soffz84

the pieces of my heart are missing you.

2008-10-24T18:03:00.002+08:00

Avril Lavigne - When You're Gone (LIVE) - X Factor

2008-10-24T18:03:00.001+08:00

Avril Lavigne - When You're Gone (LIVE) - X Factor

2008-10-24T18:02:00.001+08:00

the last post.

2007-07-18T22:03:00.000+08:00

dear friends,

this is sudden but it's best to make a clean break.
i'm shutting down this blog, for personal reasons.
it's been 50+ posts since i last began
and it's been great while it lasted.
thank you.

sincerely,
soffz

the new look

2007-07-16T00:38:00.000+08:00

the new layout came about because bored soffiah has nothing else to do aside from job-hunting.
used brushes from invisiblesnow & mkirby712

and i finally got around to doing 3 slides...

the first on our after exams outing,
which was really just meeting up to eat dinner. chat. like we usually do.
and of karima's wedding. and habz's bro's wedding on the same day.

the second was on the girls' day out to the singapore art museum.
it's free entry during lunch hour so we went down to visit.
go to the singapore musuem!

the third, is about my sweet food cravings.
shaz will laugh at me for spending time in the queue at donut factory.
but because i NEVER get to use my passport without my parents
(which also means having to miss out on TGIF with the makan kakis! *BOO*)
i spent happy moments eating them donuts. yummy.
oh. and i baked sugar cookies. inspiration from she paints the kitchen red and laydiefa.

yeah.
that's it.
most pictures taken with my trusty hp.
:)

fruitful saturday.

2007-07-01T00:07:00.000+08:00

i've been meaning to blog about things that have happened since the chocolate party
but, i'll do that soon.
the main reason is that it'll be an entry with lots of pictures and..
i'm putting off uploading ALL of them..

life really hasn't been exciting on my part anyway,
so me not making my joblessness, broke-ness and dreariness part of this blog, is not a loss.
my days are filled with boring nothings, attempts at reducing mass and sims2.

i realise i'm addicted to sims2 on xbox.
maybe it's because my character in sims2, Lala Newbie, has a job, in art.
she's at level 7 of her career.
has stylishly short hair and is on the verge of getting promoted.
woohoo!
she's more exciting than i am! because she HAS A JOB!

anyways, instead of bumming around playing sims2,
i made roti kirai today.
it was an ok first attempt. the yellowness of my rotiS scared mum.
it's so yellow, it's almost neon, said mum.
didn't take pictures because, really, neon roti kirai would scare everyone else too.

washed the car
and after dinner made sugar cookies with icing!

bad quality pictures, taken by hp..
a *test* attempt. and they turned out pretty ok.
thanks to laydiefa for the icing tip.
i'm very pleased with the cookies and will make more soon.
i got the recipe for sugar cookies from mrs. fields' cookie book for christmas sugar cookies.

and tomorrow will be filled with tuition. & more tuition.
sigh...

Cedar Photo-taking @ National Stadium.

2007-06-26T16:06:00.000+08:00

The laptop's still a bit down and I'm not really able to be online much... but this is important...

Dear All Cedarians,
* once a Cedarian, forever a Cedarian *

With the demolising of the National
Stadium this year, there will be a
photo-taking session for all Cedarians
past and present. Do try your best to
attend and forward this around. Please
see the details as follows:

Date: 14th July 2007 (Saturday)
Assembly Time: 4.15pm
Venue: National Stadium, Gate 1, West Entrance

Kindly confirm your attendance by 8thJuly 2007.
Email your full name, graduation year,contact number and e-mail address to
- poon_pf@yahoo.com.sg
- yiwen@pacific.net.sg

Hope to see Cedarians turning up in full
force on that day. Cheers to all n it
will be great to see everyone after all
these years.

Till forever, true blue Cedarians we shall be!!!

how about it Cedar babes? (mus & hanim... COME BACK NOW!!!)
habz, nurain, shaz... are you all interested??

chocolate party update.

2007-06-07T22:15:00.000+08:00

ok.

i'm back to blogging.

haven't been able to do so, mainly because i've got no work.

and nothing much to blog about.

but the past week's been good.

last sunday was the first makan kaki's outing!

(all pictures have been *koped* from shaz&amp;aidil and hana; thank you!!!)
brought him along and it was great fun!
our contribution was chocolate panna cotta, plus smuckers, in butterscotch and chocolate.
in a nifty styrofoam box he claims fishermen carry around...

anyways, i realise i don't fair well in groups.
this i've learnt, for quite some time, from my outings with F6.
because, i'm usually a spectator, watching their antics.
ain & fan telling stories.
yanto & osh irritating kat.
kat screaming.
:)

i thought i'm quite becok.
and most times, i am.

but during the makan outing, i realised, i had an *ally mcbeal moment* (habz started it... will elaborate later)
me picturing myself floating out of my body... and floating above the group...
silently tsk-tsk ing myself because i wasn't talking much.
now that i've described the moment, it sounds creepy

maybe because i only knew shaz & aidil, and this outing, it being the sort where a whole bunch of people meet for the first time, was a first for me.
i was definitely nervous.
and being there, eating chocolate with a bunch of young strangers... made me even more nervous.

BUT, at the end of it all, i was very very glad i came.
i ate alot. (hahaHA. there goes the diet)
i laughed alot.
i listened.
and i shared.
:)
i made new friends. and i hope to see them again soon, because they were a lovely bunch.
and i aim to be more becok next time round.

it was our first time at botanic gardens.
and since we had to rush back, we didn't have time to explore the whole place.
i must say, botanic garden's not a bad place to hang out.

i like this picture aidil took of us.

i've got lots to update but i'll do that another day...

til then... :)

sandcastles.

2007-05-30T00:22:00.001+08:00

soffiah is busy building sandcastles.

she will resume blogging

when she finds something else to do.

long overdue food.

2007-05-14T01:02:00.000+08:00

much has happened since i last updated.
the after exams party mood was cut short when nenek got hospitalized.
we were going back and forth changi hospital.
on top of that, othman was having his exams, so the tuition-related stress amounted.
why was i stressed? because that small boy was being so naughty.
i could go on about his naughtiness, but now that his exams are over, the stress is gone..

since the hospitalization, normal routine's been disrupted.
but nenek's back home now, so it's better.
our schedules work around her daily doctor appointments
her wound's an open wound, so doctor halina has to tend to it everyday.

met habz and nurain for a tasty treat at swensen's the other day. white blondie, they call it.
it was some kind of brownie/crumble on a hot hot plate, topped with ice cream and gooey caramelized liquid and nuts.
a slice of happy in a pan. and for those few hous i was with them, despite my whining, i was completely detached from the hospital and tuition-worrying.

my fyp presentation came and went, leaving behind nightmares of the reynolds number.
to the uninitiated, the reynolds number is a dimensionless number that determines whether the flow of a fluid is laminar or turbulent.
the moderator surprised me with questions on it, when i never USED it in the whole of my project.
caught unprepared, i stumbled on the definitions, then got a good lecture on how i should have conducted my experiments.
i wanted to say, "but i did what my prof told me to do"
but i would just be putting the blame on my prof, who was seated behind, trying to save me from my moderator's reynold's number attack by giving me hand signals i couldn't understand...

food-wise, i've got a backlog of food pics uploaded...

first up, Quad food. there's a new grill stand outside Quad@NTU, that serves OK grilled stuff.
i ordered the sausages set, and the boys ordered meat. steak and lamb i think.
mine was goood. :)

on the last day of his paper, we went to fig&olive at vivo.
we were deciding on either earl's swensen's and fig&olive and we were SO SUPER GLAD we chose fig&olive instead.
it deserves 6stars. out of 5. i love the food there!
i'm definitely coming back for more.
i've got my heart set on the cheesey fish thingie they have there.
the downside to the evening was the turkish delight ice cream..
looked yummy, but it wasn't anything special.

he brought me to jurong east entertainment center to try out zingdo, a halal korean food place.
i was amused from the moment i entered the place.
the orangeyness of it all, the funny names, like bulgogi (i ordered beef bulgogi)... it's just fun to repeat it..
and the food was good too.
not that i have any comparisons to other korean food, but it was good for my first time.

we ate at 2hot (halal), vivo a few days later.
i order a chicken glaze dish, he ordered tex mex something..
3.5 out 5. came with free flow of soup. fig&olive was better!! haha.

then we walked abit around vivo, before going to earl's swensen's (halal) for fondue.
the view was pretty and the fondue.. well.. we felt that chocz's was better.
ordered a strawberry drink as well..

on thursday, my prof decided that we should meet for canadian pizza at his place.
i brought along my 2nd try at panna cotta, which everyone thought was ok, so it's now at the top of my list for makan kaki's choc buffet.
i just need to tweak my recipe... :)
by the way, everyone's invited to the makan kaki's outing on 3rd of june..

F6, we need to go pulau ubin and visit yanto's grandfather's house.
cedar babes, let's meet!

oh. i'm still bumming.
so much food (as you can see from above)
hence the putting on weight.
so now i shall stop.
hurhurhur.

OVER!

2007-04-27T18:42:00.000+08:00

exams are finally over!
over forever and ever and ever!
hahaha!

had the exams at SRC...
and after it ended... guess what i did..

i went back to school!
YURP!
because he brought his laptop along
and he had the latest episode of heroes!
and so i watched! *yippee*

i missed heroes.
and grey's
and prison break.

i miss tv.
long baths.
gym.
cooking.
blogging.

most importantly, i miss my laptop.
it's down with some memory-ram glitch and the exams have totally made me dependent on him and yus for laptop usage.
*rarr*

but i'm not complaining...
this is a good way to start the slow and steady after-exams celebrations.

heroes.
blogging.
home.
food.
sleep.

here's to being a bum til i get a job.

*woohoo*

:)

hiatus

2007-04-07T11:34:00.000+08:00

will be gone for some time.
the laptop's got some glitch in the RAM
and i'd prolly need to send it to the Dell Center.
will do that after exams. (27th april)
=(

byee.

habis draft 1!

2007-04-04T22:52:00.000+08:00

what do you do after you've waited for 2 hours for your canon inkjet to print 108 (mostly in colour) pages of your 1st fyp draft.... that's more than 2 weeks past it's dateline?

ok.
you rush to school and hand it in...
then you go for mandarin..
ok ok.. then????

you MAKAN!!!!!

ah, riangnya hati!
i've never felt so happy and carefree... even with the looming exams.
i'm so glad the nightmare's finally over and i can be normal and happy and food-blogging again!
the world seems brighter.
the air is sweeter.
even my throat infection's gone far far away...
and i'm high on the giggles.

i called nurain yesterday evening to get makan suggestions from her
but she didnt pick up
(she's ADDICTED to settlers' i tell you. she should just buy all the games there, and set up her own game-cafe-place)
we wanted to try out padi & nooch, shaz's been there, and my junior emailed about it
but we didnt know how to get there.
sooooo we decided, that since we're desperate, we'd hit the airport
to try out popeye's.
being jakun, we reached the counter and began wondering what 'chicken & biscuits' meant.
biscuits???
in my mind, the biscuits were oreos and milo cookies... and biscuit farley.
anyone remembers farley?
it's this round fat biscuit that babies eat..
mummies prepare it in a bowl.
meaning, biscuit, in bowl, pour milk, biscuit soggy, feed baby.
aaaand i'm digressing.
ok.
so i called nurain again. mainly because i was high, and i just wanted to.
and asked her to explain the 'biscuits' part
got that cleared up, and we ordered a 3 piece chicken meal with an extra biscuit, to share.
because i wasn't sure of how the large the meal was going to be.

as you can see... the chicken is SO kudut lah.
as kudut as his finger.
the biscuits were ok.
but i wasn't impressed at all.
long john silver's WAY better!
popeye's gets 1 star. out of 5.

because i wasn't over-the-moon-happy at popeye's

we went searching for more things to eat.

aaaaand we settled on polar.

brownie and apple crumble were at $1.60 each.

the hot chocolate was really good. the best part of the evening, i feel.

next would be the apple crumble. the baked apples tasted good. :)

the brownie was a mistake. it was more very-old-cake than brownie.

but polar's cafe was better than popeye's.

so it get's 3 stars.

and we did padi & nooch today!

pretty fountain.

the meal set came with a salad

i took a prawn don, i think. he took teriyaki chicken.

nice!

he rates it a 4.5

i gave a 3.5

purely because i thought it wasn't as good as ramen ten.

the selection was quite limited.

and i was hoping for some sushi.

ah. but i'm satisfied. kenyang.

and ready to mug for the rest of... well, until 27th apr.

body shoP!

2007-03-31T01:21:00.000+08:00

yus and i went body shopping on thursday.

it was brilliant!

we spent less than $80 on all these.

(it's good to have a sister who's as obsessed about body shop as you are...)

got back home and calculated that we would have spent $177.90 if it wasn't a warehouse sale.

2 bottles of vitamin E toners were going for $14.90, when the U.P. of each bottle's $19.90.

and the U.P. for fuzzy peach's $24.90, was at $12.90!

the warehouse sale's from 29th march to 1st april, at the suntec convention center level 3

all that body shopping made us hungry.

so we scooted over to QiJi at marina square.

i've always loved QiJi.

it's halal!

i think their mee siam rocks.

i've heard their laksa's good too.

but i'm no fan of laksa, so i've never tried.

i also love their popiah.

yus ordered their nasi lemak (which is nice too, but not as nice as Adam Rd's)

i ordered the prawn popiah

and we gobbled them up before i realised i didn't take pics.

but, we took a picture of chee cheong fan.

it was our first chee cheong fan.

my first thoughts were that it was gonna be tasteless.

but i started with the bits that were soaked in the clear sweet sauce.

nice.

then dipped with the chilli.

nice.

then dipped with the funky black sauce. (is it oyster sauce?)

not nice. at all.

yus thinks it's an acquired taste.

i just avoided the funky black sauce..

we're left wondering...

is chee cheong fan a main dish or dessert?

hard @ work

2007-03-23T22:57:00.000+08:00

these songs on my playlist are the only seven on repeat mode.
for now.
they're keeping me sane for...

fyp.
yes, that's my CAD (computer aided drawing) of my school's water tunnel.
not very accurate but i think it'll suffice for my draft. (which was due on the 13th...)
and the small white cubish thing on the grey transparent plate submerged in water is my specimen that i slogged away on for the past month or so.
i have 6 of them actually.
i officially ended my lab work last friday.
met the prof yesterday and he was very nice about it.
there's 3 of us still having lots of difficulty with the draft.
he extended our datelines, but i still wanna get the draft over and done so i can focus on other things.

like having a life.
obsessing about food.
and blogging!
gah!

now that i've got a dose of blogger, it's back to the report.
*boo*

without lifting a finger you're holding me back.

2007-03-08T22:56:00.000+08:00

Well you're the closest thing I have
To bring up in a conversation
About a love that didnt last
But I could never call you mine
Cause I could never call myself yours
And if we were really meant to be
Well then we justify destiny
It's not that our love died
Just never really bloomed

No, I cant let go
No, I cant let go of you
You're holding me back without even trying to.
I cant let goI cant move on from the past
Without lifting a finger you're holding me back.

Can't Let Go - Landon Pigg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7r4MTdV8Xo

No man is an island entire unto himself.

2007-03-04T01:50:00.000+08:00

Meredith Grey: Four hundred years ago, another well-known English guy had an opinion about being alone. John Donne. He thought we were never alone. Of course, it was fancier when he said it. "No man is an island entire unto himself." Boil down that island talk, and he just meant that all anyone needs is someone to step in and let us know we're not alone. And who's to say that someone can't have four legs. Someone to play with or run around with, or just hang out.

---

when you've got 8 years' worth of emotional baggage still being lugged around as you maneuver your way around your everyday dilemmas, you know you're not gonna last pretty long.
8 years.
there's bound to be some form of breakdown every now and then.

he knows i'm screwed up.
he knows the frequency of my chest pains, my out-of-the-blue panic attacks, my zoning out, my tears.
maybe not all of them.
some of which i've kept to myself. others, with different people; most of the time, they're the unlucky ones left stunned not knowing what to do because i break down unexpectedly.

i'm just as screwed up as you are.
but maybe i'm luckier, because there's always someone who helps me get by.

all anyone needs is someone to step in.

you need someone to step in.

beautiful love.

2007-03-02T02:24:00.000+08:00

let's start march with a new skin.

kitty kat sent me a song, and it's been on repeat mode ever since.

inspired the theme of the skin.

the background's a picture of the flow visualization (yes, those swirls) i've been doing at the water tunnel lab for my fyp.

uh-huh! (yes yes... i'm obsessed with the flowS)

so this is the song.

Beautiful Love - The Afters

From far away, I feel your beating heart

All alone, beneath the crystal stars

I'm staring into space, what a lonely face

I'll try to find my place with you

Chorus:

What a beautiful smile

Can it stay for a while

On this beautiful night

We'll make everything right

My beautiful love

Larger than the moon, my love for you

Worlds collide, as heaven pulls us through

The secret of the world is written in the stars

I'm carrying your heart in mine

What a beautiful smile

Can it stay for a while

On this beautiful night

We'll make everything right

My beautiful love

Maybe a greater thing will happen

Maybe all will see

Maybe our love will catch like fire

As it burns through me

Maybe a greater thing will happen

Maybe all will see

Maybe our love will catch like fire

As it burns through me

Maybe a greater thing will happen

Maybe all will see

Maybe our love will catch like fire

As it burns through me

What a beautiful smile

Can it stay for a while

On this beautiful night

We'll make everything right

What a beautiful smile

Can it stay for a while

On this beautiful night

We'll make everything right
My Beautiful la-la-la-la-lovela-la-la-la-love

My beautiful la-la-la-la-lovela-la-la-la-love

My beautiful love

amirah's grill yum

2007-02-20T17:15:00.000+08:00

at pahang street

ice lemon tea and hibiscus drink

mushroom soup

moutabel & hummus dips, & coleslaw

beef kebab with rice

chicken kebab with potatoes

it was my first visit there, and i LOVED it.
:)

i'll be happy on my own

2007-02-12T00:07:00.000+08:00

mugging hasnt started.
baking on tues.
lab marathon fri, sat, sun, mon.
tuition tests for othman.
trying out *low-profile* for a week.

i'll be happy on my own. i hope.

---

you invest your feelings.
and then, when the person, thing, matter, issue you care about...
somehow, makes you feel disappointed...
you let it all out, and fight the disappointment.

an msn debate follows.
you stand your ground.
and at the end of it all, there's hope;
the disappointment can be rectified.

then the chat abruptly ends.

as does every other debate.
as does every phone call.

like i never mattered in the first place.
like i never existed.
like the years, the feelings, the effort i've invested didnt deserve a more polite, soothing conversation end.

it's an insult. but i'm still caring.
that's the trouble with caring

hippyism

2007-02-04T01:56:00.000+08:00

this week was... kecoh
we had yearbook phototaking session @ school.
took pics with firza & maz, my galpals from MAE. :)

career fair lasted 2 days. that was tiring.
we took an hour to cover the 1st floor.
depressing.
because i felt even more unemployable, even though i was distributing my resumes like i would fliers.

the CNC lab gave me 2 pieces of delrin this week.
so i was quite happy.
that meant i could use the milling machine
and yesterday was the first time i did the whole process unsupervised!
ok fine, so masagoes came along soon after, but i did MOST of it on my own.
*pats own head*
i think milling takes alot of body strength that i don't possess.
it's de fixing of the jig, the tightening of stuff..
i woke up with an aching body!
but i felt good. i learnt fast. finished the drilling.

met the babes on sat.
we went settlers, and nurain brought Is along.
honestly, i was feeling kinda... apprehensive, about meeting Is, especially at a place which I would prefer hanging out with those who I am most comfortable with.
but, surprisingly, he was really nice and polite and easy to get along.
so we were all of to a great start at settlers'.
we went to the katong outlet, and i expected it to be crowded, since it was the weekend..
no it wasn't.
:)

the people there were very helpful
and the four of us had loads of laughs.
we should do this again babes!
we had dinner @ simpang bedok's spize.

good food. good company.
saturdays don't get any better..

Crazy Bunny

2007-02-02T00:20:00.001+08:00

i'm moving on now.

2007-02-01T02:27:00.000+08:00

I was all right for a while

I could smile for a while

but I saw you last night

You held my hand so tight

When you stopped to say hello

you wished me well

You couldn’t tell that

I’ve been crying over you,

Crying over you and you said so long

Left me standing all alone,

Alone and crying, crying, crying, crying

It’s hard to understand

but the touch of your hand can start me crying

I thought that I was over you

But it’s true, so true

I love you even more than I did before

But darling, what can I do?

For you don’t love me

and I’ll always be

Crying over you, crying over you

yes now you’re gone

and from this moment on,

I’ll be crying, crying, crying, crying

Yeah, crying, crying over you

crying, roy orbison

a blessing in disguise

2007-01-28T23:17:00.000+08:00

the past 2 weeks have been trying.

these got me thru.

nestum coated chicken

nutella chocolate hazelnut cupcake

mussy, i hope you're back in aussie safe.
miss you already!

two point 5

2007-01-15T02:03:00.001+08:00

two and a half hours ago i was happy.
updating on settlers'.

and now i can't sleep. again.
thinking of things i've said and done.
of the what-ifs, the regrets.
those i've hurt.
and those i've lost.

it's sickening.
how i get to a high
and then, it all pops into the head
then i'm back to being this.

it'll be the end of me.

settlers' (medium sized pics)

2007-01-14T23:08:00.000+08:00

ain's uploaded settlers' pics and i *kop* all from her.
http://purpleraintree.blogspot.com

(thanx babe. and get well soon!)

we started off with an easy game.

crazy monkeys or something like that.

the monkeys are all hanging at the top of the tree,

supported by the sticks...

easy peasy

aim of the game is to take out stick by stick, level by level...

and ensure that the monkey's don't drop down the tree...

the person with the most monkeys will lose..

we moved on to taboo but that lasted for like 15 mins before we got bored and moved on to charoodles~!

THE game

charoodles is a game of charades with props
left us giggling til our tummies hurt.
there's not much to elaborate...
you had to be there when we were playing it.
(so, it's a must try game)

settler's was great.

we took a package which involved 4 of us paying for set meals & 2 hrs of gaming time.

osh ordered ala carte and fan, who came late ordered a drink.

the set meals came with a starter (soup) the main course, dessert (scoop of ice cream) and a drink.

huge (obscene) portions

it came up to about $15 per person (for each of the 4 of us), and i think it was quite ok..

considering the food was good (halal), and the portions were sufficient

and we had such a good time.

i think it's safe to say that this was our best F6 meet up.

after the games were done we gave out the birthday prezzies for the december babies.

yanto's black & white collage

kitty kat's own comic strip

yanto and kat were happy people and i was surprised kat liked hers so much she laughed til she cried.

(her collage was comic-themed)

and we got crazy outside settlers'...

let's jump pics: i jumped too fast...

and my dress is poofing...

the gal pals

the girlie pic

let's do settlers' again!

all good things

2007-01-13T17:20:00.000+08:00

ok.
so maybe i wasn't being truthful about the week.
it was exciting, on the surface.
but i struggling emotionally.

it's all better now.

flames to dust
lovers to friends
why do all good things come to an end?
nelly furtado - all good things

--

my timetable's relatively light, so i've decided to make saturdays my cooking days.
it started with the burgers last week.
and today i made nasi kunyit istimewa, salad kentang goreng & kepak ayam tairu.
all from Aziza's creative malay cuisine book.

i don't cook.
even if i cook, it's basic things like spaghetti and nasi goreng which are really easy to do.
i prefer baking.
so what took my bibik an hour, i finished in three.
yes, that slow.

i'm super slow at everything.
slicing potatoes. onions...
onions! those things are terrible!
they make you tear...
and they make those scary hissing sounds once thrown into the frying pan.

it was good though, being in the kitchen with my bibik, supervising me, feeding me with tips.
learnt a lot from her.

three hours slogging, the food turned out alright.

it took my mind off things...

1st week.

2007-01-13T01:06:00.000+08:00

first week of school is rarely ever exciting.
but this week turned out to be quite good.

first up was the long awaited F6-celebrates-december-babies!
somehow, we couldn't meet up in december.
and so we spent tues at settlers'
settlers' rocks!
i'd love to elaborate, but i'd wanna do an entry solely on settlers.
and since i didn't bring the cam that day, i wanna wait for ain to load the pics up.
:)

settler's is a must.
and charoodles... was oodles of fun.

we did burgers this week.
kat seduced me with mac's black pepper beef prosperity burger.
osh seduced us with kfc's zinger with cheese.
we concluded that mac's BPBPG was better than kfc's ZWC,

i finally did my nails this week.
:)
used my birthday voucher for hollywood secrets for my very first manicure.
like rusa masuk kampung you know.

manicurist: what shape you want?
me: um, any shape lah
manicurist: got round. got square.
me: um.. square?
manicurist: how short you want?
*proceeds to cut fingernails even before i could answer her*
me: um, ok. ya. that short.

not like i could do anything to stop her, right?

after a while...

manicurist: first time manicure ha?
me: errr... ya.

then she looked at the lady customer beside me and gave this *laugh*
as if to say,"HAHA! so obvious you never had a manicure before because your nails are horrendous looking. ew!"

there were too many processes to remember
and i didn't wanna ask about them, for fear that the manicurist might just give me more *laughs*
but i felt really pampered (thanx F6!)

after the nails were done, i felt so alien trying to pick up my bag.
i had glossy pink square nails.
there i was, trying my best not to ruin them, and being aware that my nails were now square-edged and were no longer able to scratch in the normal way i would...
STILL, i was happY.

what do you do after your very first manicure?
you buy your first bottle of nail polish remover. ;)

we also did karmelkorn's caramel popcorn, pretzels, churros & cherries.

too much unhealthy food.
once the burger obsession's over, it'll be better... right?

sch starts tmr

2007-01-07T23:27:00.000+08:00

squeezing in last minute what-i-did-during-the-week updates before school starts tomorrow.
ugh.
i know i should be happy taking the final 3 modules this sem.
but my timetable's crap.
oh well.

we decided to do fried ice cream (purely because i saw it on Ain's blog and i wanted it badly) and prata at al-azhar.
mushroom cheese prata for me, banana prata for him and a set of fried ice cream (choc & vanilla).
ain was right, it was a messy affair. *swoon*

mum decided to let me cook for the family on saturday.
and by cook, i mean make gigantic mushroom swiss stuffed burgers.

http://www.visualrecipes.com/recipe-details/recipe_id/72/Gigantic-Mushroom-Swiss-Stuffed-Burgers/

didn't use ingredients like mustard powder and a1 sauce...
i guess, for my first attempt, it was oklah...
mushrooms and cheese melting all over made up for the flaws.
but, no more burger making for me.
mac's has the black pepper range out.
BK's got 2 new burgers out.
zinger got cheaper...

i'm gonna pace myself. *hee*

met the cedarians earlier today.
went for an ala carte buffet at siam kitchen.
habz called me yesterday and we were giggling about ala carte buffet.
it didn't make sense to the both of us.
habz said," ala carte cancels out buffet, so what are we gonna eat?"
then more giggles.
i miss giggling with her.
not the point.
habz was late (i wasn't early, but i was not the MOST late)
so it was just shaz, mus, hanim and me phototaking.
habz came after the drinks got served.
then came the glorious food.

for $15++ i thought the thai lunch buffet was definitely worth it. :)

it was a nice slow lunch, with a whole lot of catching up and laughter.
shaz's driving stories got me into stitches.
shaz, mus and hanim did most of the updating
which was good, because, i liked the listening, and the laughter that comes along.

almost ten years of us.
and more to come.
:)

thanx for the pics shaz!

the new obsession

2007-01-03T00:20:00.000+08:00

i'm over cupcakes.
this year begins with my new obsession, burgers.
since i read shaz's entry on chili's, the mushroom swiss burger's been on my mind.
i think about it all the time.
i will show people who have time to layan me, the picture of the big burger.
and, i've been recipe hunting, for burgers.
yesterday, we went to satisfy my burger obsession at swensen's.
and i'm still high. yes, from the burger.

the top pics were of the mega burger. it's really heeeyuuj! but not as tall as that big burger from chili's.

the bottom pics were of the cheesy salsa beef burger.

we ordered ice cream, but we had to cancel it because we were too stuffed by the end of the meal.

i was happy. satisfied. kenyang. :)

happy!

2006-12-30T00:13:00.000+08:00

yus introduced me to edward monkton.
:)
http://www.edwardmonkton.com

we went to simei to celebrate, on thursday.
simei, because we love the food there, and because the never-ending rain prevented us from going far.
not just waffles. our second time.
i realise that not just waffles really has a limited selection of waffles.
and that the prices were not for budget-conscious me.
despite all that, it was still a good food place for us.
waffles were freshly baked, and mine came with chocolate drizzled on it, and a scoop of mango ice cream.
i was deliriously happy.
he ordered plain waffles and a turkey bacon burger.
when the burger came, we thought it was a rip-off. $3.50 for something i could assemble on my own.
but a bite later and we were amazed at the juicyness that oozed out.
ok. i have to say the best burger i've eaten has got to be swensen's.
but for $3.50, it made him a very happy boy, and me, a very jealous girl.

we walked around east point after and discovered a malay stall on level 3, i think.
didnt catch it's name, but we'll go there once we've conquered old chang kee's take 5.
we went to banquet too and discovered more tempting foods.

i wanna live in simei.

11 years

2006-12-25T01:22:00.000+08:00

the best friend got married today.

the best friend from primary school, that is.

yes. 11 years of friendship.

2 years of sitting by the science garden, listening to her debate with siti and dilah about who was better... fann wong or zoe tay. i didn't care because i didn't watch the drama serials.

7 years of how-do-you-do calls, short meet ups, visiting...

she had totally different ideals, principles...

which brought about countless of disagreements.

but she never got totally mad.

she understood that i cared for her alot.

i loved her.

i still love her.

and i miss her so much.

and now she's married.

and i find myself regretting i never made the effort.

to spend time with her. to check up on her.

and i suppose i could comfort myself by saying she didn't make the effort either.

oh, but it's just too late isn't it?

once the friends get married they don't really have time for old friends.

they're too busy with work and hubby and the in-laws and the parents and plans and commitments....

here's to you, babe.

saturday was let's go town day.

ate at lucky plaza.

he ordered ayam penyet. and i FINALLY got my mee bakso.

let's do the ayam penyet.

prior to saturday, i've only had ayam penyet from changi village.

lucky plaza's ayam penyet costs $5.50, and comes with vege and tahu and tempeh and tiny chicken/flour crisps.

changi village's ayam penyet costs $3.50 and comes with soup, vege, cherry tomato(es).

if you're looking for tender chicken, tear-jerking chilli and a nice ambience, lucky plaza's good.

but if you're on a tighter budget, you want bigger portions (of both rice and drinks) and better flavour, changi's better.

the cost of milo dinosaur in a considerably tiny glass was $2.
a mug of milo dinosaur at changi costs about $1.40.

i'd say i still love changi's ayam penyet. it's more berbaloi. :)

got the tip from ain, so i ordered mee bakso.

it was, so-so.

perhaps my expectations were very high.

it satisfied my craving, nonetheless.

cupcakes!

2006-12-21T23:57:00.000+08:00

because i'm visiting FAST tmr,
i thought i'd bake. yes. again.
obsessed? yeah. you can say that.
this entry's mainly for shaz. :)
i'm no expert on cupcakes
but this one's easy (at least, it gets easier and easier each time i bake)

here's the recipe for the cupcakes.
got it off yus's home ec book.
you'll need:

100g self-raising flour OR 100g plain flour ( i used super fine flour)
1 level tsp baking powder
50g frozen butter chopped finely
50g caster sugar
1 egg + 1/4 tsp vanilla essence - beaten together
milk to mix

method:

grease patty tin or use cake cases
sift flour & baking powder together

rub butter into flour with fingertips until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs (it's important that the butter's not melting, it's gotta be right out of the fridge coz the mixture won't resemble breadcrumbs if the butter's all gooey)
add sugar & fruit, if used.
beat egg & vanilla essence. stir into mixture with wooden spoon. add enough milk to mix to a dropping consistency. for chocolate cupcakes add 1 tsp of chocolate emulco and another 1/4 tsp vanilla essence into egg & vanilla essence. (using an electric beater helps make the mixture smoother) stir in chocolate chips once mixture is smooth.

fill cake cases until half full. (the actual recipe says 3/4 full, but when it's 3/4 full, the cupcakes overflow out of the cups. tak cantik)
bake for about 15 - 20 min at 180 degrees.

the recipe is for 5 to 6 cupcakes, using a size 50 cupcake cup. ( i don't know how they measure it, but that's what i asked for. size 50. )

to make the icing, this recipe was what yus googled off the internet, and i've been using ever since. you need:

450g icing sugar
1 egg white (large)
50g / 2oz liquid glucose
food colouring and/or flavouring (optional)

method:

sift icing sugar into a mixing bowl and make a well in the centre
add egg white and liquid glucose into well. beat with a wooden spoon, gradually pulling in the icing sugar from the sides of the bowl to give a stiff mixture

knead the icing thoroughly, mixing in any remaining icing sugar in the bowl to give it a smooth and manageable paste.add colouring and flavouring as desired and extra sifted icing sugar if necessary. for this batch, i used yellow colouring, and vanilla essence. adding flavouring helps lessen the *eggy* smell of the icing.
spread it out or pipe it out onto the cupcakes!

icing is the more time and effort consuming compared to baking. the icing can be used for about 10 to 25 cupcakes, depending on how much icing you use per cupcake. icing hardens a little while after being piped. according to the recipe you don't have to throw extra icing away because the icing can be stored in a tightly-sealed polythene bag or a plastic container in a cool place for 2-3 days before use.

to shop for baking products, you should head to tanjong katong complex. don't know the shop name, but here's the directions to get there. (HA!)

head towards shop and save. if you're standing facing shop and save, head to the exit doors on your left. you should be able to see a main road. turn left and the baking shop is next to a hardware shop. the shop's got most of what you'd need. emulco, cupcake decorations (flowers, hearts...) the shop owners are very helpful.

and... that's it. :) enjoy cupcake baking!

oh.

here are the pics from the bbq i had with my npcc squadmates.
was great catching up with them, after almost 6 years of not hearing from most of them.
food was good. company excellent.
*love*

the boost i needed

2006-12-15T22:54:00.000+08:00

the plastic cubes (delrin) came today.
i got them to the CNC lab, then left for the library.
met dr spot at 2, and got the confirmation that Mr Yew will only be able to finish fabrication by next January.

JANUARY.

the semester's practically just three months long!
and i won't be able to have anything done within that period.

i'm doomed.

and what do you do when you're doomed?
you bake. 25 of em. and you use blue.
because blue's your favourite colour. and it makes you happy.
changed the way i piped.
used the piping tip i bought.
kinda useful.
i don't have the camera with me, so i sent the cupcakes over so that he could have some... and that's how i got the pics! (thank you!)

an excuse person's getting married.

2006-12-14T22:55:00.001+08:00

sally: (to susan) you're my best friend, you're my main excuse person.
jane: your main what?
sally: excuse person. you know, i'm still not married. but that's ok, coz susan's still not married. it's what i keep saying to myself. it's the only way i can get to sleep.

another friend's getting married this 24th. not a senior. my LONG time friend.

met an ex on monday at the simei train station. my first question was,"are you waiting for your girlfriend?" because the last time i heard from him, he was telling me about his girlfriend and how they were getting along fine...
he replied,"i'm waiting for my wife." then he pointed in her direction.

married. apparently since 4 months back. am genuinely and pleasantly happy that he's settled down. and i salam-ed his wife.

married.

quick updates:
met mussy and habz, and it was really really good to just catch up with the babes.
good food. good girl talk. ah, miss them already.

met famous 6 on monday. ECP-ed. we were having our day out, and at the same time giving Osh his bday prezzies. he was happy. we're all happy. ain cooked. we UNO-ed and BLUFF-ed. then cycled. to the jetty. then away from the rain. met cats. then headed to simei for some 1901 and sarpino's. YUM!

stole the slide from ain (thanx babe!)

met yanto and shaliza for another round of double date on tuesday. the boys' first time to escape theme park. it's the theme park's 6th anniversary, so unlimited rides were $6 per person. before we could go on our third ride, it started raining, so we played pool while waiting for the weather to change. pool was fun, the last game being battle of the sexes. after pool, we did the go karts before heading off to changi for ayam penyet. best!

and i've been dragging myself to school since wednesday. ugh. fyp is so depressing. looking forward to saturday!

all alone...

2006-12-08T21:07:00.000+08:00

the family's going away for the week
and leaving lil' ol me behind because i'm stuck with fyp.

*boo*

oh well.

the teflon's been ordered.

so i'm waiting for fabrication to begin.

i have watched the whole first season of prison break.

i didn't understand why kitty kat or the civil engineering peeps were... shall i say, obsessed with the show.

but NOW i know why.

scofield isn't only eye candy... he's such a smarty pants too.

no, kitty kat, i have no intention of stealing your precious scofield. he's yours ya?

for the benefit of others who have been deprived of tv, like me...

here's michael scofield. and dr sara tancredi.

i'm itching to start the second season.

flower power!

2006-12-03T03:41:00.000+08:00

a new layout... yesh... i get bored with layouts pretty quick...
and since i'm bored.
and i'm addicted to photoshop...
:)
whyyy not?
flower power!!

hafiedzul got married today!
not much pics though...

cupcake fairy princesses

2006-12-01T23:55:00.000+08:00

what happens if you put 2 girls with nothing to do on a Friday?
you get 30 wild cupcakes!

ain and me had on-and-off help from yus & my bibik...
started at 12+, ended around 7.
the easier part was the baking.
they turned out surprisingly well.
it was icing that slowed us down.
2 batches of icing... 5 colors.
we attempted to roll out the icing and cut out shapes using cookie cutters...
didn't work. *upset*
so we piped all the way.

making cupcakes is... equivalent to gg to gym.
penat!
but well worth it.
:)

i intend to bake more soon.
tinier ones, so icing won't be a nightmare.
haha.

all i want you to do is be...

2006-11-29T22:52:00.000+08:00

I can see us holding hands
Walking on the beach our toes in the sand
I can see us on the country side
Sitting on the grass laying side by side
You can be my baby
Let me make you my lady
Girl you amaze me
Aint gotta do nothin crazy
See all I want you to do is be... my love

-My Love, Justin Timberlake

yes. i'm finally back.
throughout the weeks i've been away, (only 2 kan? not long right?) there are moments which i felt i shud've blogged out.
like... the past catching up with me.
thru friendster, no less.
and hari raya being... kinda weird on my end.

but then, there are the happy moments, like kartini's wedding, and hanging out with kat n ain before and after the wedding.
reading the emails from squadmates. (cheryl got married!!!!)
and the endless mugging with the people who i see everyday at level 5.
de happy moments kept me in check...

and after 7 papers, 17 hours of being in the exam halls, the constant munching on unhealthy snacks (i gained weight ok! UGH!) and the shoulder cramps from writing too much, i finally had a good good day out yesterday.

i dun really like to show off about him.
as in, i dun really like to post up pics of... him, or us being all googley-eyed n loveydovey, coz in my mind, i might just offend people... with the menyampahness of it all.
but this entry's kinda focusing on him...
coz it was his birthday on sunday...
we celebrated it yesterday after my fluids paper, and because we had the no-birthday-present-just-a-day-out agreement, with the suggestions from ain & osh, i made him do a birthday amazing race.
started at masjid sultan, made our way to bugis junction, took neoprints, watched happy feet while eating strawberries & nutella and had dinner at Eatzi's Simei. and he was pleasantly surprised when the waitress brought out the banana choc cake, and the birthday song was sung. he was all smiley.

after all that, we agreed that we'd revert to our usual system next year. coz the cupcakes thing and this amazing race thing, altho was all good and fun, kinda bordered on being stressful. at least, that was wat i thought. and i've always LOVED planning and the *stress* that comes with it. am i getting too old? hmmm.

eatzi's another reason why simei is food paradise.
ok, so the prices are kinda ex, but it's comparable to swensen's.
the service there's good.
i mean, if u're planning on doing a nice birthday surprise, eatzi's a good place to try.

sigh. eat eat eat. dats y so fat.
oh well. it's the curse of living in the east i guess.
all the good food's here.

kitty kat needs me to list down the places that have nice food.
so i shall make a list, starting from bugis...

bugis

al-majlis
indulge cake shop
hajah maimunah
zamzam
victory ( i think, beside zamzam )
raffles hospital banquet
the nasi lemak, kuih kuih place beside delifrance at bugis junction basement

lavender

beach road hawker centre

paya lebar (geylang)

onan road's curry puff place
di tanjong katong restaurant @ tanjong katong complex
cavana @ post center

eunos

pattaya garden thai restaurant
makmur restaurant

kembangan

al-ameen
captain's food
mak's place
chai chee restaurant
lau (la?) mian yong tau foo
my house? HAHAHA!

bedok & east coast

that mee soto stall at the interchange
arnold's, opposite block 512 bedok north.
east coast's food center
that turkish place opposite macs at east coast

tanah merah

simpang bedok
bedok corner

simei

eatzi
not just waffles
1901

tampines

qiji
level 4 food court at century square
basement of tampines mall's got nasi lemak & 1901
family banquet ( i think, mum just found out about it)
new york pizza
bali thai

pasir ris & changi

1901
cavana
ayam penyet @ changi village
nasi lemak @ changi village

the prof just smsed.
and it's 12.27am!
sigh... must start fyp.

this is the holiday plan.
do fyp.
gym.
meet mussy, habz n nurain.
go back to FAST to say hello.
bake cupcakes.
meet F6 for F6 healthy day out.
meet kak siti and baby nabil.
start tuition again.
expand couple-friends list.
attend dec kids camp.

happy no-school to everyone!

over.

2006-11-04T22:29:00.000+08:00

raya, for me, was over after the 1st day.
nope, i didn't go out last weekend.
and today, i decided not to join the family and stay home with yus to do school related stuff.
but i did join them for family dinner (it's mum's birthday today).

just completed the final editting to my design report.
feels like a huge huge weight's lifted off my shoulders.
now, if i can get my FYP stuff done by monday, i can have... a week to study before my first paper on the 15th.

my stress level's hitting an all-time high
and my moods have been unpredictable.
i haven't been the friend i should be
i've snapped
and broken down
and i suspect there won't be much improvement as the exam draws nearer.

no updates til after the 28th.

i'm sorry
if i haven't been caring enough
or i don't seem to be listening

i'm sorry.

obscenity

2006-10-28T20:59:00.000+08:00

ob-scen-i-ty [uhb-sen-i-tee, -see-ni-]
-noun, plural -ties for 2, 3.

1. the character or quality of being obscene; indecency; lewdness.

2. something obscene, as a picture or story.

3. an obscene word or expression, esp. when used as an invective.

1901's obscenely good. made yus try the coney dog (2nd pic) today.
i tried the new york chicken (3rd pic). i couldn't tell what the green stuff are.
think it's lettuce.. but it could also be finely chopped capsicum.
yummy.
although, i still prefer the coney dog.
oh. wat you see in the pic is the large sized hot dogs.
large meaning, longer in length. it costs $3.80.
not worth it, you say? it will be when you sink your teeth into it.
there's also the shorter hotdogs, which are also as filling.
costs $2.90.
1901's also got set meals which i've yet to try out
set meals consist of hotdog of choice, mash potato and a drink.
cheaper den macs, and prolly more satisfying too!
check it out!!!

for Syawal...

2006-10-24T22:00:00.000+08:00

white chocolate mess

2006-10-22T21:58:00.000+08:00

baking, or anything related to it, has never been something i'm good at.

so when i embarked on this white chocolate idea,

i thought hey, they said it's easy... so why not?

they, in this case, were the websites i checked out and a friend's mom who does choc stuffs and of cors, yus.

my first attempt at melting chocolate was, bad.

i chunked the whole bar in and got impatient.

tak melt melt. so i took it off the double boiler and just heated it above the stove.

the white choc caramelized and turned brown.

my second attempt, yus suggested microwaving the choc.

chopped the bar into teenie pieces and stuff it into the microwave.

the top melted, and the bottom hangus.

my third attempt today, thanx to ain, was good.

coz i grated the choc and double-boiled it... and the choc melted so wonderfully.

*yey*

so i was happy. i only made 57, using 1 and a half bar of white choc. i still have 2 bars left from the 1 kg of choc i bought.

no, it's not for raya.

for me! to eat. and be happy with the fact that i survived white chocolate...

RARRRRRRRRRARRARARRARARARRARARR

:[ look at my FANGS. i am yEVIL>

dat was yus.

okie!

the birthday... the food fest... the peemple...

2006-10-22T00:45:00.000+08:00

Get Your Own! View Slideshow

so it was great turning 22. especially when you've got company.

and prezzies!

opted for the dinner instead of the usual SPLURGE.

since the cupcakes already made me so highhh.

pizza hut was THE place to go cheese crazy. *thank you, ehems*

i thot i'd swear off cheese for a month.

(but naaaah. i can't stay away from cheese. i'm currently craving for long john's cheese dip... mmm...)

prezzies were lovely.

to: yus, faiz, danial, firza and of course, my darling famous 6 (ain, kitty kat, fan, osh & yanto)

thank you very very much!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i love love love everything!

---

i recently made a list of what i've been craving to eat...

here they are... in random order

onan road curry puff
mee bakso
clementi chicken chop
burger ramli
dendeng
ayam percik
mee kepiting
nasi goreng merah
cheese dip from Long John's
sponge cake
roti john
mushroom prata (specifically from upper thomson, i think)
chicken rice
coney dog (from the recently halal 1901 hotdog stalls)
mac pancakes
not just waffles' waffles
ben and jerry's ice cream (preferably strawberry shortcake flavor)
kebab on pita bread

and... yesterday we went on a food fest!

i would have brought the camera and showed all the EXCELLENT food we got,

but the food fest was an impromptu decision...

we got the...

coney dog
kebab
ayam percik
dendeng
burger ramli

ALL in one night.

the coney dog is a MUST TRY! anyone's who missing A&W's coney dog will not be satisfied with just one coney dog from 1901. 1901's got other hotdogs too. there's texas.. and cheesy... but for the first time trying, i'd suggest the coney dog. there are outlets at pasir ris (along the MRT, beside a bubble tea shop), tampines mall (at the basement, opposite nasi lemak stall) and simei (outside the MRT station, on the side of East Point). MUST EAT!!! 1901's another reason to love Simei... :)

we headed to geylang and got chicken kebab on pita bread. got it from the anatolia (the same far east turkish place)stall. was good!

ayam percik was from this small stall at the junction of onan road. near the teh tarik makan area. it's de best, mazlinah says, and i agree! chicken was tender, bones didnt get in the way, the chicken oozes its way into your mouth. perfect!

dendeng was from.. where else.. the dendeng house, very near the ayam percik stall. sedap as usual.

and burger ramli, u can practically get it anywhere in the bazaar. what i love about the one we got was that it was nicely done. the egg was very soft and fluffy and light. not very greasy. and the meat was juicy.

here's a tip.

if you're on a food fest, make sure u have a buddy. and don't be greedy and buy 2 of everything. buy one of each and share. that way, you satisfy your food love, and don't get a tummy ache at the end of everything.

but in the case of the coney dog, you should each get one. or more. :)

back to my list...

5 down, many more to eat!

---

From: "Yusrina Yusoff" <yusrina_y@hotmail.com>

Subject: today

Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2006 17:52:06 +0000

let me tell you about my day.
i have a HUGE pimple. see that red hill-like structure? nope. not bukit timah. nope. not red hill. it's a growing throbbing protruding pimple and it's on MY NOSE. uhhuh. it practically walks into the room before me.so what does this pimple mean to me? it means alot of things. for starters, it means my period's coming. is that a bad thing? maybe. i'm gonna be missing a few nights of terawih come the end of ramadan. is that a good thing? maybe. it tells me i'm not pregnant and all is well with my ovaries and uterus. what else does this pimple mean? it means that people are going to stare and wonder to themselves, "GOODNESS GRACIOUS ME. How did THAT end up there?" OR "LOOK AT THAT DISGUSTING THING ON HER NOSE. suits her face very well". is that a bad thing? yes it is. i don't want people thinking things that will make me feel very small and ugly and disgusting. but that is what i am now. with this pimple. (then again,maybe i was already ugly and disgusting just that the pimple now EMPHASISES that fact) but who's to say people will think such things. and who's to say people will even notice it at all?

this is the part where i explain i am a worst-case-scenario kind of girl. yes i may seem happy happy bouncy bouncy laughy laughy but deep down i amjust a paranoid mass of cells all tied up into knots and converge in my stomach which churns every moment every day. (really it does, we just dont realise it cause it's part of the autonomic nervous system. imagine being aware of every contraction of your stomach's smooth muscles. eeks) so when such a case as this happens. what do i do? i think optimistic thoughts and tell myself, it's not so bad. nobody will see it. and if i dont mention it, if i smile wide enough, if i keep turning my head so fast, nobody can see that i have a disgusting pimple on my nose. so i feel soothed. but only for awhile. then. just like a pimple which sprouts slowly but surely, the pessimism starts to creep in. and as hard as it is to get rid of apimple, it's almost impossible to get the bad thoughts out. so they stay in. so i become sad. and i become worried. and i become ashamed. and i don't want to go to school.
so did i go to school? yes i did. did anyone see my pimple? yes they did. everyone saw. did anyone say anything? nope they didn't. did they think about it? i'm sure they did. does it matter now? no, it doesn't. not anymore.
then why am i still writing to you about it?

love, yus.

From: "Soffiah Yusoff" <soffiah_y@hotmail.com>

To: yusrina_y@hotmail.com

Subject: RE: today

Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2006 18:16:01 +0000

dearest tustiiina.
i too have a peempel. my peempel is not the pussy kind. (pronounced as pus-see, pus as in bus, and see as in see jane date. not to be confused with pussy the pussy cat... or some other... undesirable things we shall not mention on email.)
my peempel is the jerawat batu kind. it may not throb, it may not be yellow. but it is there. and it looks like it will be there for a very very long time. it's hard, like it's got a solid foundation. and it would take a gazillion facials, or sandpaper, to *asah* the peempel off my face. which would be kinda gross. because if i sandpaper my face, the smooth parts of my face will also be sandpapered away, leaving more holes in my face which will be bad for digestion because when i eat, my food will come out of my cheeks when i chew. which means it's worse than having this jerawat batu.
i think we're both sad, not because we have peempels, but because it's less than a week to raya and these peempels of ours are not going away.
how now brown cow?
this is where the structural engineer from prison break might come in handy.since he's sooooo good with foundations i bet he can figure out a way to destroy the foundation of my peempel OR, he could tattoo on his body an escape route for the insides of the peempel to escape through the oh-so-big pores on my face. which would mean, the tattoo would be a teenie tiny line on his body.which would mean it would be much nicer than the one he has now, covering his whole body and whats nots.
but i'm digressing. i think we must be commando now. no, not walk around underwear-less. we must take serious *RARR* action against our peempels. just sentel lotsa lotsa lotsa acne aid. go to school with the mountain of acne aid on top of the peempel.sooner or later, the acne aid will eat the peempel and our skin will live happily ever after. til the next peempel! -me

the obsession

2006-10-13T00:14:00.000+08:00

Get Your Own! View Slideshow

the obsession came about when i stumbled upon a senior's blog.
she's got her own cupcake business
and i visit her site almost every other week
just to see her cupcakes.
then i began surfing for other cupcake websites.
found several recipes and such.
even made ain obsess about cupcakes with me.
we chose 30th nov as cupcake baking day.

conclusion: i'm obsessed. with cupcakes.
as much as i'm obsessed with othman's cat, and the bunny on my friendster.

AND~!

i finally sank my teeth into them.
how?
my siblings were in cahoots with *ehem*
and they made me cupcakes~!
the surprise was at bedok's BK.
ahh~!!!
love love love love love cupcakes.
the cupcakes... SEDAP!
icing... SUGAR RUSH TO THE MAX.
i couldn't stop grinning the whole time...
high on sugar? or high on the surprise?
hmmm...

i'd love to go into detail about the whole surprise...
tapi nanti, *menyampah* pulak kan?
so i shall just end this entry with...

thank you for the cupcakes~!
saaaaaayang semua!

*love love love love love*

gorgeous

2006-10-08T23:06:00.000+08:00

gorgeous.

gorgeous makes effort look effortless.

gorgeous.

gorgeous can't be ordinary even if it tries.

gorgeous is worth it.

happy birthday fan~!

propulsion

2006-10-07T23:23:00.000+08:00

pro-pul-sion [pruh-puhl-shuhn]
-noun
1. the act or process of propelling.
2. the state of being propelled.
3. a means of propelling; propelling force, impulse, etc.

...

1. the act or process of propelling.

the beginning of the semester marked a new chapter for me.
after being away from sch for almost 6 mths,
i forgot what sch would be like, with the usual workloads, the tests, the CAs.
it's also a different environment for me, socially.
because now i have someone to spend my breaks with.
a constant person who bears with my temper when i drive every morning
chopes the bench for me,
to listen to me complain,
to wait for me to finish solat
to study with,
to have meals with
and to go home with.
in the semester prior to IA, i would have felt smothered.
and maybe, to be honest, i still do feel a tinge of the smothered feelings from time to time.
but i guess, it's me, propelling myself into this new chapter.
and all those smothered feelings kinda fade away.
i'm doin fine.
and i'm ok with the fact that i'm stuck with the mountain of work
because i end almost everyday with a nice drive home. :)

2. the state of being propelled.

initially, i thought that i would have it easy choosing Dr **** for my fyp.
he came highly recommended by my senior.
and this is a senior i trust.. (he got me picking aero as a specialization)
but it's past mid term and i haven't had a run with the lab,
basically because fabrication hasn't even begun.
i've been shuttling back and forth different labs,
spoke to several technicians
and basically, this fabrication dilemma's been frustrating.
i told adri (fellow fyp student) that i wanna stop fyp work for now
and continue it later in december.
i just wanted to give up.

up til yesterday, when the prof agreed to change my design specifications.
so now, i need to redo my designs.
generate tooth paths (is it tooth path?) for the machine to cut my pieces.
get quotations for my material manufacturer
alot of work eh?
if i get an A for fyp, i will give everyone involved in my fyp cupcakes.

3. a means of propelling; propelling force, impulse, etc.

religion has always been something i think about.
it's not so much the do's and dont's.
it's more of... frustration.
i get frustrated i don't know enough.
i get frustrated i don't do anything, or do very little to change the fact that i don't know enough.
i get frustrated that i somehow, "lose" myself to wanting to know more.
it's a cycle.

they say, as you get older, you'd be able to find yourself
be comfortable in your own skin
stand for what you believe in.
but i find myself getting more confused.
holding close to religious beliefs, the do's and dont's would mean i have to give up certain things i would like to do.
like, attend a hip hop concert, or join a female dikir group...
many other things...
and as much as i know that forgoing such things will, insyaAllah, be for the better of me in akhirat,
i still feel the urge to want to do such things.
it's as if i force myself to make the decisions to forgo such things.

is it part of controlling yourself?
will this "forced" feeling fade away?
until the decisions i make will come naturally, without me having to question whether or not i'm forcing myself to go against what i'd normally decide on?

isn't this confusing?

:S

just pics

2006-10-02T01:00:00.000+08:00

what do you see?

2006-09-24T00:13:00.000+08:00

what do you see?
do you see me?
or do you see right through me?

do you see the past?
do you see the present?
do you see the future?

do you see the what ifs?

do you see the regrets?

do you see them?
do you see them in me?

in other news...
it's habz's birthday today.
happy birthday babe~!!!

that's what i was trying to do...

2006-09-22T22:57:00.000+08:00

What Hurts The Most - Rascal Flatts

It's hard to deal with the pain of losing you everywhere I go
But I'm doin' it
It's hard to force that smile when I see our old friends and I'm alone
Still harder
Getting up, getting dressed, livin' with this regret
But I know if I could do it over
I would trade give away all the words that I saved in my heart
That I left unspoken

What hurts the most
Is being so close
And having so much to say
And watching you walk away
And never knowing
What could have been
And not seeing that loving you
Is what I was trying to do

a lot of times you think about your regrets
or what you could have done better
and sometimes, the things you could have done better
you didnt.
even if you had the opportunities to.
many reasons to why you never did them better.
then sometimes you beat yourself up for wasting those chances.

it takes a while to get yourself up.

maybe because i don't let my emotions control me -- that doesn't help.
at all.

i shall move on to other things...

cheered me up a bit.
we'll see about tmr...

when sparks aren't good

2006-09-11T00:08:00.000+08:00

so i went to the store to get my styrofoam cutter.
i went there last weekend with yus, to survey the product,
ask the guy there about how it works.
it's not any old, cheap styrofoam cutter.
it's the one which you can bend the wire to cut a desired shape.
it was odd that it didn't come with an instruction manual.

"are you sure i can plug this into any power point?"
"yes. a 2-pin power point.."

ok.
yesterday, i met the same guy again.
asked about the cutter again.
he replied the same answers.

"can i test it out?"
"it's ok. just plug it in. if it doesn't work you can return it within 3 days..."

i bought the cutter.
$61.90
and the styrofoam
$18.90
and pieces of wire.

got to school.
bent the wires.
hooked it up.
and plugged it in.
black wire to the right.
red wire to the left.
switched it on.

sparks flew.
wire disintegrated.

i was shocked.

the last time i saw sparks was when my dad tried to jump start the car.

i didnt take it seriously because the sparks were sorta like, the bunga api kind.
small, tiny... harmless...

so, i thought, hmmm, let's put the red on the right, black on the left.
switched off the power supply.
used a thicker wire this time round.
red to right.
black to left.

i didn't even have to switch it on
and
BIGGER
SCARIER
i-think-i-could-have-died-from-electrocution kinda sparks flew out!
there was a loud noise due to the explosion within the cutter...
then the smell of burnt plastic wafted...

the power surge not only destroyed the cutter,
it caused a short circuit in the power lines.
because the people using the other power points suddenly had their laptops switched off.
one girl who was doing her report, and didnt manage to save it before her laptop went off.
and she didn't know if her laptop power supply cable was affected.

i had a whole rush of emotions going through.
a whole lot of anger, at the guy who said i could plug it into a power point.
guilt, because i caused a girl her report.
and frustration,
because i've run out of ideas as to how i could proceed with my FYP.

went back to the store.
explained what happened.

another guy, who i assumed to be the manager, then explained to me the cutter was an accessory to a bigger styrofoam cutter.
NOW THEN TELL!
the bigger styrofoam cutter steps down the current supplied to the accessory.

"i'm sorry for the misunderstanding. it must have caused you trouble."

DUH!

but the manager was nice, so i didn't get angry.

got my money back.

and now, here i am.
blogging at 12.39am
with a bad sore throat
and no clue as to how i should proceed with my FYP.

sigh.

up to you.

2006-09-08T20:51:00.000+08:00

the thing about being the eldest in the family...
is that you get a whole lot of unpredictable behaviour from your parents.
you get confused half the time
because you don't really know what they want from you.

they start out experimenting with you.
from the moment you were born.
sure... there more photos of you as a baby, compared to your siblings..
but most of those photos are of you in embarrassing situations...
ie: bathing. naked. diaper change. bald.
so really, it's no biggie.

being your parents' guinea pig,
you got the most teruk punishments
they do the test run with you
then with your siblings, they tone it down...
maybe even decide do away with the punishment.

it doesnt stop there.
they wanna make sure the first born doesn't screw up in life.
so, they make all the major decisions.
yes. they control every major thing in your life.
what to eat.
what to wear.
what schools to go to.
what stream to choose.
what subjects to take.
what ECAs to take.
what courses to take.
what attachment company to choose.

with the siblings,
"oh, you wanna take floorball, hockey and track? ok... can..."
"oh, you wanna go climb gunung datuk? ok... can..."
do they put in that much effort into making the decisions for them?
noooo.
they pretty much let them do whatever they want.

so you grow up being the child that obeys.
the child that never says no.
the child that never gets to make decisions.
the child that's mostly... invisible?

because you're the eldest.
they'll pay more attention to the younger ones.
why?
coz the eldest doesn't need that much attention.
it's the younger ones that they have lesser control of.
then it's the younger ones that get on their nerves.
the eldest rarely creates problems.
because the decisions are already made.
the eldest has it easy.
just obey.
right?

so now.
i'm at a point where i feel i need to make a major decision.
i brought it up at dinner.
"should i apply for the teaching award?"
then i explained.
the pros. the cons.
the dateline.
basically a whole speech about my dilemma.
engineer? or teacher?

and then...
the reply was a simple,"up to you..."
then without pause, dad launched into a story
about how a guy from work asked him where to get DOVE chocolates...

hello!
hello!
i'm here. with a problem. a decision-making kind!
where's the controlling behaviour?
where's the just-listen-to-what-baba-say speech?

what's even more disturbing is that
my problem seemed miniscule compared to my dad's expertise on choc-shopping...

so after dinner, i put the pamphlet in their room,
hoping they'll take a look and read.
nope.
mum came in and placed the pamphlet on my table.
then left my room.

yeah, ok. maybe they're finally letting me make my own decisions.
but seriously, "up to you?"
that's all?

*rolls eyes*

sigh.
ok.
i still have til jan to think about this.

in other news...

french girl and french guy are no longer together.
at least that's what i think.
i don't see french girl anymore.
french guy turns up for structures on his own.

german guy may not be german.

Fan's adding colourful smileys to my notes.

Dr Spot's approved my styrofoam method of creating cavities for FYP.

I'll be going to SIAEC for my propulsion day-excursion during the term break.
(yes, we still have excursions. fun kan?)

i wore the completely-leaf-green tudung to school today.

and i felt pretty. :)

the dreary saturday

2006-09-02T16:46:00.000+08:00

"Kasihku
Sampai disini kisah kita
Jangan tangisi keadaannya
Bukan karena kita berbeda
Dengarkan
Dengarkan lagu.....lagu ini
Melodi rintihan hati ini
Kisah kita berakhir di Januari
Selamat tinggal kisah sejatiku"

- Glenn Fredly, Januari

i wish we were still in januari.

then he looked down...

2006-08-30T20:51:00.000+08:00

it's really hard to concentrate especially when the lecturer's boring.
structures.
half the time i'd be nodding off.
but today was different.
the french couple sat in front of me today.
i was nearer to the girl.
they were exchanging notes on the foolscap pad.

the german beside her offered them both fisherman's friend.
the green packet.
the french guy took a sweet, and said,"merci. thank you."
the german nodded.

they continued scribbling to each other on the foolscap pad.
he wrote.
he smiled.
she wrote.
she smiled back.

i saw familiar french words on the paper.
then, i thought to myself, why am i eavesdropping/reading..?
structures is boring!
so i continued.. spying..

he wrote.
she wrote.
he wrote.
she wrote.
he read.
she wrote.
he read.
she wrote longer paragraphs.
he stopped writing entirely.
she continued writing.
more and more paragraphs.
and he just read.
the pauses in between the writing and the reading
was just him spacing out.

then at one point
he looked down.
his fingers reached under his glasses.
was that a tear?
yes it was!
he wiped his eyes a bit.
and all i could think about was... mean french girl! MEAN FRENCH GIRL!

her words, on paper, made him cry.

i thought of the many moments i've hurt people.
with the things i say or do.
and those were actions, and words with expression.

if lifeless words on paper could hurt a person
my actions & my words have done so much more.

the lesson ends.
he got up and walked off without her.
she caught up with him near the lift.

macam drama, says Fan.
but the setting's nice, he added.
the skies were grey.
the weather was cold.
and she was trying there, with him.
saying sorry? trying to comfort him?
Fan and i didnt stay around to watch.

at least she stuck around...

makes me wonder if i did stick around to make sure they felt better before i left.

makes me wonder if i stuck around long enough to make sure they felt better before i left.

oh it has begun...

2006-08-20T21:19:00.000+08:00

liIn the light of the sun,
Is there anyone?
Oh it has begun...

Oh dear you look so lost,
Eyes are red and tears are shed,
This world you must've crossed
You said...

You don't know me, you don't even care, oh yeah
She said
You don't know me, you don't wear my chains, oh yeah

- Augustana, Boston

yeah. it has begun.
it's the end of the second week of school
and the stress is upon me.
i met up with mustaffa and rizal at IAX camp yesterday.
we talked of FYP
of what subjects were definite killers.
and then, the possibilities of an honours next july.

then, it just swirled about in my head.
yeah, i know i began ntu with the aim of being a math teacher.
i never wanted engineering.
i never wanted mechanical engineering
i never wanted aeronautical specialization
what am i doing here?

then i found myself regretting.
regretting i never put in enough effort the past 3 years.
suddenly the honours mattered to me.
why?
i'm not sure myself.
i used to be contented with just a degree at the end of my 4 years.
JUST a degree.
you don't need much to teach sec school math yeah?

"what grade did you get for your Attachment?"
i answered.
"gooood... so now just maintain it for the rest of the year..."
"what? i'm not capable to do that..."
"you should if you wanna get honours...now's the time to collect your As and Bs..."

honours now seem so far-fetched.
my previous years' grades were the bare minimum for me to get promoted to the following year.

it's scary when something you thought didn't matter
suddenly becomes the focus, the worry, the thing you think about most.
sometimes, i'd just stop myself and say, yeah, the honours won't matter.
would they really want a girl engineer?
a muslim girl engineer?
would i really wanna waste my time attempting to be an engineer
when teaching is what i'm meant to do?

but i won't be feeling this way if teaching is really what i wanna do.

"don't worry about your grades now, or what you wanna do after graduation.
what you should worry about is whether you're doing your best.
just do your best. rezeki di tangan Tuhan."

i think i've been doing my best.
my best's just not good enough.
well.
maybe it's not my best.
but it's kinda hard to do your best in something you're never passionate about.

on a happier note, IAX was a great one-day camp.
yanto & his team did a great job, and i was very proud of him.
very impressive.

IAX is islamic awareness external,
a day camp for pri 4 madrasah irsyad kids
to learn about science, and how it relates to Islam.
:)
fun, but as tiring as 1st day FOC.
this is a pic of the group i facilitated...
*NORAD*

just completed my summary of FYP concepts and emailed to the prof.
i'm missing the care-free days of IA.
i miss watching coupling.
i miss TV.

now it's all boundary layers and Reynolds numbers and continuity equations.
fluid mechanics is so hard!
:(

and breathe. just breathe.

2006-08-12T12:50:00.000+08:00

"2 Am and she calls me cause I'm still awake
Can you help me unravel my latest mistake
I don't love him and winter just wasn't my season."
- Anna Nalick, Breathe (2am)

if you watched grey's anatomy
the episode where meredith almost got blown into smittherins,
this song was playing.
and this song's got me into a blogging mood.

last saturday i had lunch with some of my red bullies.
lunch at hajah maimunah. walked to suntec.
then i scared the kids with ntu life.
*kids*
dang, i really feel old.
it was a good meet up and i hope to meet all of them in full force soon.

last sunday was the day i met up with rukiah.
yes, the aceh kids (12 of them) are here in singapore.
and this sunday will be their last day here.
the feeling of having her in my arms again, was quite overwhelming.
i miss her.
they visited ntu on thursday, and she held my hand almost everywhere we went.
she even got excited when she hid behind a tree and used my hp to call abu.
abu was just a few feet away.
sunday will be spent with all of them.

there's gonna be a 4N outing this sunday too.
but i'd have to give it a miss,
since i was informed a bit too late,
and had already promised i'd turn up to meet the aceh kids.

i watched the fireworks on tuesday.
i'd wanna put up the pictures, but my camera's not built for night-time phototaking.
i took a nice video too, BUT it's too large a file for youtube.

my 1st fireworks experience was, good.
i mean, i LOVED the fireworks.
being able to experience right there on the bridge near fullerton was excellent.
BUT, i got grumpy once it was all over.
the crowd got to me...too many people.
so i guess that shall be the first and only time i go watch the fireworks there.

school's started and it's good to be able to meet up with members famous 6 during breaks.
aircraft propulsion's by far the most enjoyable subject
because the lecturer's so dramatic
with his funny laughter and sound effects.

so far so good.
:)
let's bring it on!

the virgin entry...

2006-08-03T23:46:00.000+08:00

what better way to start august
than with a new blog!
this is my first official entry for blogspot.
and i am excited.
reasons i wanted a blogspot account?
because they're quite friendly with a whole lot of stuff
like slide.com, cbox.ws, photobucket etc.
there's also more freedom for skins...
(ps: i got this skin concept from drogue designs, but i made my own *yey*)
i actually got the account months ago,
and it took me ages to figure it out and tweak it.
so here it is.
ready for it's virgin entry.

oh oh!
my livejournal account will still be available,
altho i'll do most of my blogging here.
Lj will prolly only be used for private entries.

okies.
enough with the technicalities.
let's start the show!

the whole week's been action packed so far.
but let's start with saturday 29th august.
i went to the bloodbank for the 3rd time!
and this time, i was able to donate blood!

and after donating blood we went to...
ben & jerry's for some yummy ice cream!
so basically that was saturday.

monday was spent with famous 6.
first up was ain's place.
and we got cooking!
den we met up with the boys for some singing!
later i met up wif norany for dinner
before rejoining them again at bugis
kitty kat made it.
pity i didnt have pics of all famous 6 at BK.

yeah. was good~!

tuesday was supposed to be the first official double date with habz & fadly.
we were supposed to hike up bukit timah together.
however, habz fell ill (on sunday i think)
and so the double date had to be cancelled.
nevertheless, we still ended up doing a healthy
TREE TOP TRAIL walk~!
and it was fun fun fun!
we started off at venus drive carpark
and just followed directions to it.
all in all, we took about 4 hours,
inclusive of a very long lunch break (nasi rawan!!!) at the ranger station.
we saw a bright green tree snake.
i would like to put the pic up,
but it'll be pointless coz it camouflages so well in the grass.
saw a monitor lizard, monkeys and of course...
the scary butterflies!
the view from the bridge was awesome.
and the whole walk to the bridge, through it and back was peaceful...
a must go for nature lovers!

tuesday evening was spent making
1. konyaku jelly.
2. blueberry muffins
for...
wednesday!
the first official double date!!!
i spent wednesday morning making pizzas.
and we met up with the other couple,
shaliza and yanto for our day trip to...
SENTOSA! *island life*

yanto drove, so we had a thrill
being able to get lost in de car in sentosa.
it's a $2 entry fee per car, and $2 entry fee per head.
our first activity was minigolf at sijori wondergolf.
we were initially dismayed at the state of sijori.
macam berkarat... not maintained AT ALL.
they charged $10 for the 18-hole game
and $15 for 2 18-hole games.
we wanted only one game
and thank goodness it was only one game
because we took pretty long to complete the whole course.
it was kinda frustrating at some parts (the ball goes everywhere but into the hole)
and it rained halfway (that didn't stop us from playing)
BUT, we had loads of fun.
and laughs.
and that was just THE best.

we headed down to palawan beach right after,
found a hut
settled down and brought out the food!!!
it was such a spread.
mee goreng courtesy of yanto's mum.
finger foods (sandwiches, chicken, fish fingers) from shaliza
and farhan brought drinks.
kenyang giler!

lunch was peppered with lotsa catch up talk..
and then, after solat..
it was daidi!
i had a refresher course in daidi
and it was just game after game after game.

after lunch and asar,
we went for the sentosa luge + sky ride!
GEREK!!!
once is not enough!
paid $15 per person for 3 sky rides and 3 luge rides.
and even though i seem to start earlier than the rest
i'd find them whizzing past me.
i'm such a scaredy cat.
but it was fun to the max!
better than any ride at downtown east tau!
oh, and the sky rides were definitely as scary as the tree top trail bridge.
the view was beautiful!!
:)

after the rides,
we had a nice relaxing tram ride along palawan beach
stopped by the southern most point of the asian continent
last few photos taken
before we headed back to mainland.

the double date turned out better than expected.
and i was glad we went with them!
the whole experience's kinda made me more open-minded towards double dating.
triple dating? hey, why not?
so, was this a good virgin entry for blogspot?

:)

soffz84

the pieces of my heart are missing you.

Avril Lavigne - When You're Gone (LIVE) - X Factor

Avril Lavigne - When You're Gone (LIVE) - X Factor

the last post.

the new look

fruitful saturday.

Cedar Photo-taking @ National Stadium.

chocolate party update.

sandcastles.

long overdue food.

OVER!

hiatus

habis draft 1!

body shoP!

hard @ work

without lifting a finger you're holding me back.

No man is an island entire unto himself.

beautiful love.

amirah's grill *yum*

i'll be happy on my own

hippyism

Crazy Bunny

i'm moving on now.

a blessing in disguise

two point 5

settlers' (medium sized pics)

all good things

1st week.

sch starts tmr

the new obsession

happy!

11 years

cupcakes!

the boost i needed

an excuse person's getting married.

all alone...

flower power!

cupcake fairy princesses

all i want you to do is be...

over.

obscenity

for Syawal...

white chocolate mess

the birthday... the food fest... the peemple...

the obsession

gorgeous

propulsion

just pics

what do you see?

that's what i was trying to do...

when sparks aren't good

up to you.

the dreary saturday

then he looked down...

oh it has begun...

and breathe. just breathe.

the virgin entry...

amirah's grill yum