Movie Review - The Women

When I was on my 2 week break, I managed to catch up on a few movies, I didn't really fancy the latest movie starring Keanu Reeves entitled "The day the earth stood still", the movie is about aliens making their way to earth with a mission to protect the earth from humans they believe are very destructive. Way too much for me but as usual Keanu Reeves never seem to disappoint me la kan...heh!

Apart from the movie about aliens and Keanu Reeves, I managed to complete The Duchess, Mama Mia, The Deception and a few more. One movie worth mentioning here is the movie "The Women".....starring Meg Ryan (my fave!), Annette Bening, Jada Pinkett Smith, Debra Messing, Eva Mendes, Candice Bergen and many more talented actors. I strongly recommend this movie to all my female friends. The movie has a little tinge of romance, comedy, drama and I felt it did also touch on the importance of sticking to what one believes in especially when it comes to one's principles and moral values. The importance of having true friends no matter how life treats a woman. Friends should stick together thru good and bad times. After watching "The Women" it made me realised even more that when one intends to settle down, one should marry someone who is also his or her best friend. Let me see, do I have a best friend who is male and single?! Wonder whether it's too late..hahaha...just kidding:D

The synopsis of "The Women" can be found here. Do check it out....:)

Hectic, hectic and hectic...

I have started my new job on the 2nd of January 2009, people say the first week will be a breeze as you will be asked to read manuals or policies. However, not in my case, first three days was full of reading and settling admin issues as my boss was on leave, once he was back in action...I was assigned with a big project and eventually more tasks were given and yesterday itself, I had three meetings to attend to. I love the fact that I am in a new place with new things to learn and new things to achieve in the long run, there is definitely a steep learning curve for me. I can see that all these assignments and issues I will have to attend to will be a tough process but I am sure if I were to remain consistent, resilient, patient and agressive in my own way, am sure everything will go out as planned, InsyaAllah.

Making new friends is also an interesting journey, I met a few fun people who are also my new colleagues. I am eager to go thru the learning process, getting to know my new boss and adapting to new changes. Interesting but at the same time can be very tiring, but I think I am gonna enjoy the new ride.....wish me luck!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!

and


SELAMAT MENYAMBUT MAAL HIJRAH

lets hope the new year brings us more joy, happiness, serenity and prosperity.

Since 2009 is a whole brand new year for me in many ways, I have listed my new year's resolution as follows:-
to live my life as happy as I can by working harder, stay in contact with all of my good friends, to socialise more, always be true to myself and to lose more weight and lead a healthy life.

what's your new year resolution?

btw, I will be changing my url to http://precious-notes.blogspot.com in a week's time.

Saying goodbye is the hardest thing to do

Friday was my last day working with the bank. After 12 years working with the bank, and the bank being the first stop upon graduation, definitely it would affect me emotionally. And yes it did....I felt soo sad! No words can describe how I feel at the moment. The good friends that I managed to build close and honest friendships with are the ones that I will miss the most. They are my daily pillar when I am at the office. It was a sad feeling when I had to shake their hands and say my good byes. When they found out about my resignation, most of them were shocked. It was tough for me personally and as THE day approaches, my weeks were filled with them buying me lunches...oh boy it was tough...laughing with them, kidding around with them, knowing that in a month's time I will be working with a new set of people. People say - don't worry, your friendships with all of them will not end here, you can still keep in touch and meet up after work. Yup, but then again it will never be the same. When you work together, you go through many experiences together, the tough and shitty moments as well as the good times when things fall into place..that really bonds good friends and colleagues closely together....:(

The day before my last day, we had a divisional farewell for me and my two other colleagues who are leaving to be house moms, I was asked to give a speech, I really thought I was gonna be okay...but when I opened my mouth, I knew they could hear me trembling when I said my words....I specifically thanked my close teammates for their support. After the speech I saw my two close sidekicks' eyes were all teary... Their eyes were red, so was mine...:( Sedihlaaa......


And on the last day itself, I kept telling myself, keep your cool and don't cry... I couldnt't take a sad scene... I worry coz when I cry....I can cry buckets ok!!!! I managed to hold my emotions and tears till the end. How to layan perasaan when I had to transfer knowledge and info to my colleagues till the last hour and to top it of, I was still doing my management reports for board submission..hahaha! My teammates called me at 4pm for another surprise farewell, they bought me a gift...lagiiii sedih....apart from the divisional gift, they made sure that I was given a personal gift specially selected by them......mana tak sedih lagi :( Too much to handle!!

The toughest is saying good bye to one of my very close colleagues, whom I have worked with for almost 8 years, through our working years, there were many times when we both would laugh like crazy about silly issues or silly gossips, we would fight (heheh) about work matters..and he has always been patient with me...always giving in to my keras kepalaness...we stood together when we had to go through many changes, group transformations, colleagues leaving, we had to pick up the bits and pieces and move on....and do whatever it takes to ensure a smooth working process for our juniors...., it was tough but we made it somehow. So that explains why we were teary eyed when I did my speech and mentioned his name..I know, I will still keep in touch with him but knowing that we both will be moving separately in our career paths makes me all sad.....:(. Althoughh, I did tell him, we can't both be retiring in the same department right?..hahaha! "So fren, I wish you all the best in your future undertakings and keep in touch! Oh and be prepared, I will definitely call you when I am in the new place whenever I need your help and advice :-P.. Oh and you said I was so strong for having that strength to contol my sadness and you asked if I cried when I went home, yup quietly! ssshhh...don't tell anyone. I won the bet, coz I didn't cry in the office on the last day but off records...I was crying inside :-P You know how I would look like if I cried buckets right..you saw it when you came during my arwah mother's funeral....it can be an ugly scene. Thanks again !" Ohh...and I thot it was very cute of you to call me like a zillion times on my extention saying that after the last day, you wont be calling that extention for me anymore....I never thot of that you know. And the mission to make me feel guilty for leaving the department by hanging out in my cubicle day in day out showing me that sad look...and being soooo nice! Hahah! Oh well, we'll keep in touch...not that either one of us is migrating..:-P..Since you said the drive to my new place only takes a few mins, so make sure you have lunch with me ok?haha.

I am currently on a 2 week break before I start work in January. I need to unwind and rest, till I start anew. So I guess I will be celebrating year 2009 with a new job at a new place! Wish me luck....coz I think I will be needing loads of it.

Merry Christmas to those celebrating and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I am gonna miss all of you to bits

Dear colleagues @ good friends,

It's time for me to bid farewell to all of you. Trust me, saying good bye is the hardest thing to do. After all those years working with all of you through thick and thin, there is nothing more I can say except thank you for your kindness, support and most importantly your friendship. I am sure I will miss all of you very much. Last but not least, thank you for making my journey in XXX a memorable one.

Once again, thank you and do keep in touch.

N.A.B

Why now...

I have soo many things to settle at the office before my last day next week...BUT I am on MC for 2 days till tomorrow. I have conjunctivitis..My eyes are red, swollen and itchy!....Streesssss....why does it have to happen when I need to wrap things up before I say my goodbyes!

Nasi Padang, Senayan City and a wedding!

the bride and groom taking their seats.

the entrance that leads to the pelamin

that's the pelamin

the lay out of the reception

Once we reached the hotel area which was located in Jakarta Selatan, we had our dinner at our normal favourite restaurant, “Nasi Padang Sederhana”. As usual, my must have list would include the ayam pop and sambal terung! Sedap sehingga menjilat jari. My dad, sis and me have been to Jakarta a few times, pretty much familiar with Jakarta but not my brother who was a little at lost for the first few hours. Lepas tu dia lagi pandai dari we all :-P

My cousin’s wedding was scheduled for the following night at Masjid Al Bina in Senayan. The drive to the masjid took us about 10 minutes, itu pun due to the machet if not we would probably be there in 5 mins right on the dot. Again the culture was different, as expected we were supposed to mingle. Spread of food can be located in the few islands around the area. The pelamin or dias was extra long as compared to ours. We had to queue to greet the bride and groom. The only thing I spotted is the heavy head gears the couple were wearing I asked my cousin….is that heavy?? He nodded and said Beraaaaaaat!! Found out later that the bride fainted twice due to the heavy headgear and poor air ventilation. Oh boy, one thing’s for sure if I do get married, you won’t be seeing me with that headgear..hahahah :D


Shopping spree for me in Jakarta would be buying original CDs of Indonesian artiste. Don’t get me wrong, I do appreciate Malaysian artiste, but I still think that the songs they produced in Indonesia is to my taste and I think they are very talented and the songs composed are just to good to ignore. Again this time round, I got a good collection of CDs of talented bands and singers.
Layan........

my fave hang out, Senayan City.

fave food, bakmi GM, lurve the fine noodle..yummy!

I love Senayan City sooo much. I was there the whole day but couldnt believe it that I didn’t get to really check out the other mall on the opposite called Plaza Senayan., the biggest mall I have seen so far. Told my sis, I am definitely going to back to Jakarta soon to check out Plaza Senayan..Haha! Also did another round of shopping at ICT kuningan to check out the latest DVDS that cost abt 7000 Rupiah per unit (RM2 plus)...and was shocked to note that CLEAR gila!

that's the kids toilet in Senayan City

infront of the hotel

me and my bro and dad checking the tokos in Senayan City.

By the way, I finally went through with my plans! I will be starting year 2009 with a new job! Yesss....time to move on eh…..:)

I am off to Jakarta. Again??

The last time I was in Jakarta, it was last year, for a relative’s wedding. I had fun back then, learning about the different wedding culture and tradition. The food they serve at the wedding slightly differs from what we serve here in our Malay weddings. In Jakarta, all the guests would have to queue to greet the bride, bridegroom and their respective families on stage, wish them happiness yada yada yada. Once the couple makes a grand entrance on the red carpet, everyone will be on standby mode to go up the stage. We, coming from PJ were practically at lost during that special event until my uncle who resides from Jakarta said "quick lets stand right in front so we can be the first few ones to wish them" and also be the first few ones to eat right after that…haha! True enough…we were the first to eat…Terukkan all of us? when it comes to food, semua jalan!

Food prepared is something like our normal buffet spread however without the normal tables for guests to sit, eat and gossip. You are expected to stand and mingle with the rest of the people. Food is in abundance and it is spread out and in a way that everyone is expected to stand and move from one table to another. For those who need to sit, you will have to look around for empty seats probably located at the corner of the ballroom.

This time round, I am heading for another wedding. Yes again! I am expecting the same thingy but then again it depends coz the last time we went the groom was from Bandung, so there was some elements of “Sundanese” culture and tradition in the ceremony. This time, it is our side, so more of the “Mandaling” culture I think. Will update with pictures when I am back.

Till then, have a good week all!

pic courtesy of www.fundraw.com

Mama..

Today is my arwah mother’s birthday, if she had lived, she would be 70 this year. Another year, another birthday but memories of her are still fresh in my mind and I still miss her more and more. It’s been a year and a half since she left us. The slight thought of her makes me all teary eyed. There are times when I just cannot believe that I am going thru life without her and most importantly without her love, guidance and wisdom. The toughest is going to places that reminded me so much of her and it makes me feel lost. Even now when I am heading for a change in my life, she is not there to see me through it. I know she will be happy if she is still around, I hope I will be like her – strong in many ways. She is very strong in facing any challenges in life.

What can say, losing a mom is never easy, but that is ketentuan Illahi, yang hidup pasti akan mati, and as a daughter, I am glad and thankful that my mother was always there for me, “Semoga rohnya sentiasa dicucuri Rahmat dan ditempatkan bersama orang yang beriman”.

Al-fatihah.

Happy Birthday Ma! I love you.

Another escapade.......Penang!

lil niece trying out her swimming skills..hehe

the swimming pool on the rooftop..the breathtaking view of the sea

from the penang bridge

We decided to spend our weekend in Penang last night. We drove there on Saturday after Subuh and reached there at noon, had a good session of food binging with Penang being famous for its nasi kandar, char kuey teow and seafood. I simply love Batu Ferringhi, love the cooling breeze and amazing scenery.