Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Kerana dirimu begitu berharga


I talked to my mum earlier this morning. Hmm, sesungguhnya suara seorang ibu tu memang mampu menenangkan hati seorang anak yang gundah gulana. Miracle bukan? Walaupun hanya borak-borak kosong, itupun sudah cukup untuk buat I senyum sepanjang hari.


Out of all the conversation between me and my mum, ada satu topik yang buat I rasa sangat lega. Why do I feel relieved? Hmm, I think it is too personal to say it here. Cukup la sekadar I kongsi perasaan comforted tu ye. Thank you for being so understanding mak! I love you!


Okay lah! Perlu sambung buat kerja. Esok ada meeting dengan penyelia terchenta. Berdoa supaya malam ni I dapat focus buat kerja dengan bersungguh-sungguh. I really want to come out with something. Semoga berjaya Amirah!!


Pinjam tagline L'Oréal:
Because you're worth it 
Thank you mak!

[photo courtesy]


Good bye Autumn! Hello Winter!

Monday, May 30, 2011

Bila fokus hilang entah ke mana


It is raining quite heavily out there. And here I am, stranded in my office. All alone. Semua orang baru je balik. I nak balik tapi malas pulak nak redah hujan sejuk-sejuk ni. Nak klua pegi toilet pun malas tau. Dalam office nyaman je sebab pasang heater.huhu.


I am working on something at the moment. Tapi otak ni susah sangat nak focus nak buat satu-satu benda. Tengah buat yang ni, teringat nak sentuh sikit pasal yang itu. Bila dah tengah buat yang itu, tiba-tiba yang ini pun demand for my attention. Cepat sungguh berubah fikiran dalam hal ni.huhu.


This is exactly what I am going through right now. Urghh!!


Rasa macam nak bahagi otak ni fikir sana sikit, situ sikit, dengan harapan semua kerja boleh siap serentak. Hmm, boleh ke tak ye? Rasanya boleh kot. But only in my dream.huhu.


Focus Amirah, focus! You are already half way through the journey. Kuatkan sikit semangat tu, siapkan apa yang patut. Lepas tu nak buat apa pun silakan la ye.


Okay, enough membebel. It's either you get back to work or grab your things and leave now. Hmm, I will probably choose the latter. My brain is not functioning very well now.



See you next time. Bye bye!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Apabila didekati golongan missionary...


While I was on my way to uni this morning, I bumped into a very charming young man who happened to go on the same direction with me. Nicely dressed gentleman, tall, and looking very intellectual with his glasses on.


He said hello and I responded in a very polite manner. Orang baik dengan kita, kita pun baik dengan orang lah kan? He introduced his name as Allen. Without him going any further, I noticed something that he was holding close to his chest. A DVD with the title Ending Faith in Christ.


Okay, I got it. This good looking young chap is not a normal passers by. He must be one of the jesus christ missionaries. Before he even started any conversation, I prepared myself to talk to him in the most respectful way.


He asked me a couple of get-to-know-you questions including name, study course, and home country. Just like a normal conversation you had with somebody that you meet for the first time. Orang-orang seperti Allen ni memang dilatih untuk mempunyai adab percakapan yang sangat sopan yang boleh buat siapa-siapa pun suka. Orang handsome, cakap penuh beradab, very intelligent, siapa tak cair beb?


After a while, Allen tanya satu soalan yang mengesahkan jangkaan I yang dia merupakan salah seorang missionaries yang sedang bertugas.


"What is your opinion about life?"


A very simple question, but I know, ini soalan memancing namanya. I tak boleh jawab sebarangan. I have to come out with something so that he will think that there's no use of persuading me with his mission.


I stopped walking, and asked him to give me a few seconds to think. Then I slowly answered,


"Obviously, you can see me as a Muslim right? So life in Islam is all devoted to the Almighty; the heart, the soul, and the deed. Whatever we do, we do it because of HIM. As long as I believe there is no other god but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, with God's will, the peace in life will be mine".
Allen cuma senyum bila dengar jawapan I. Then he wished me good luck in my studies. Sebelum pergi, dia sempat tinggalkan name card untuk I hubungi in case if I'm interested to learn more about jesus christ. And we separated into different direction right there.


Alhamdulillah, I terlepas dari cubaan untuk memasukkan elemen-elemen yang berkaitan dengan jesus christ ke dalam otak I. Lepas tu I terfikir betapa ceteknya ilmu I tentang Islam. Itu baru dia tanya pasal basic question tentang life, mungkin masih boleh yakin menjawab. Tapi kalau dia dah mula compare itu-ini, rasanya secebis ilmu yang ada ni belom cukup kuat untuk tepis soalan-soalan yang macam tu. Hmm.. Renungkan Amirah..



p/s: for those who don't know, missionary ni lebih kurang macam pendakwah. The term is most commonly used for Christian missions but it can also be used for any creed or ideology.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Talking to the moon


Hello dear! I'm back..


Hari ni hari yang sangat lemau. I don't understand why. Semalam rasanya macam dah cukup tido. Correction, terlebih tido to be exact. Bangun pagi tiba-tiba je severe headache. Bila pagi pun mood dah tak berapa nak okay, sah-sah la seharian jugak la I akan moody ni. Haihh..


I'm still at my office at this hour. No, not working that hard today. I just don't feel like leaving yet. When I look outside my window, I can see the moon peeking through the thick clouds. Hmm, it's probably gonna rain again tonight. And the strong wind really frightens me.. :(


At the same time, I was listening to the song that recently became the top in my playlist. I just can't stop listening to it over and over again. The melody, the lyrics and the way he sings it, really touch me directly to my heart. Talking to the moon by Bruno Mars.




Then I started to talk to the moon. I really did and it feels so good. But just for a very short while because the clouds took the moon away from me.  Come back and show yourself to me at another time moon dearest. I would love to see you once again.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Wollongong yang permai


Hmm, dah seminggu tak jenguk kamu kan Encik Diari. Takde apa-apa yang menarik yang nak dikongsi buat masa ni rasanya. I masih meneruskan hari-hari I sebagai student sepenuh masa di tempat orang.


Bangun pagi je I terus mandi and siap-siap. Pagi di sini sangat subjektif ye. Bergantung kepada pukul berapa I tido. Biasanya pukul 9 lebih I dah ready nak breakfast sambil skype dengan buah hati yang jauh di tanah air. Biasanya dapat la cakap dalam 5menet. Jadi la dari takde kan.hehe.


Then I spend 10-15menet godek-godek internet. Check emails, jenguk blog-blog favourite yang boleh buat I senyum pagi-pagi. Sambil-sambil tu siapkan beg untuk bawak pegi uni. Dalam beg tu mesti ada sebotol air masak and buah 2-3 bijik untuk buat kunyah-kunya bila bosan.


Lepas dah siap-siap semua, baru I start menapak. Memang setiap hari I akan jalan kaki ke uni. Hmm, jauh ke tak? Not that far I suppose. Dalam 12-15 minutes bergantung kepada tahap berangan.haha. Biasanya sambil berjalan tu la masa untuk I berfikir. Plan apa yang nak buat hari tu.


Now let me show you antara pemandangan yang buat I tenang je bila berjalan kaki setiap hari. Seriously, I walk through the same exact path almost everyday, but I never feel bored about everything I see. Seronok pulak bila tengok design rumah yang lain dari yang biasa kita dapat lihat di Malaysia.


Rumah comel yang ada arch dekat entrance.
Terasa macam snow white pulak kalau duduk dekat rumah ni..=))


Nampak classic dengan corak kerawang dekat balcony.
Kebanyakan rumah tidak berpagar di sini.


On a very windy sunny day. Panas tapi menggigil. Macam mana tu?


Approaching uni in 6 minutes. Berlatar belakangkan Mount Keira.


Owh, did I ever mentioned that Wollongong is very kampung like? Sangat indah dan tenang. You should come over and stay here for a while then you will understand why I said so. Alangkah indahnya kalau ada sebijik rumah di sini. Hujung minggu boleh datang berehat. Sudah-sudah la tu berangan Amirah. Nasib baik la berangan tu free. Kalau tak habis kau jatuh miskin sebab asyik kena bayar fees je.haha.




Petang ni I akan babysit Adam and Aydin  since Kak Fish nak pergi airport hantar Yana balik. Excited to spend time with the two boys but worried at the same time. Mereka adalah kanak-kanak yang super lasak yang sentiasa memerlukan perhatian. Okay, I'm mentally prepared now. You go girl!!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

When my little Adam turns two


All I can say is, Adam's second birthday party on 15 May 2011 was heaps of fun. With the theme Jungle Party, inspired by the movie Madagascar, we used a lot of greens and animal prints to turn the hall into a jungle atmosphere. For peace of mind, the safari bash was planned six-eight weeks in advance including the decor, gifts and menu items.


The party started shortly after all the invited kids arrived. Kalau nak tau, masa tu Adam masih lagi terbongkang tido dekat tengah hall. Dia simpan energy untuk meloncat masa majlis nanti. Orang buat bising tepi telinga pun dia boleh tak sedar. Hebat tak hebat?

See! Sikit pun tak tergugat walaupun tetamu dah mula penuh.

While waiting for Adam to get his energy fully recharged, we decided to let the kids play a game for a good while. Poisonous box it was. We had fun looking at how they immitated the animals inside the jungle. And most of them won the interesting prizes from this game.

I was looking at Namirah in her attempts immitating a crocodile. Cute!!

Then, it was lunch time!! Kak Fish and Kak Emy prepared finger foods yang senang untuk budak-budak makan. Mini pizza, sausage roll, vege meatball, mini doughnut, caramelized popcorns, apple strudel, chocolate brownies etc. Seronoknya la hai jadi budak-budak. Rasa macam nak patah balik ke zaman dulu, when I was still a young energetic little girl..=))

Birthday cake time!! I think Adam knew something important was happening when we were all ready for the birthday cake session. Having his dad holding onto him, he watched his mum lit the candle on his super cute birthday cake very intently. He was mesmerized when we had all sung happy birthday to him. As soon as the candle was removed, the kids swarmed in.

SEMUA dibuat sendiri oleh Kak Fish. You should know how lucky you are to have a super talented mum like her, Adam!

We continued the event with another game just to make sure that all the kids really enjoy their time at Adam's party. Nobody went back home empty handed. To add into the fun, they also had their faces painted by Yana and her magic fingers. Before balik tu, tibalah masa untuk bukak hadiah. Oiii, gila lah budak-budak zaman sekarang. Hadiah semua tak agak-agak. Teringat zaman kecik-kecik kalau dapat hadiah sebatang pensel tekan dari kawan pun rasa terharu gila. hehehe.

Me playing with the kids. 

The crowds. 5 adults with 25 kids.

Right when the clock struck 3pm, we need to wave goodbye to all the kids when their parents arrived to pick them up. Ohhh, having 25 kids in one small area definitely turned the space into a hugeeeee mess. Tapi bila tengok muka ceria semua kanak-kanak masa balik tu, hilang semua penat tau.

Tenaga kerja. From left Yana the zebra, mummy Emy the superman, me the bumble bee, ibu the batman

Some people may say that the kids won't remember any of these parties when they're older. It doesn't matter whether is is true or not. Maybe Adam didn't really understand all the party thingy now, but there will be plenty of photos for him to look at when he is older.

Happy turning 2 Adam dearest. I love you!




All photos were taken from Kak Fish and Yana's FB. Months of efforts really paid off right? =))

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Winter 2011 wishlist


As the temperature across the the region plunged, reminding me that the winter is nearly upon. The temperature in Wollongong will dip below 10 degrees until Thursday. The cold snap will last at least until the weekend and I'm totally in dire need of comfy warm wraps around me now.


Sudah tiba masanya untuk I korek balik semua winter coats and jackets yang selama ni tersimpan kemas kat bawah katil. You know what, the chilly and windy weather really bore me to death. I jadi malas nak buat segala-galanya. Hibernating is the best option so far.


Bila musim berganti, mula la akal I yang nakal ni gatal nak buat wishlists baru. haha. Tahun lepas pun dah ada wishlists. You can check it over here if you want to know what they were. So, these will be my wishlists for Winter 2011. Tapi kali ni I focus kepada jacket and trench coat saje ye. Check these out.


A Korean/Japanese inspired. Very soft combination of pink and white.
[click gambar untuk lebih jelas]

Bright red knitted wrap.
[click gambar untuk lebih jelas]

Tailored shocking pink trench coat (most favourite)
[click gambar untuk lebih jelas]

Cantik tak? Cantik tak? I love all these three. Rasa macam nak 3-3 sekali. Malangnya, impian hanya akan tinggal impian. You wanna know why? Sebab each of them will cost me a fortune. Kena puasa 3 bulan berturut-turut baru boleh dapat sehelai. Kalau nak 3 helai? Puasa la kau setahun.huhu.


**Again, all pictures were taken from Aimy's FB. Peneman setia melayan karenah I berangan-angan winter coats di David Jones Bondi Junction, Sydney..=))

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Confession of a semi-shopaholic


I have been wanting to get myself a new pair of boots since forever. And when I bumped into the one that has fulfilled all the listed criterias, only one more thing restricted myself from owning that gorgeous reddish dark brown babe from the store. Hmm, what was that? Budget!


Why are you being so strict to yourself huh? You do have the money, don't you? Walaupun tak ada lah banyak sangat sampai mampu beli Jimmy Choo, setakat nak beli kasut yang lebih 30-40 dollar dari bajet sebenar boleh je. But I decided not to do so. Why?


Well, this is how I restrain myself from posessing the disease called a shopaholic. What is a shopaholic huh? It is the term used to describe an individual who is addicted to shopping. Or we can also portray them as a person with compulsive buying disorder.


Tell you the truth, I love to shop. Really! Well, who doesn't, right? Especially girls. Mungkin hanya sebilangan kecil yang kurang berminat. Tetapi majoritinya suka. Kalau rasa tak tau nak bawak I pergi mana, bawak je I cuci mata ke shopping mall, comfirm I akan senyum sampai telinga.


Tetapi! Biasanya sebelum pergi shopping, I akan buat list apa yang nak beli beserta dengan budget untuk setiap barang. Jadi, tiap-tiap kali masuk kedai, I hanya scan barang yang ada ciri-ciri yang I nak je. Kalau takde, I terus keluar. Kalau duduk lama-lama tu namanya cari nahas. Nanti ada je benda tak perlu yang akan kusebat.hehe.


Kalau dah jumpa barang yang berkenan, dah siap try, and berangan-angan, check pulak price tag. If it is within my budget, I will simply grab, pay and walk on with smiles. But if it doesn't, I will put it back on display, wave goodbye, and walk away with tears (only in my heart lah). hehe.


Hai senangnya dalam hati, jumpa boots yang dicari


Terus jatuh cinta saat-saat kaki disarungkan ke dalam

Perfectly comfy and snuggy. Indah sungguh berangan-angan.


But I decided to walk away because the price didn't match my budget. sobs sobs!
But I will keep hunting you bebeh!!


For me, being picky with my ownself is somehow very very good. Bukanlah bersifat kedekut, tetapi melatih disiplin diri. Kadang-kadang terbabas jugak beli apa-apa yang tak patut. Mungkin masa tu semangat kurang jitu. Semoga hati ini terus kuat melawan nafsu berbelanja benda-benda yang kurang berfaedah..=))


**All photos were taken from Aimy's FB. Thanks for being my shopping buddy darling!! Really had a great time going out and about. We definitely need to this again some other time..=))

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

The fashion week spirit

In parallel of celebrating Royal Australian Fashion Week, UOW also held its own series of modelling and design events for the second time. Ha, jangan ingat fashion capitals of the world macam New York, London, Milan and Paris je yang boleh organize fashion week. University of Wollongong pun ada tau!


Walaupun fashion show ni agak entah apa-apa, tapi untuk tengok suka-suka jadi pengkritik bebas tak bergaji memang best. Geli hati tengok gelagat manusia yang beraneka ragam ber 'catwalk' atas mini runway tu. Ada yang sporting gila, ada yang macam terpaksa, tak kurang jugak ada yang betol-betol talented macam supermodel.

She got the look and the talent as well. Very leggy. I like!


The duckpond was turned into runway complete with makeup tents and frantic backstage changes. So I, Kak Su, Aimy, Fatin, Rem and Farizal siap cari port yang paling dekat dengan stage semata-mata nak dapat view yang paling perfect. Sudahnya, kitorang lagi banyak gelak tengok aksi lawak model-model atas stage tu berbanding tengok baju-baju yang diorang peragakan. kahkahkah.

Us


Eh, suka hati je gelakkan orang. Cuba kau yang naik atas pentas tu jalan silang-silang kaki dengan kasut setinggi 4-5 inci, baru nak langkah naik pentas dah tergolek dok rasanya. Masa tu baru kau sedar diri pergi je la belajar pandai-pandai, tak payah berangan nak jadi model lah. haha.


Apa yang menariknya, ambassador UOW Fashion Week tahun ni adalah Rachael Herraman. She is currently a UOW student and once became Miss Universe 2010 finalist. Tinggi gila perempuan tu okeh! Bila tengok dari jauh nampak biasa ja. Tapi bila jumpa dekat-dekat, I yang perempuan ni pun tak berkelip mata tengok dia. Very beautiful she is.


Me and the pretty Rachael. Aduhh, terasa sungguh rendah diri.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Garage jamming session


Semalam ada BBQ session dekat rumah Madoline. Biasalah bila dah di perantauan, majlis makan-makan macam ni la yang jadi aktiviti paling menarik untuk eratkan hubungan sesama Malaysian di Wollongong ni. Dari pukul 12 tengahari I dah berkampung kat sana membawak sampai ke malam. Eh, sebok je macam kau pulak yang tuan rumah kan.haha.


Biasanya majlis macam ni memang berkonsepkan pot-luck. Time tu lah nak merasa makan yang beraneka jenis. Tapi kan, I tak sempat jamah langsung all the barbequed chicken or lamb. Sempat cuit kuih sikit, mihun sikit, dengan kek seketul dua. Bila dah malam baru la nak selongkar balance makanan yang ada. Masa majlis tu tak terasa nak makan, sekarang bila teringat, tiba-tiba teringin. Aiyoo!


The occasion ended at around 5pm. Lepas tu sesi mengemas lah pulak. Sekarang baru I faham kenapa orang-orang tua kita semua nak dapur yang besar and mesti kena ada paip air dekat luar. Senang nak basuh pinggan mangkuk, periuk, kawah semua. Kat sini gasak lah kau sental semuanya dalam sinki yang comel. Membasuh bekas-bekas marinate ayam yang besar gedabak memang menguji kesabaran tau tak!


Lepas dah siap mengemas, sementara nak tunggu orang tolong hantar balik, sempat lah I melepak sambil tengok artis-artis MAS_UOW jamming. Garage jamming session namanya. Kenapa? Sebab jamming tu buat kat dalam garage kereta lah. Style kan? hehe.


Fyi, I memang suka gila tengok live band. I really love watching their skills and passion in handling all the musical instruments. And without noticing how fast the time flies, I can sit there, listen to them playing for hours without feeling anything close to bored.


I ade ambik banyak video tapi susah gila nak upload full song kat dalam ni. I have no idea why. Maybe the size is too big I guess. Walaupun dah guna HD video, bila dah cut hasilnya jadi tak clear and sound pun tak berapa nak sedap. Geram! Geram! Hey Amirah, jangan banyak bunyik boleh tak? Layan je lah apa yang ada ni haaa.


Starlight by Muse


Cinta by Flop Poppy 
(my most favourite)