Tempting Thursday

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m.i.n.d o.v.e.r m.e.d.i.a

My last day of happy list! It has been a healthy routine so I'm going to keep doing it but mentally. I doubt anyone in the world wants to know what makes me happy every.single.day.

1) Waking up hazy in the morning with only four hours of sleep and remembering that there wasn't anywhere else I had to be.

2) Grocery shopping in a huge place with lots of selections.

3) Cheap seasonal fruits and vegetables.

4) Happy crowds both on Facebook (Malaysia winning the Suzuki Cup) and in Budapest city centre (New Year shopping frenzy).

5) Seeing two beautiful cats in the bus.

6) Mixed nuts, dates, crisps, moooovies.

This photo was captured in February this year, shortly after arriving in Newcastle. These are my coursemates with only two, three people missing. We were having an international pot luck dinner where we got to know everyone coming from (brace yourself for the long list) Brazil, Columbia, Bolivia, Peru, Catalonia (which I learned is different from the rest of Spain), Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, China, Canada, Trinidad & Tobago, Slovenia, United States, England and Germany. Okay, I think I've mentioned everyone. The psychopath is in the photo as well but I won’t point her out as much as I want to put up posters warning the humanity about her. We had a number of sub-groups but throughout the semester, different cultures and even sexual orientation were never used against each other. If anything else, we enjoyed the differences. By June, everyone knew where they were headed for the following semester. It was then time to move on. Again. The only downside of the program is having to say goodbye every five months. But we'll be seeing everyone again in Nice soon. Can't wait!

Wonderful Wednesday

m.a.r.i.n.a.t.i.o.n

1) Winning the best beef briyani againts hubs, though his chicken briyani was pretty impressive.

2) Getting a quick and helpful reply from the professor.

3) Having a lot of materials to read.

4) Wishing Happy New Year back to the pizzeria guy.

5) Chatting over pizza and my favourite Egyptian homemade rice dessert at a friend's house.

6) Blushing (which now I believe everyone is capable of after standing in the -15 Celsius for half an hour).

7) Getting dozens of free movies.

8) Opening the mailbox to find a letter from a good friend in Nancy, France with a lovely photo of her young family. Handwritten!

This photo was taken in January this year (wow, next year is only days away!). From left is Vesna who just had a gorgeous baby girl a few months ago so she's deferring her Master degree and currently staying in France with her scientist husband. She used to study and work as a journalist in the Big Apple, something that I used to wish upon a shooting star until one editor crushed my dream (story for another day). She took a few gap years to travel around the globe which not all of us dare to do.  Oh, she was the one who sent me that mail today. Anyway, I was sitting on Gabrielle's lap as seen in the photo. She's from Canada and Trinidad & Tobago, what a nice combination. We've grown quite close over the years and she even knitted a scarf for me recently. I have a feeling that we will remain friends for a loooong time even after this program that brought us together. The Asian-looking people are from China and mostly South Korea. The Chinese girl Mina (fourth from right) is practically French now. She currently resides and works in Paris. I haven't heard from Yaping - the Chinese guy on the far right - since he last did his professional practice in Macau. He probably went back to China. The South Koreans were on an exchange program so they were only in Europe for six months. With the raging crisis between North Korea, I genuinely hope somehow they're still living their dreams. One of them told me that he was very grateful to get into the program in time as he was about to be drafted into the army. Count our blessings, sometimes we forget how good we have it.

Terrific Tuesday

1) Finding an animated image with a pop-up panda.

2) Responding to a Facebook friend who's complaining that his friends are being sarcastic with him that it's probably because he always shows off (someone had to tell him, I just got sick with his pompous posts).

3) Having all the ingredients to make a finger licking chocolate cake.

4) Eating a sinful chocolate cake.

5) Watching a football match in the comfort of own home.

6) Having a long random conversation with hubs with lots of laughter.

7) Monster Inc.!

This picture was taken on my last day at work. The guy was in the same 4-year course with me and the girl was our 2-year senior of the same program. Somehow we ended up working in the same place, the university where it all started. They are now happily married. Well I know there's not much of a story here but I told you the photos are random and I'm just focusing on the things that have been happening afterwards.  I've missed a lot of weddings, I know.

Alright, back to 'The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest'. Seriously, Stieg Larsson's books are impossible to put down! If only he's still alive, I can look forward to the fourth book. Now I'm just reading the last one veeeery slowly.

c.a.r.o.l.i.n.e c.o.o.p.e.r

Merry Monday

s.h.i.n.y o.b.j.e.c.t.s

1) Warm green tea with fruit infusion.

2) Morning walk with everything covered in snow.

3) Grocery shopping with hubs.

4) Dried banana crisps like what we have in Malaysia.

5) People watching.

6) Discovering free movies of the Millennium Trilogy (the ones that I'm currently reading).

This photo was taken a few days before I left for France. These are my high school friends so we've known each other for 13 years now. From left is Ayu who gave me her one time used shawl (the same purple and grey shawl that kept me warm in Paris and had me looking decent in Egypt). She is getting engaged in four months. Next is Mus who gave me a massive farewell card signed by all of them (I should've brought it with me here...I found a hidden card by Mama when I unpacked in France, such a sweet reminder!). Mus got married early this year and she's trying for a baby. The one in the middle is Mami who has been missing since Mus's wedding. Her family told us some disturbing news about her voluntary disappearance and none of us, friends nor family, knows her whereabouts. She sent me off at the airport and now she's not even returning any calls / texts. We're still looking for her and I just hope that she's safe. Happy is probably too much to ask for considering the circumstances. Last but not least is Amal who's teaching in Johor with a green-eyed teacher who's making her life miserable. 

Don't we all wish that we could turn back time when the only thing to worry about was pimples on our face?

Sleepy Sunday

t.i.p.n.u.t

1) Waking up without caring about time (after prayer yea!).

2) Clean, sparkling bathroom.

3) Hubs Skype-ing with Mama and me with Ayah at the same time, side by side.

4) Clean, newly washed bed sheets.

5) The sound of neighbours.

6) Hubs leaving some chocolates for me as I was fasting even though I didn't ask and he loved them so much that he could finish in no time.

7) Remembering the time when I got a role in a local TV show - Sadiq & Co - but said no because the scene was in a pub and thinking that I should give another try for something similar when I'm back next year. Just one time for fun.

Came up with another out-of-the-blue thought of picking a random recent photo that I was tagged in and thinking of how things have changed since it was taken. I think I'm going to do that until the seventh day of my happy list. Well, I guess having a lot of free time on my hands invokes creativity, ha-hah!

This is me with my two partners-in-crime, Tisya and Aida. Well, ex-partners. This picture was captured in Aida's room on her engagement day in August 2009. Now Aida is happily married to a good friend from our college crime days while Tisya is getting married in a week to her university sweetheart and moving to Japan with her husband-to-be who's doing PhD there. We go waaaay back but instead of talking about the next mischievous game plan, we talk about work and being a housewife. I suppose that's inevitable when you're all grown up but sometimes I just miss the naughty and bold streak in them which they seem to have outgrown.

Soaring Saturday

n.i.n.g b.l.o.g

1) Crispy toast with a thick layer of yoghurt butter AND Camembert.

2) Chocolate. Turned out a small store nearby was open and hubby came back from his little outing with the surprise.

3) Getting photos of the family having a beach picnic. Thanks Mama! And Skype-ing with them for almost an hour.

4) Malay lunch.

5) Afternoon nap in a warm bed while it was raining and windy outside with a freezing temperature of -1 Celsius.

6) Being able to still understand some Danish words.

7) Watching the cartoon Garfield in English!

8) Reading 'The Girl who Played with Fire' with a tall glass of chocolate milk.

Fresh Friday

Out of the blue, I just thought of making a list of simple things that make me happy each day for one whole week. I can't wait so I'm starting today with Fresh Friday.

4.f.i.f.t.e.e.n c.l.o.t.h.i.n.g

1) Instead of being sluggish and using my laptop in bed all day now that I have no more work, I moved to the desk and immediately I felt positive energy coming in.

2) Just by spending a few extra seconds now and then to adjust the washed laundry, they dried faster and I could already fold them at the end of the day.

3) Tried to make a simple chocolate cake with limited ingredients since all stores were already closed for Christmas. It was horrendous but apparently you can't go wrong with chocolate.

4) Crispy toast with a generous layer of yogurt butter.

5) Instead of being sluggish, I realised that I should use all this free time to relearn Danish since I'm going to live in Denmark for six months. I'm glad I realised it today and not a week before going.

6) Skype wasn't working for the past couple of days. I finally got to Skype with my family this afternoon.

7) Saw the movie Polar Express about Christmas Eve with dear hubby on Christmas Eve.

8) Temperature 8 Celsius. Well, anything above 0 is great these days.