don't want to finish in 12mths. i definitely want to finish my degree by june 2009.. its just that i didnt expect time to move so fast. rasanya macam baru2x jua i started coming to uk for my degree. then theres that i'd-have-to-decide-on-the-next-step to take in life and frankly, i am utterly clueless on what i wanna do after my degree.

actually, i do know what i want after my degree.

i want to do my masters. maybe my Bar and possibly a Phd.
i definitely want to work for the government.
i also wanna be more involved with the organisations that i've neglected since coming to the uk.
and of course get married.

its which step to take first is what's leaving me helpless.

but oh well. i have 12mths to ponder on my next big step.

at least now i can really enjoy my summer holidays knowing i did pass my second year of university. im flying home in about 33hrs give or take.

see u all in sunny borneo sans jackets and sweaters!

much love,
be'ah xxx

p/s honestly, i wanna be a buyer for charles and keith. or vincci. better yet, nine west or manolo blahniks or jimmy choos! whichever.im not choosy. haha

when i let my mind wander...

i want to eat mee mamak from ca mohd. insyaAllah the boyfren will sponsor mee mamak on saturday =p

i miss eating sushi too. i hope escapade sushi still tastes as good as i remember.

tomoro is manis punya birthday. happy 21st birthday!

now i want her date pudding.

im thinking of which clothes to pack away and which to bring back to brunei. oh, and which shoes too. i realise most of my heels are basically redundant here in the uk. but if i bring all of them, nanti my beg berat? how?

i need to bawa my sports shoes lgi. i reli shud buy a new pair so i have one in uk and one for brunei.

i kenot wait to see my primary skool mates on the 26th of july ie the reunion. its been 10years.. time flies yea? gud thing we all still keep in touch.

saya uber-excited to get into syg's new ride.

i have yet to start packing my stuff. its okay tho, plenty of time. i balik in 4days.

OH EM GEE. FOUR FREAKIN' DAYS!


to my brothers: u guys better start making a welcome banner!

'sup braaaah?'

there were 12 of us.

reza&yasmin, kash&lydia, wani&aiman, farah&lehin, nokman siblings ali and syaima, atiq and yours truly.


(awu, it was like couple getaway with some of us being extras.. hehe just kidding!)

im gonna keep this short and simple because i dont wanna bore u and i dont wanna lose track of what im saying anyway.

Day One
arrived at Oporto (2nd biggest city in Portugal after Lisbon) before 9pm. still daylight.


got slightly lost trying to find our hostel, but we managed. we discovered that oporto was uber hilly. loads of walking ups and downs. i remember looking at the aerial view before landing and thinking 'bebukit bukit juaaa!'

not complaining tho. turun naik bukit was sufficient exercise for moi, who broke her portion-control diet and went on a portugeuse egg tart overload after the first bite. read: at least three egg tarts per day.

our place was called the andarilho oporto hostel which sat right smack in the centre of town (near santa cantarina, which is THE shopping haven in porto) so of course was lovely jubbly. the staff spoke perfect english, and believe me, its difficult to find an english speaking local (imagine the many hand gestures needed to convey that we needed fish and chips). after venturing out for dinner, the girls got into bed for an early night while the guys had some 'guy talk'.

Day Two
the downside of living right in town? u get woken up by traffic! no heavy traffic per say, but we had our windows open since the night was so warm and come morning, every truck and bus driving past the hostel can be heard loud and clear.

breakfast was provided and the hostel had the yummiest buns ive ever had! it took us a while to get our bearings because we discovered portugal is NOT as straightforward as italy.


kinda wandered around for a good 40mins before getting on the bus we need to get. first stop of the day was the crystal palace, where they have peacocks, geese and a roster(!) roaming freely. didnt really see what the big deal was about about the palace other than looking like a big dome. but we were all excited so it didnt reli matter haha. plus we got to see an amazing view of the river and porto from the palace garden, a preview of the next day.


the ladies. and one very confused guy.


the fellas


Clerigos Tower was next where we had to climb 225 steps to get to the top. some ppl were chicken tho and didnt go up all the way. okay that was harsh. chicken or too unfit to climb 225 steps =p it was the highest point in oporto so we used it to our advantage - to look for our next destination, Se Cathedral. Se Cathedral had amazing architecture but we didnt stay long because we had to stay quiet.

after walking down what felt like hundreds of steps (porto is just loaded with steps! that, or climbing up a steep hill/road) we finally arrived at my favourite place in porto, the ribeira aka the river! we killed two birds with one stone because we came to the part of the river where Ponte de Dom Luis was, another place we wanted to see.


Ponte de Luis. no, not atiq's sexy back. its the bridge behind him.


now heres the best part (baru jua day two... haha). we took a 55minute boat ride (got a discount too. psl kami lawa haha) and the ride was brilliant! most of the tourist attractions were near the river so we basically saw loads of stuff. the weather was yummy (about 30degrees) and the wind was blowing in our faces. my only complain was that the wind made my tudong biut. haha but shapa jua kan liat tudong ku when theres porto to see?


last pitstop was casa de musica, a place of cool architecture (something abt the material and whatnot). made by a dutch one plg, not portuguese. but it was lawa nevertheless. the things is, we were all reli knackered and hungry at this point, so most of us just sat on the stairs waiting for the photogs to finish clicking away (and also waiting for said photogs to start taking pictures of us!)



Day Three


a whole day dedicated to the beach! but daylight hours were long (being summer) so we decided to stop by this football stadium which i dont know the name but it had a panther statute like the bullring in birmingham (birmingham or liverpool?).

then we went to the museum of modern art, which reputedly has an awesome garden. unfortunately it was close because 10th june was their national day. so we only got to see the art inside the building. it was a bit boring but i did see an andy warhol original.. and i had the yummiest portuguese tarts at the museum's cafe too!




arrived at the beach, i made sure everyone has sunscreen on (keluar my big sister side, making sure everyone was sufficiently covered. i was like 'telinga sudah? leher sudah?' haha) and settled down to read my summer book (on loan from lydia), Chasing Harry Winston. but something about the beach makes u lazy. after seeing about half of us fall asleep on the plastic mat the we stole from the oceanfront restaurant, i dozed off...



only to be woken by droplets of rain! hancurs harapan kan liat sunset at the beach. but i tink maybe the couples were more upset =p so we took cover at a lil cafe (where i had more portuguese tarts) and decided to call it a day.

the heat and lack of sleep got to me tho and despite telling everyone to stay up late and hang out in the garden (cause it was our final night in porto), i was the first one to tidur. but now i tink if i didnt sleep early, i prolly wudve gotten a temperature. i recovered next day tho because it was...

Day Three
SHOPPING DAY!

i dont dare list out what i've bought coz i know my mum reads my blog. but i can safely say for sure, i didnt spend as much as i expected.. or as much as i wanted. the group split up for the shopping trip so i was pretty much on my own. our flight back was at 9.30pm so we came back at 5 and left the hostel at 6pm (note: there was no check out time. we asked what time did we have to check out and the guy said 'what time do u want to check out?). i guzzled on more portuguese tarts at the hostel (i texted both kash and syaima for tarts because i got back early to pack. mcm forwarded msg sja anie wah!)

got to the airport and got myself another tart. hee. diet to the max out the window.

arrived in stanstead before midnight but the immigration line was crazy! we all missed our respective trains and buses back to central london. but thats another story.

thanx to everyone who made the trip happen. ppl may say 12 people sounds ramai but we managed =) everyone contributed to the trip in their own way and i wudnt want it any other way. i got to bond with awesome girls and the guys.. well, they're guys. haha.

all the pictures are from yasmin. hope she doesnt mind. silly me thought i lost my camera's battery when all along it was in my camera.. i had it in the other way round.. and somehow i thought the battery compartment was empty so i didnt have my camera in porto.

anyway, check out rezzykin's blog for videos on porto. brilliant quality and he captured our trip on camera pretty well.

bah im out. this is the longest time ive ever spent trying to write a post. slalunya i just type and post without editing. short and simple tia karang!

much love,
be'ah xxx

p/s farah is the girl who coined the phrase 'wassup braaah?' yang aku tepakai brabis. bekos it is funny. banar.

just because.

summer 2007 and summer 2008.

a couple more kgs to go!

i've gained slightly. but i tink its my muscle weight rather than fat so nothing to panic abt. im not worried anyway coz i knw i'll be working my ass off in the gym once i get back. and 'once i get back' is only SEBEN DAYS AWAY!

of course im not gonna go on a treadmill the day i get back. but only because my brothers and boyfren cuti. but come 1st july, i will be on fire!

can u tell im excited to go back to fitness zone???

much love,
be'ah xxx

p/s notice how im wearind a dark colour on the left (supposedly slimming) and white on the right? yes, i just had to rub it in. hard work like this needs to be flaunted!

reminders

i need to write posts on:

1. my portugal vay-kay
2. my london weekend

i need to:

1. clear my room
2. check and reconfirm my ticket for Brunei
3. call to reconfirm with steve about my ride
4. mop the bathroom
5. clean the house
6. declutter my wardrobe
7. exercise myself krayzeee =D to get my endorphins pumping.

i am excited brabis about brunei for 3 things

1. jumpa my loved ones
2. makan. hee
3. going to the gym every morning


8 more days. yayayayayayayayaaaayyyyyyy!

ketinggalan zaman

i have been absent from the cyberworld a littler under 2weeks.

have i missed TONS!

2 usrahs to be exact.

and miscellaneous stuff from facebook and my regular reads in the blogworld.

banyak my frens balik berunai sudah. im already itching to leave for brunei. but this next week or so leaves me enough time to do wat i need to do.

so heres an update abt ME.

portugal was great! 'sup braaaaaah?' harhar. cue for laughter nie ertinya. ppl who went to porto faham nie.

i spent an amazing jam-packed weekend with my cousins in london. we were actually tourists this time rather than being students from overseas.

will elaborate in later posts. ive got a million things to do before i balik next thursday. among them is to relax (coz i tink i went into overdrive since portugal) and EXERCISE bcoz honestly, a london weekend getaway NEVER bodes well for my weight, or anyone else's for that matter.

anyhoo, i am alive and well. i am free to be taken out for a picnic, to babysit a couple of kids, jalan2x in town, a morning jog, anything - asal i dont need to keluarkan duit. so any activites that include spending money, count me out!

much love,
be'ah xxx

p/s stomp was uber cool. and there were a couple of hot dancers too ;) but it doesnt mean i syg and miss my boyfren less. hehe. this last part's for you. i miss you xxx

hari ini

i had an excellent workout today! went jogging (altho i got attacked by stomach cramps so didnt do a whole 30mins) but got home, cramps dissappeared and proceeded to do yoga and some moves with my new ball and band exercising thingies...
now i feel 10 pounds lighter. i dont knw if i am plg. lol psl jem told me that our weighing machine might be lying. more on that next time.

i wore my wedge heels for the first time out to town..
now i have a million blisters on my feet :s

next week im going to watch another musical, Stomp. yipeeedoo hurrayyy! apparently its only 25quid with student rates =D

i am starting to miss the boyfriend more and more and moooreeee now. i tink its cause of the holidays. i shud be in brunei by now! but oh well. theres portugal and a musical to look forward to.

i need to figure out a proper jogging route that'll last me 30mins. anyone?

oh, i weighed myself this morning, and i have gained weight from london. damn those potato chips! but at least today's workout was good. but now theres no way i can reach my target weight by 12th june...

thats all i got for being random. seeing them two pintar girls tonite. soo excited pasal i miss them!

much love,
be'ah xxx

summer holidays so far..

mum's visit was great great fun!

alas. she didnt cook for me the whole time she was here. but hey, she's done enough cooking for me anyway so the least i could do was cook for her. she says i cook good. yezzer! buleh kawin sudah nie. kekeke.


anyhoo, we spent the last 3days of her visit in london and we managed to catch Lion King the Musical. oh em gee it was supercalifragilistically AWESOME! i tell u, anyone of all ages shud go watch it! even if u dont understand english! the special effects and lights and the singing was just beautiful! not to mention the costumes. so u guys with extra cash during the summer, go watch a musical! any musical actually, coz i've watched Wicked and that one was good as well. me and my cousins are planning to watch dirty dancing the musical after portugal if murah rezeki =D

my mum went back on sunday and god knws why, but i teared up a bit at the airport. padahal im gonna see her again in 2 weeks! i guess i havent been spending that much one on one time with my mum lately. i stayed in london for a bit after my mum left.. actually, i just got back 3hrs ago. today is my mamacits' birthday so HAPPY 21ST BIRTHDAY! i know u like my present. i like it too! gawd u so have to use the present on me nanti! i doakan u semoga panjang umur, murah rezeki, sihat wal'afiat and d panjangkan jodoh. ameen!

back to my story in london.. well there wasnt much to tell. cits and aufa still have skool and my cousins were busy viewing houses for next year so i was pretty much bored to death until they got back from skool. i killed time by watching how i met your mother (i didnt have a choice here. it was the only dvd series cits and aufa had in their room) and snacking on potato chips and minstrel chocolate and mcvities strawberry yogurt digestives. basically i was pigging out. i didnt have enough space to do yoga alhto cits had a yoga mat. so i was pigging out times infinity!

only when cits got back from skool did i go out. walking aroung oxford street i least made me think that i was burning off the potato chip calories. staying in london wasnt a total loss tho. i havent seen cits and aufa for aages and huda and imah too. plus i managed to catch up with mary, a reli good old fren of mine.


aaaand monday night i watched my first ever movie (in the theatre) in the UK! i have been avoiding the movie theatre here becoz its mahal berabis when i compare to brunei but i watched sex and the city the movie and obviously thats not gonna come out in brunei. but the movie was good! yea it cudve been better in some parts, but at least it didnt bomb. money well spent on a 2 and a half hour movie, me thinks =D

anyway, i am super tired today, i dont knw why. either from lack of sleep or an overdose of sleep. i cant reli tell. i got into the house today and the first thing i did was weigh myself in the bathroom. good news, didnt gain an ounce! altho it might take time to show the potato chips and chocolate so come tomoro its back to yoga and (weather permitting) jogging time! i miss exercising actually. i hope it stays sunny.

4 days to the portugal trip! im all set with a summer getaway wardrobe and i didnt even spend a fortune. its called the magic of a parent's credit card ;)