quarantined in brunei

from being an indepedent woman living on her own, buying groceries and paying the bills, having no one to report to and going out whenever i please..

to being stuck in a house with nothing but the internet to keep me company when my brothers go out for their various activities.

(cubatah dengani kaka durang anie! hmmpf..)

well, being quarantined when theres a car in the garage just screaming to be taken out is quite testing.

and somehow the day i balik, theres tons to do the weekend, like the halal expo and the mabohai sale.

i wanna visit cits. i wanna visit apip. i wanna go out sushi with kaka itah. i wanna have lunch with buyai. i wanna go get a mani pedi and a facial. i wanna go kain shopping for raya. i wanna go to the gym. i wanna go to shahbandar naik bukit. i wanna go visit effy. i wanna go to the mall and be those ppl who walk around aimlessly, just to let myself know that i really am back for good.

i wanna catch a movie. i wanna visit my nini.

all will be done in due time, hopefully.

much love from the girl back in brunei!
ex-oh-ex-oh

canterbury

i'm still alive. haha its amazing how when u've got exams coming up and essays looming that u have a sudden urge to rant online but when u literally have nothing to do and every event worth talking about happening in the past couple of weeks, the blog gets ignored.

i admit facebook is much more convenient. but hey, this is my space and regardless of whether i update this once a month or once a year, imma do this till the end (esehmen mcm apa sja)

anyway, i am currently living alone.. been so for the past couple of days. i couldnt get on the same flight as my family and the next available one is this thurs. my last post was typed from belgium.. this will probably be my last post from canterbury and next post will insyaAllah be from sunshiny brunei (altho i hear its been raining lately).

spent last weekend at oxford, where auntie alai and her girls are forever hospitable and adorable (yes, even aunty alai is adorable is her own way hehe). now that my family's back home, they suddenly remember a whole load of other things they forgot to buy which they have enlisted lil' old me whose still stranded in the uk to buy these things. i dont mind.. keeps me busy and in a way makes me forget that i'm alone. i actually realise that i'm okay with being alone.. i still eat okay, cook my meals etc. in fact i tend to clean more i tink. hehe but then i'm leaving the house for good so i do need to leave it in the best condition possible lest i dont get my deposit back!

my exercises are now not only on hold, but non-existent. i've packed away my weights and shoes and yoga mat.. so now i cant even do yoga. true i can still do push ups and crunches and the likes on the floor but it hurts my tungking without the xtra padding of a mat. i've been eating more regular and healthy since alone cause theres no anisah to influence me in having pudding hehe. i've put on holiday weight.. it SHOWS in pictures! and i knw that thats the final straw. however, i havent been working out like crazy. i guess its cause i knw i'll be back in the gym soon. plus i've lost half of the holiday weight simply by running errands so its all good.

i still cant fit into my skinny skinny jeans. as in, the jeans i wear when i feel extra kurus. i dont knw wats wrong with the jeans cause its the same size as every other trousers i have. i always say never have fat jeans or skinny jeans, just have normal jeans. but these skinny skinny jeans are impossible to button up without me huffing and puffing! the only time i found them okay was in the dressing room at the kadai, which was why i bought them in the first place.

anyhoo, theres no point in that previous paragraph except to open up this one. tdi i went to shop for jeans again (i bought mooch jeans from topshop ysrtdy, hence the 'again'). i knw i said i wont shop for jeans for a year because 1. i went on a crazy jeans spree sometime last year and 2. i have enough as it is.

well, i just realised that it should be a year or thereabts now (hehe) and also since im going back to brunei soon, there wont be any decent jeans to buy and also its still summer sale! quality jeans at affordable prices bah... u cant blame me!

speaking of shopping, i also got myself fitflops. it pains me to admit that i fall for gimmicks after promoting exercise and diet for so long. but i was desperate, looking at my eurotrip pictures u can tell i've gained weight and with my gym equipment all packed away, i had to do something! funny thing is, my jeans size at topshop is now a size 4.. so maybe its just my face thats bloated?

tdi i also had my eyebrows threaded. it didnt hurt one bit and there i was thinking wat an amazing threshold of pain i have and then she started doing my upper lip and OWW IT HURTS!

i guess the eyebrows didnt hurt cos i'm used to plucking that area. but mang oh mang, upper lip threading hurts like a bitch! no pain no gain tho.. at least i wont have to worry about regrowth for at least 4 weeks. the lady asked if i wanted to have my chin done and i'm like 'why?' ie 'wat are u trying to say about my chin?? that i have janggut??'

sheesh. i stayed polite and rejected her offer. plus chin costs and extra 8quid which i wud rather spend on something else thank u very much.

i think i'm gonna buy another pair of shoes. was thinking of jalan shoes but now i tink maybe i need work shoes more. watchu think?

much love,
be'ah xoxo

bonjour!

okay that was a lame-ass title to a cliche of a eurotrip post but im sleepy but feeling tres guilty abt the lack of updates here. i still owe artsfest a proper post and that was eons ago!

this time i wont make any promises. theres loads of pictures for reminders and memories anyway. so i'll make this short and simple.

woke up in paris today, tonight sleeping in brussels. tomorrow off to amsterdam and perhaps the day after cologne? i'm not too sure about my parents' plans.. all i did was organize london.

anyhoots, i am now truly and officially a law graduate! got the cert and all. the cathedral was simply magnificent. it was such a gorgeous setting for a gorgeous occasion. my shoes did their job; made my feet look super sexy lol. i am super super thankful that the boyfriend came =D he stayed for 2 nights and on the day of my graduation me and him plus 2 cousins went on a boat tour of canterbury which was tres amazing and romantic, despite having an extra two for company hehe. where were the rest of my family? off to the designer outlet in ashford, leaving me and cousins back in canters with only a msg saying 'we'll be back by 2'.

jetted off to paris the next morning (esehmen~ made myself sound fancy there =p) where we terus went to eiffel tower and took like, a gajillion pictures. i now know where i got my camwhoring genes: my dad. he insists on having a picture of him with every single background imaginable. the day after we went off to disneyland.. which was simply magical! i was seriously considering working at disneyland! after all, its where dreams come true huhu.

the 3rd day was shopping day! if i were travelling with frens i'd be zipping off to every single touristy place possible and keep the shopping to a minimum but with the parents' plastice cards.. well.. twas a different story. my mum got me a new fone, the samsung tocco light the day b4 i graduated when we were still in canterbury. in paris i got another present, this time from BOTH parents: the most drool-wrothy and luscious LV bag! okay i may be exaggerating there slightly but it is my very first LV and to walk out of the LV store with the carrier bag in hand made me feel a teensy bit special (gawd i'm materialistic! but hey, present from babu and bapa. cannot say no =P)

plus the guy who served me was kinda cute. he had these piercing killer green eyes! but i bet he was gay.

then the next day ie today we arrived in belgium at around noon. i finally have a stable internet connection so hence this post. kinda strange that all the instructions are in dutch but i managed to find my way round hehe.

anypants, i gotta go coz my dad is super paranoid about being on time and we're leaving for amsterdam at 9am sharp! and all this time difference is making me confused, walaupun its just an hr difference with uk time.

till the next crazy-all-over-the-place-post! (i'm beginning to wonder whether i'll ever write another proper post without having to rush thru every minute detail!)

much love,
be'ah xoxo

headless chicken

who happens to be yours truly.

in a way, the canceled new york trip turned out to be a blessing in disguise; i've got so much stuff to do i'm not even sure i can get everything done before my parents come. if i dont, i won't hear the end of it from my mum. thank god theres more daylight hours (altho to be honest i dont knw how this will make much of a difference. its still 24hrs in a day jua)


i still need to pack. and clean. and buy and pay and make important calls which all involve money.

anyone succeeds in finding a money tree, tell me.

needless to say, my exercise regime has been put on hold. its been 3 weeks since i proper jogged and pumped iron. heck, i may even pack away my weights, considering how its just lying there waiting to stub my toe.

speaking of which, i completed the 5km race for life run in 41mins and 24 secs =) quite lame to be honest; i managed to be all semangat for the first 3 k, then i lost all my frens so decided to walk to wait for them to catch up (sebenarnya kepisan plg jua haha), then thought i was being lame and then when it was the last 500metres i ran - but only because i thought hazim would catch me running supaya there'd be a cool shot of me racing to the finish line.

skali he only saw me after i crossed the finish line, where i immediately slowed down to a walk. he still owes me pictures on facebook too.

bah eeeh. i'm supposed to be packing.

much love,
be'ah
xoxo

snippets of summer

i've been very bad at updating this blog yet again. its just that so many things have happened in consecutive order, or at the same time, that everything is just a blur and whenever i sit in front of the laptop its either on facebook or checking out places to do my masters in.

anyway, quick summary. i got my results on friday - a 2.2 which i am quite happy about because i honestly thought i'd fail. dashed off to oxford the next day and went strawberry picking! had the sweetest freshest strawberries and raspberries ever. also bonded with my 3 cousins farah, nadia and aisyah. they were all adorable!

that day ate soto, which was super yummy. next day went to middlesex for a bbq at a fren of my aunt's, then later had nasi lemak and pavlova which i made with the fresh strawberries we picked the day b4. first time i made a pavlova; burnt it slightly but it tasted good nevertheless. no one knew the difference anyway lol. the girls helped me make the pavlova and aisyah managed to get cream on her hair and her mouth more than on the pav.

(aisyah's 4yrs old btw. yatah adorable.)

after dinner came back to london where imah bought me apple pie as a graduation present. monday morning jogged from ravenscourt park to sheperds bush where we tried on maxi dresses. it was a bit eww bcoz we were sweating bagas jogging and dressed like chavs psl pakai seluar sports apa but imah said 'ka we look like one of them anyway' which explained why the shoplady inda marah bcoz she wudnt think kami bagas jogging anyway.

(anyone who didnt get that, leave a comment!)

anyhoos, fadz and su are here now. they came that monday around 8.30, i arrive back to canters at 3pm. oh, and we cancelled our NYC trip that day becoz our parents finally said 'no' to us. i guess the epidemic's getting worse for them to say 'dont go' psl they've always encouraged us to travel and be independent and the like. anyhoo, now i am free next week i think i shall come back to oxford for another visit. it was super fun; it felt liek i had little sisters. plus plus on my way back to london on the train my aunt called me saying aisyah cried loking for me and put me on the fone to talk to her. kiyyuttt jua tu!!

so back to where i left - fadz and su are here. we made pavlova again that night for anisah's birthday, gave presents and did laundry. skali tuesday we went on a river tour around canterbury but i think we were a bit robbed bcoz there was another river tour which goes longer but at the same price. so we may do that other tour on friday.

planning to cut my hair and fadz and su nak jugak gunting hair so maybe can do together. antonieu's tutup sudah so have to call in first thing tomoro morning to make appointment.

awu again this post is tunggang tebalik. but hey, its an update and if u dont like it, jgn baca =p

much love,
be'ah xoxo

p/s also HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO KAKA ITAH! 24 y.o. today. love u lots xxx

summer calendar

dumping every little quintessential detail of my summer in this post in case i forget, or i go back to neglecting this blog, so at least the readers will know why. or at least stalkers knw where to find me =p

19th June (this FRICKIN' FRIDAY!!): my results will be out

20th-21st June: Oxford, hanging out with Farah, Nadia and Aisha ie Uncle Dumin's girls.

22nd June: back to Canterbury from London; also the arrival of Fadz and Sue.

23rd June: Manis's birthday. will be baking and talk about feelings, the latter as requested by birthday girl.

26th or 27th June: Fadz and Sue leave us for London.

27th June: going to London, help Imah pack and move house. hopefully jumpa Kaka Alin as well.

28th June: Race for Life. am hoping I'll be fit enough to run the whole 5km

29th June: recover from Race for Life: vegging out in front of TV.

30th June: LEAVE FOR NEW YORK CITY!!!

i also need to squeeze in a haircut b4 New York. the hair is getting annoying; its at that just past shoulders stage when trying to grow out hair where its neither here nor there.

coming back from the City that Never Sleeps (do they say that abt NYC? or is it Vegas?) on the 10th of July. i wanna jog in Central Park. woot woot!

come July with another set of plans accompanied by family and some crazy eurotrip of 4 countries squeezed in 1 week. needless to say my exercising will go bonkers from New York onwards. however, i am tres excited to see everyone!!! i cant wait to get back on brunei soil tho. another 5 weeks for that =D

much love,
be'ah xoxo

bee bee que part 1

the longer i put this off the bangas-er this will be.

so..

rewind back to the 30th of MAY, when illah, vuina, vivi, zatee and bee were still around.

it was a saturday, and the house was in charge of cupcakes. i got up super early to jog and pump some iron because i knew i was gonna be eating a helluva lot and i didnt wanna deny myself any chicken or cupcakes so the least i could do was work up a sweat to keep the metabolic rate up.

came down for breakfast and illah was alredi up. she didnt wanna jog with me tho, she was excited abt baking; after all we did have 3 dozen cupcakes to bake, plus sausage rolls and apple turnover. with one oven, it was good that she started early. i picked up a rolling pin from zatee's on my way back and i met a couple of ppl who gave me funny looks. i dont blame them tho, why would someone be jogging with a rolling pin at 10am on a saturday?

came back from my jog and this delicious smell came wafting thru. needless to say the kitchen was filled with heady scents of baked goodies the whole afternoon! quickly did my weights, a shower and came down to 'help' illah. lemon meringue cupcakes were done, so i helped her and vuina make the batter for maple pecan ones. the maple pecan ones are simply the softest cupcakes u will ever taste; it literally melts in your mouth! i kept bugging illah, askingif i can have some - she kept saying no.i dont know hwy but when it comes to sweet treats i am HELPLESS! i can say no to pizza, pasta but not to CANDY!

skali when she was putting the last few spoonfuls of batter for the cupcakes, she realised there was more than enough to make a dozen so she let me have some and i have 3 maple pecan cupcakes ALL TO MYSELF!!!!

warm from the oven, without icing, just how i like it.

by this time, everyone was in the kitchen, baking and cutting and watnot. i helped nis roll out the puff pastry, where i mananged to not only cover my arms, but also my legs with flour. it was a lot of puff pastry, is all i can say. after the cupcakes were done and the sausage rolls and apple turnover just waiting for their turn in the oven, we all got dressed and ready. we were already 1 hour late but we had cupcakes, so we thought they wouldnt start the party without us =p

all dressed and ready, i entered the kitchen and saw the apple turnovers. i ate five in one go without nisah knowing haha. while waiting for everything else to cook, i think i had about 2 more, then about 3 more sausage rolls. i dont knw wat got into me, but at least i did exercise that morning!

so about 90mins later than planned, we left the house for rushmead and it looked like the whole neighbourhood ada soem sort of bbq party. it was technically the time where most ppl siap exams, bar the first years.

arrived at reza's and the bbq balum jln. u knw how guys are with fire, setau pandai tapi inda =p. nadawah. anyway, will talk about the party in part 2 when i get round to it. or to be lame i shall say

'to be continued...'

hahaha. last saturday was artsfest so will have to jot that down too. imah came over and i baked yet more cupcakes, but this time it was different coz illah wasnt around. she left her stuff tho, like food colouring so we had fun with that. anyway, that deserves an individual post. i'm going to oxford for the weekend for some girlie girlie time with auntie huraini and her girls, then hopefully by next week fadz and sue will have sorted their tickets to canterbury coz they're coming to visit!

so loads to do this weekend onwards. till then, i'm just hanging out with nis in the living room eating ice cream and watching movies.

thank you to those who make the effort to check here for updates and read this sad excuse of a post. will try to do better next time.

much love,
be'ah xoxo