UK 2018

I am so sorry for the delay for the last part of my UK-Spain travelogs but I'll save that for another post (about what I've been up to in the last 1.5 months..). 

Anyways! 

On the 5th of January, we made our way back to England. And we were quite happy to leave because Seville was getting rather gloomy.. We arrived back in Brighton about late evening and after a slight unpacking (we just grabbed our toiletries) we proceeded to doing what we do best - watch Friends while waiting for dinner to be delivered to us. We had Japanese and for a moment there a I was reminded of the usual E11 Japanese dinner ritual.. #rindu 

After dinner, we continue to laze around and eventually fell asleep, note: Best. Sleep. Ever!! 

Not for Zoe however as she had to wake up early to fetch Faiz from the train station, and he was arriving at 8am-ish. Zoe tried her best to convince me to follow so we can all go for breakfast afterwards but I am me, I don't wake up before 8, ever - especially on holidays.. 

Once I did wake up however (some time pass 8ish) I decided to do some light unpacking and repacking while waiting for them to come back (cause they did eventually go went to grab some light breakfast - they came back with like croissants and some other pastries #beggarscantbechoosers) 

Ever since Zoe showed me one of her specs casing that she said she got from a museum, I've been obsessed in finding pretty casings like these and when I found them almost at every touristy spot in Seville & Granda - I just had to get them.. I know 4 seems a little bit extreme, but trust me, within minutes of arriving home and unpacking, I lost half of it to mother.. (and this was on top of the Kindle cover, some coasters, and lipsticks that I got for her.. #birthdaypresentsettle)

Once I heard voices I made my way downstairs and we had our breakfast together with our mug of Milo each, courtesy of Ms. Chia hehe.

Spain 2018 (Pt. 4) - Hidden Gems of Seville

Considering the adventures we've been having the past couple of days, our 4th day in Spain consisted of "waking up naturally with no alarms".. And finally after what felt like weeks (probably is), I woke up at normal human hours like 9AM around there.. AAAAAAHHHH! Lega man!

The agenda of the day was just to shop, have lunch and just lounge around see where the day takes us. 

First stop of the day was of course, ZARA. To be fair, it wasn't like I needed to shop for myself much (surprisingly ZARA Spain wasn't having their sale, so it didn't much different whether I buy it in UK or in Spain) but Anis wanted a pair of heels that she claimed could only be found in Spain. So I literally made a point to find nearest ZARA within whatever area I was in just to look for her shoes. Found her shoes, but unfortunately wasn't in her size and I felt so bad cause I texted her saying I found it!! Only to realise it wasn't her size -.- 

But still, Aisya & ZARA, we have a special bond, so of course I still found some stuff for myself despite how many times I've walked in the store before this hehehe. 

Also next to the ZARA near our hotel was Amorino, so you know I don't say no to ice cream....

ZARA & ice cream, always... ;) 

Spain 2018 (Pt. 3) - A Day in Granada

About 10 years back, my parents took our family to Spain. I remember falling in love with the Alhambra so much, that I made it a point inside me that I'd come back and visit it again. 

When Zoe & I decided that we'd go to Spain I thought we could squeeze in a trip to Granada as well, but given that we only had 5 days it was rather hard to cover two cities. But after much spamming of Alhambra pictures by me (thanks to @spain.vacations on Instagram, they have some really nice photos of Spanish cities and its attractions guys!) and a well thought-out itinerary based on what we want to cover and how convenient it was to get to those places from our hotel in Seville, we found a full-day where we can spend visiting Alhambra in Granada instead (which was 3 hours away from Seville by bus/ train). 

Since we only have a day, we really should maximise all our time and so one fine day I decided to check for Alhambra entrance tickets (previous experience reminded me that we had to buy tickets) and to my dismay, THEY WERE ALL SOLD OUT! 

-__________________- 

And mind you this was after I bought our bus tickets (because I read online that the bus were rather comfortable too and since it was half the price of a train ticket but the same amount of time spent travelling, I thought why not) so I'm like "What are we going to do in Granada?!" (based on my deteriorating memory, I didn't have much to do in Granada other than Alhambra). Thankfully the tickets were returnable because based on the travel tips I got online, Alhambra tickets should be booked 6 months in advance of your trip to avoid disappointment as they do limit the number of visitors per day to the Nasrid's Palace as it's an old wooden structure and when this happened it was just slightly above a month before our trip... 

But what I was even more thankful is this little voice in my head (it could be gut feel, or it could be a guardian angel - I prefer to believe in the latter) told me; "Aisya, before you return the tickets, make one last check and see if you can find any more tickets".

So I actually Googled "Alhambra tickets sold out, what do I do?" and to my surprise there are many more other people like me and there were actually a lot of articles suggesting on what to do! Lol, guess I'm not the only one who plans a random trip to Alhambra last minutely.. 

The article told me to book this other Granada history sites tour (Dobla de Oro) that would also include entrance tickets to Alhambra and thank the lord some of these tours are based on allotment basis rather than live integration with the main ticketing system cause otherwise I wouldn't have tickets to Alhambra! 

Even though the tour tickets are slightly more expensive that the Alhambra tickets only (as it includes tickets to other sites too obviously), but given we have saved so much more on our transportation tickets the extra EUR 4 is negligible.

After seeing the Alcazar and on the way to Plaza Espana Zoe & I were having this conversation about what's the most beautiful monument I've seen. Safe to say Alhambra was one of them (Kaabah isn't beautiful structurally but looking at it will give you a feeling that no other other structure can't compare) for me and upon hearing this Zoe was even more excited to see the Alhambra the next day to see if it lives up to the expectation. 

That morning we both had to wake up rather early as our train to Granada was at 8.15AM and it takes about 20 minutes walk from our Hotel to the train station (pagi-pagi, sejuk-sejuk this girl wants to walk to the station.. Sabo jer lah...). 

As Granada was slightly chiller than Seville, a thicker coat was required (and thankfully both Zoe & I found the perfect one in ZARA on the day we arrived #sempatlagi) 

Spain 2018 (Pt. 2) - Exploration in Seville

- brace yourself for 112 photos in this post.. here we go! -

Despite the tiredness, I still found myself awake 5 hours after falling asleep x.x While I was scrolling through Instagram, playing Gardenscapes etc to keep myself occupied, Zoe was snoring away like a baby #jealousssssss

Spain 2018 (Pt. 1) - Arriving in Seville

3 hours snooze fest on the flight later, we left gloomy land and landed in sunny Seville! I mean just look at that and do the comparison yourself..  

UK 2017

Okay! I have decided that I shall do this in 2 parts - one post for UK (London, Brighton & Hastings), and one (maybe two - depending on how long it gets) for Spain (Seville & Granada). 

So brace yourself for super long posts!

London
28 December - 30 December 2017

After running errands all day (it was really like a week of errands), I finally had time to properly pack for my flight that night late that evening. Years of last minute packing has prepared me for this moment and I'm happy to announce the only thing I forgot to bring was a pack of vitamin C (I told you, once you turn 25 your body is no longer as strong as it was.. #weakling!) which I must say is not bad. Got my vitamin C at the airport and I was all ready to just pop it in my drink and snooze all the way to Heathrow, but God clearly had other plans for me.. 

My flight got delayed from 11.30PM to 2.30AM - they had to switch aircraft and all.. But thankfully my flight turned out to be empty so I had an "economy flatbed" all to myself :p I didn't even bothered waiting for the "wear your seat belt" sign to turn off, I just snoozed immediately after take-off until mid-flight (cause the seat belt was starting to get uncomfortable..). 

Also, back to the whole your-body-is-just-not-the-same-after-25 thing, I have lost my ability to sleep throughout the entire flight. About 4 hours before landing I was WIDE awake (and mind you this was probably about 4am UK time x.x). Thankfully I had a book with me (usually books that go on flights with me are just a waste of space in my handbag/ hand-carry), so I managed to catch up on HP6. (At the point of me writing this, I'm very sure I haven't pick up where I left off with it. But I'm currently reading another book #defensive)

Upon landing, I managed to clear immigration and pick up my luggage within 30mins of landing - I forgot how efficient things are in UK. Hopped into a cab (because Heathrow Express was under maintenance -___-) and started bugging Zayana: 

At 9.15AM: "I'm in the cab now to the hotel, probably would reach your place about 1030AM"

At 9.17AM: "Btw, SELAMAT PAGI!!!"

At 10.00AM: "Hrmm, she hasn't reply my texts.. I should call her" *2 minutes later* "Pisang what doing?"

Zayana:"Trying to ignore you"

At 10.10AM: "My soul is ready!"

At 10.15AM: "Map says it's 5 minutes walk to your place.."

At 10.20AM: "I'm hereeeeeeeeeeeee"

Zayana: Of all times you want to be on time -_________________- *once she tagged me in* Ma, look, I found a pest downstairs..

Aunty (Zayana's Mum) fed me spaghetti goreng before we left cause knowing me I missed all my meals in flight (sleep > flight meals). At least Mummy was pleased that I had proper breakfast instead of my bag of chips (though I did have a bag of chips in the taxi cause I was really hungry!)

First stop of the day was to pick up the Harry Potter & the Cursed Child tickets I got for later that evening (and the evening after). When we got to the ticketing office, we found the main entrance empty as in without any humans at all. Pisang were all excited to take a photo there and thankfully we met another Potter fan who wanted his photo taken too (he was travelling alone) and I swear he's a trained insta boyfriend cause the pictures he took were so straight! *claps*

Return of The Princess (Poopyhead)

Hellooooooooooo - I am back! 

I was supposed to take some time off to clear my blog (because seriously who needs to be reading the musings of a 15 y/o when you're 25..) and one thing led to another, suddenly I do not know what happened to my 2017! It just flew by so fast and the next thing I knew, I was on a plane ready to usher in the new year with (one of) my bestfriend(s) in a (not so) foreign country!

Which actually is the reason why I decided to blog again - solely because I want to document the trip somewhere and well it is >2 months since the trip ended but I will try my best to recall everything as if it happened yesterday.. 

But as that would require quite sometime to finish (still haven't truly decided on how to best write it down really) - so I shall leave my 2017 highlights here as a "catch-up" :) 

 Went to London with Mummy end-Jan as some aspects of #kulilife is beyond my credit limit.. 

Living in the Wilderness

Right, so I mentioned before that last Thursday my IKEA delivery got cancelled as I was rushing other things?

Well the other things was a birthday dinner & then a sleepover with the girls.

Towards the end of dinner, I texted the girls:

Me: Im coming with food, you guys better be hungry!
Zoe: LOL! My dad bought a box of fried chicken for you
Me: Damn... Anybody wanna go workout?

Anyways once I got to Zoe's, her sisters were still awake and I swear one of her sisters has a bottomless pit of a stomach or something, so guess who ended up finishing majority of the leftovers? Hehe #beatenbya6yearold

Anyways, in typical us fashion, the sleepover consist of binging, clingy talk and raiding each other's closet.

Zoe (while showering with us in the same room): Can you see my butt?
Min & I: No
Zoe: What about now?
Min & I: Ahaha, still nope
Zoe: Now?
Me: Noooooo! Do you want us to see your butt?
Zoe: I'm just testing my limit

Midway while talking, Zoe said something that caught both of our attention (it's pretty normal for us to zone out of the conversations we have with each other cause we are damn talkative anyways) and out of reflex I guess, Min went to stick her head out and let's just say boundaries were crossed. (for them at least) LOL!

Zoe (while still showering): Who am I talking to? You guys sound similar
Me: Me. I think Min's asleep already
Zoe: NO YASMIN. YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO SLEEP!
Me: Yeah Min, I swear I'm gonna take pictures of you if you sleep here
Zoe: Yeah and then we're gonna post it to social media!
Min: I'm awake!
Me: Hahaahahahahahahah! She terus got up and checked her phone!
Zoe: Yeahp, got her. "Social Media" = "Is my hair okay?" for her.

Min (while walking downstairs to the kitchen at midnight to makan): ARGH! Spider!!!
Me (a minute later trying to open the tudung saji): OMG THERE'S A CICAK!!!!! I am not eating that chicken anymore!
Zoe: Cicaks don't eat chicken, it's safe!
Me (about three minutes later while drinking water): Omg there's even a semut in my plain water -__- I swear I feel like I'm living in the wilderness now

Min (while raiding Zoe's closet for stuff to "pinjam"): Sya why aren't you taking any clothes?!
Me: After my last 48 hours, I don't deserve new clothes. I feel sic

k just thinking about it..
Zoe: Ahahahaha! She's having a retail nightmare

Here's what our midnight "Workout" was like: 

Happy Tree Friends

When I was a student I'd come home almost every breaks and my friends (mainly Zoe & Min - Zayana & Raema was as much as a homebird as I am) would always ask "Why don't you go travel instead?" and I get it, everybody has different preferences, mine was to come home for those 1-3 months break. 

Now that Zoe is studying abroad, she doesn't come home as often as I do but at least I get to see her during summer and this year she decided to make a trip back for her 2-weeks-short winter break! So that means very short time spent with each other (i.e. cramping as much time as possible) as she's also was travelling to Japan with her family. 

We had brunch at Brycg @ Greenhouse by Muir on the second day she's back (thankfully I was already on leave!). Initially it was supposed to be the 3 of us but Faiz decided to join too as she's about to leave for Japan and Faiz is leaving for London. 

We gathered at my place before making our way to Brycg and met Faiz there. Initial plan was to reach Brycg at 11.30AM but as usual when are we ever on time? Thankfully though we didn't get there that early as just so happen Brycg wasn't opened til 12PM on that day due to their kitchen being serviced. #blessingindisguise 

While waiting for Brycg to open, we had pastries downstairs.

"I came back from England and you guys want me to have pastries?! Ahh wth, I'm hungry anyways" - Zoe. 

We were seated as soon as we finished our pastries and Faiz (who's notorious to always being late due to his many many meetings) made it right before we were heading up. 

Upstairs, we took like another 15 minutes just to decide on what to order for ourselves and what to share (our motto was "It's okay, Faiz is here to finish our food if we can't"). 

Faiz: So have you guys decided on what to share?
Me & Zoe: No.
Me: This is why friends should never be running businesses together.
Zoe: Yeah nobody will be able to decide on anything! She wants it this way, I want it that way and then Min just "Urmmmm, I'm okay with anything".. 

When we were finally ready to order, the waitress said whatever Zoe wanted to order initially was not available (as the brunch menu is only available on weekends).. So that took us another 10 minutes!

"So we took additional 30 minutes to order after they sat us down.. Yeahp, that sounds like us" - Zoe. 

Thankfully the service was faster than us :p 

This was only half of the food on the table on that day (read: What an impending food comma looks like)

Origami Frogs & Friends

________11 December 2016________

So our dearest Shrimpy turns a year older every 5th December and this year due to her birthday falling on a weekday, we decided to celebrate with her on the weekend.

We initially were planning for dinner but then while thinking about the birthday cake, since Shrimpy isn't really a cake person, we thought of giving her a "pancake-cake" (she used to always make us pancakes when we're feeling down or whenever we want :p) and decided to do brunch instead (cause pancakes are easier to find during brunches than dinner). 

We then needed a theme and decided to throw her a Japanese themed brunch as she loves anime and she's also travelling to Japan a couple of days later after the brunch. So I started Googling for "Japanese themed brunch deco" and saw that there's lots of origami/ paper lanterns elements associated to it.

I've not done origami for quite some time (last memory of it that I can recall was when I was still in primary school) and had to watch multiple youtube videos to convince myself that I can do this.. #longliveYoutube! After work one day, I made a quick trip to Daiso and got myself two packs of origami papers (clearly I'm the kind that likes to over prepare for stuff).

So yeah, the next day, there I was making origami during lunch at work, but it was so therapeutic that sometimes I just take out one paper and started folding out of stress..

Pisang was all "Are you not at work?" when I sent her the photo.

 After setting all the necessary arrangements, on the day itself I took a wrong turning to get to Greenhouse by Muir and was late.. Just so happened Shrimpy arrived exactly on time (i.e. the same time I arrived)! -______-' So I immediately texted Pisang: "Shrimpy is here and I just arrived.. Help!" and saw her running outside to greet Shrimpy while I quickly dashed in and set up the table.

Pisang then escorted Shrimpy up and even though the surprise slightly failed, but there was still the "OMG!" and classic Shrimpy's happy/awed giggle that followed not long after. #phew!

All smiles from the birthday girl! 

We then ordered our food and talked-ate-talked-ate-talked all the way through about 3.30pm? - Basically late enough for us to have tea even lol. 

Yeahp, that's Shrimpy's bouquet of cupcake half eaten :p

All in all, it was such a good day filled with good company and food!

Our "Christmas card" photo

Le minions.

p/s: The origami frogs were part of the self entertainment for the day and afterwards (for Shrimpy to troll her family), lol. Who would have thought that a frog race can be a party game..

Two Zero One Seven

It is 2017! It is so crazy!!

I don't even remember what I did to welcome 2016 - but that picture above is literally me welcoming 2017. 

I have never been a "party girl" (contrary to popular first impression of me) so obviously I spent it indoors, with my pyjamas and big fluffy comforter. At one point I was watching Angels & Demons (I now feel like I wanna re-visit Rome) and The Force Awakens (I swear I had a theory regarding who could Rey be, but I can't recall it now and it's been bugging me since this morning. Urgh!). 

After 12AM the movies got boring (I guess they expected people to be asleep/ out partying by then) so I resorted to playing the Avengers in the background as I "walked" my PokemonGo (I love it when the GPS goes haywired when you're in a building and the wifi isn't on!) and ate mee goreng mamak. 

I also planned to finish at least a couple of my posts that are currently in Drafts (I have 6 apparently! x.x) but with the TV, PokemonGo and food, I got distracted and only managed to finish one, hehe. But I still have one more day before my "holiday" is over (boo!!) - so let's hope I become a bit more productive. 

But all in all I was rather happy with my New Year's Eve, doing something that I feel like represents the complete hermit that I am. I mean I was well fed and I caught like so many Charmanders, I can almost have my "Syarizard" :D Also the hectic two-three days, it was nice to just be able to chill and do stuff without rush.

So here's to hoping that my 2017 will be as calm and fulfilling (at least emotionally and spiritually) as my NYE. Aminnn!

After a trying 2016 (don't you feel like 2016 was a tough year just in general and world wide?!), may 2017 brings us all lots of happiness, rezeki and peace. InsyaAllah. 

Have a great year everyone! 

xx, A. 

It's Never Really Goodbye With Us

It has been our tradition that before any of us leave for UK again, the last weekend would be a sleepover weekend. 

So yes, even at the age of 24 I do still have sleepover - because why not?! 

_________________________________26 August 2016_________________________________

It was one of the last weekend before Zoe leave for UK (again) so we agreed to have a sleepover. Since Zoe had dinner to go too (busy bee she was!), I went home first after work - which is good too cause then I had time to pack.. 

Once we both received the text from Zoe that she was on her way home, both Min & I left separately to Zoe's. Once at her place we just chilled with our masks and helped her pack. 

Still remember the first time Zoe was leaving and we both had to help her pack, it was a war zone. 

Me: Why the heck do you have 3 huge tubs of Cetaphil? They have it in the UK!?! 

Zoe: Well, what am I gonna use to shower when I arrive? 

Me: You don't need 3!!

Zoe: They had a promotion....

-______-

Me: Zoe, you don't need to bring all your jeans you know. Just bring two, you'll buy more there for sure!

Zoe: But they fit me... 

Me: You need more space for food! You'll shop for clothes there.

Fast forward 2 years later

Zoe: You're right Sya - I just end up shopping for clothes there and most of my luggage space are for food.

Well, she weren't kidding. She had like 3 different brands of seaweed to bring -____-' 

Of course no packing session would be complete if we didn't raid each other's closet and "borrow" (cause sometimes you never see the item back) clothes.. We also unlocked a whole new level of friendship where we literally lie on the floor and talk to each other while one of us is showering.. (Zoe's house is not a place for privacy, lol :P)

Her super belated birthday present. 

(Yes, that's right, that's a poop shape down right the middle of the shadow box.. Who can forget our "Baby I feel shitty" cycle - even til we're 23/24 is still catches up on us, sigh)

The next day, we decided to go to Dotty's for lunch and boy it was so goooooooood!

 The chocolate croissant & some blueberry pastry

Dotty's french toast - which I thought would be perfect with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. 

Faiz decided to join us and since he's on his diet phase, so all he got was our leftovers. So kesian.

I'm in my Harry Potter phase (after the Cursed Child I decided to re-read the entire series - still at Book #2.... That's a mirror image, so that's not me finishing the book, that's me just starting btw). I really do become more anti-social when I read compared to when I'm with my phone..

 Til the next farewell sleepover! 

xx, A.

Tai Tai Weekend

Genius lil me went to bed early and got woken up by my dad asking if I took the sambal kicap -___-' So now Im bloody wide awake (because this incident happened at 9.30PM) and well, considering I do owe this blog a couple few posts, might as well get to it. 

Let's start from the last "Dear Diary" posts (which if you click on the tag, will show you all the posts that documents the complete day rather than my rambles). 

___________________________________6 August 2016__________________________________

After the eventful Jun-July I had, I was very excited for the trip to PD. It all started with a random message to Shrimpy & Banana (as they both just recently resigned from their audit work), 

Me: We can finally go on our trip!!!
(because let's face it, auditors have no life. Consultants know the meaning of work hard, play hard)

Shrimpy: YES! Lets go to Maldives!!
(I think she said Maldives, but basically it was somewhere far and foreign)

Since we don't really have much time to pre-planned, and this was our first trip together (can you believe it? After 2 years of graduating -__-) so we all agreed to PD.

So that Saturday morning (this was right after Zayana and I discovered the joy of Flycycle), Pisang picked me up all bright and early and we went to Flycycle. We initially planned on showering, but after that class we decided that showering is too much of a hassle (cause we have to dig for our shampoos and what not) can wait and we'd just dry off and change.. We picked up Shrimpy right after that and bought necessities (snacks, tissues, medication, water, T&G top-up and blahblahblah) and off we went for our road trip!

On the way we were hungry considering both Pisang & I didn't get to have breakfast so we agreed to stop by McDonald's at Sg. Besi. But smart ol' me directed Zayana wrongly and we missed the entrance... 

Pisang: Turn here right?

Me: No no, its further ahead. 

Pisang: Ohh okay.. Wait.. That's the McD sign!! AISYA!!!! Why, why did I listen to you? Useless!

Me: Hehehe... Chill, there's a KFC right in front. This one I'm very sure!

Pisang: There better be a KFC in front or you're getting out of the car!

(There was a KFC in front... Phew - guys, this is why you don't sleep in the car when you balik kampung okay!)

Sampai hari nih I can't pass by the McDonald's without hearing Zayana's scream in my head... 

Anyways about 1.5 hours later and zero wrong turns (thanks Waze!) we made it in one piece to Avillion! 

After checking in, showering and settling down, we decided to go for lunch. On the way to lunch we decided to pop by the spa and made reservation. Thankfully it wasn't fully booked so we managed tog get a slot at 4PM - giving us plenty of time to have lunch and chill. 

The view from the spa

During lunch, Zayana (who had food poisoning a couple of days before the trip) wasn't feeling too great.. Shrimpy basically went full on mother mode on Zayana ensuring she'd eat something so her stomach wouldn't masuk angin. She still felt nauseated, so I suggested her to take water with lemon slices to calm her stomach. Of course after the McDonald's fiasco that morning she'd think twice before trusting me again.. 

Pisang: Isn't it acidic? Wouldn't it make my stomach worse? 

Me: Nooooo, it's alkali once consumed.. 

Pisang: I don't believe you..

Me: Google if you, I'd bet my finger on this.

After budak degil tuh read some Google article she agreed to take my advice and throughout the entire trip, that's all she drank.. Honestly, what would she do without me? (Not eat McDonalds - I can hear her saying that at the back of my head..)

I forgot what massage we had but I remember it included a scrub. After our session we felt uber clean (and not in the weird Hammam way - where they scrub you everywhere). Also, after our session they allowed us to chill in this private area with amazing view!

 Us before the treatment - fabulous lunch ladies!

(& yes that's my parking receipts for my claims - it's so I remember to do my claims, which clearly didn't work too well lol) 

 Us after the treatment - fabulous tai tais!

After further cleaning ourselves - because let's face it, you're always oily after a spa session, we were too lazy to move so we decided to order in for dinner and watch movies instead, just like the good ol' uni days! 

Zayana who was basically still out of it were curled up on the floor apologising to God for every single mean thing she has ever said to anyone about period/ stomach pains. It was very hilarious!! 

Pisang: Aisya! I'm sorry for every mean thing I've said to you - can you just please stop cursing meeeeeee... 

Drama is she.

She had a fruit platter for dinner while Raema and I had a surprisingly good pizza while watching Legally Blonde. We almost watched Gone Girl (because Shrimpy thought Legally Blonde was too sissy and we know she'd enjoy Gone Girl) but I forgot I've deleted the movie from my laptop..  (I guess sometimes I really am useless, lol)

Since we couldn't agree on another movie to watch (can you believe it that they don't want to watch the bollywood movies that I have in my laptop?!), we watched an episode of Empire (cause Raema was curious about the show) and continued with Beauty & the Beast. We also straightened Zayana's hair just because. Lol

___________________________________7 August 2016__________________________________

Of course I was the last to wake up and I woke up to Zayana bitching about someone/ something I can't remember anymore. 

Me: Well... I see someone is no longer in pain.... 

Them: You're awake!!!

I like them - they don't jump on me forcing me to wake up (*cough cough take a hint Min & Zoe!! cough cough*) and they just wait til I actually wake up naturally to start the day. By the time I woke up they all had showered/ changed and were about to have breakfast. 

We brought our own choice of cereals and milk so we had breakfast in the room #budgettravel

After breakfast we decided to go for a swim. 

This was the view of the pool, so serene! 

We decided to lounge by the pool after swimming with our books/ e-books. Basically the whole day was pool day, even after lunch we came back to the pool and lazed around. 

We also had an incident where there was a big lizard around and Zayana & I didn't dare to move while Shrimpy was so intrigued by it, she followed it -.- We also watched other people by the pool (adults on floats are a funny thing to watch, then there was an elderly couple who swam 21 laps and then said to each other "7 more right?" and I felt like such a loser after hearing that, also a pair of friends who selfie-ed around the pool - every possible angle they can get, and people catching Pokemons/ Squirtle - because it was the first day the game launched). 

After our second round of swimming we decided to go back and chill in the room instead - thank God cause I ran out of things to read. Note: Always pack an extra book. 

That night we chilled in the room with the Haadgen Dazs we bought post-swimming. 

___________________________________8 August 2016__________________________________

The day we returned back to reality. 

We ended up in Bangsar once we were both back in town for brunch and got quick errands done before I dropped Pisang off for her interview (seriously, what would she do without me?)

My First Saree

I told you the story of how I joined a Bollywood dance class right?

Well, now that my manager (Fana) knows that I am a HUGE fan of Bollywood (in fact Mummy recently agreed to my wedding being a Bollywood themed one.. #score!) she told me that she'd take me saree shopping one day - during one of our kain shopping trips (all for the weddings she has to attend for the year - which is a lot!) 

Months passed and finally we decided to go on the 3 July, which for me is like peeeeerfect because it's like part of my birthday celebration. Can't have a Bollywood themed dinner, let's just shop for a saree instead! #aisyaslogic 

___________________________________3 July 2016___________________________________

Aly decided to join the trip also as she had (an actual) Indian wedding to go to in August. 

So after my super tiring birthday, I woke up the next day rather late and got ready just in time as Fana texted "I'm outside". We picked up Aly and off we went to the shop (which wasn't too far from her house, thank God). 

The shop was in Klang and omg - I have tremendous respect for those who live in the suburbs outside of the city/ the state (especially!!) because honestly, the dedication you guys have to commute to work every day.... #tabikspring!

Anyways, we arrived at the shop about 1.30PM and by the time I got back it was 4PM.. Mhmm, we took thaaaaat long to decide. When we first got in the shop we were each asked "What's your budget" and after hearing stories about sarees are not cheap, I thought RM300 is a reasonable amount to spend on the cloth. To my surprise, I only end up paying slightly more than RM200 for the saree, cloth for the inner top and its lining, and the lining for the saree itself.. #score!!!

Also, the saree I chose was found by accident - it was hidden under a pile of saree on the table. 

Penatlah the guy suggested one saree after another to me but nothing made me fell in love with it immediately until I saw "the one". 

I asked to try it on and the lady kindly helped me wrap the saree around me (cause I'd have no idea how to otherwise) and instantly knew that this is the one for me #sodramatic :p 

(p/s: I am not kidding when I say that I've literally gone two shades darker on my face post umrah. Look and the difference in colour of my hand and my face!!) 

I said yes to the saree and prayed that it's not gonna cost me RM700 or something cause the guy refused to let me know how much it is! He said "nanti kira" every time I asked. I was so shock when it ended up being the cheapest among the lot!

_________________________________10 July 2016_________________________________

Aly & I decided to get our saree tailored at Bangsar thanks to Fana's recommendation. So despite the tiring week I had post Raya, I still woke up "considerably" early that Sunday as I had to meet Aly at Bangsar by 12.15pm. I thought I'll have quick brunch by myself (cause initially brunch was not part of our plan) but sleep was much required and I only ended up arriving in BV at 12pm. Teehee! Thankfully Aly needed coffee too and I'm like, let's get food to go with that drink too! (It's so funny how at work if they wanna eat also they always end up having me to teman them makan cause well, I like eating!!) 

So anyways, post  brlunch we went to the tailor and it was our super lucky day because we got parking right in front of the tailor's.. At Lucky Garden!! Susah gila kot nak cari parking there!

After discussing with the tailor about the materials I have and the design I want, I ended up making two saree tops to go with the saree I bought. And I am beyond excited to see how it'll turn out this weekend.. If I'm lucky, no other alterations will be required and I can pick it up right away! :3

(I'll probably update this post with a sneak peak of my saree after this weekend). 

_________________________________23 July 2016_________________________________

How my saree turned out! This is actually a screenshot of the Boomerang I took, complete with wind blowing the saree all #totallyBollywoodmaterial, but boooooo me I have no idea how to insert Boomerang here.. 

#CikKentangTurns24

For those of you who didn't know, I was born on 2nd July 1992 - so that makes me 24 this year. 

Every year I would host a birthday dinner amongst my friend and it's normally very laid back and just chill kind of dinner. In fact, I won't even bother with cake (because I am not a desserts person - but somehow a cake would just come out of nowhere cause someone would always surprise me with a cake just cause what is a birthday w/o a cake right?).  p/s: To this very day, this is the best birthday cake I've ever received, just cause the faces on it x)

This year, while I was in Mekah and was talking to Zayana.

Me: Idk what to do for my birthday.. Do I have a "pizza & chill" kind of gathering or do I go "fancy dinner party"?

Zayana: You always "pizza & chill", I think it'll be nice for you to be festive..

Me: I suppose, I do enjoy planning stuff..

And that's how I decided to have a "fancy" dinner party!!

Days leading up for my birthday was spent going through the details of my dinner - from sending out the usual invite through "You've been summoned" (I generally think this group should just remain active so my invites can all come through here, they said they want me to be more green!), designing the placemats and place cards, finalising the cake and the flowers, and other stuff.

It was so much fun going through all this and I thoroughly enjoyed myself that I am thinking of making this a hobby (cause I will not charge my consultation fee, but you will pay for the stuff)  - so whoever wants an event planned, call me up! :D

___________________________________1 July 2016___________________________________

I wasn't expecting it to be a hectic Friday for me, but somehow it ended up being one x.x From lunch (even though I was fasting, I still followed them to One Utama for lunch as I needed to get few things sorted out both personally and for work) all the way til 5.30PM I was busy.

So I guess that was why I didn't notice there was a card going around the table being signed, lol. It took me completely off guard when they (my wonderful colleagues) presented me the card just as I was about to leave for my week long Raya holiday. 

Isn't the card so cute?! I love it!

Coincidentally on that day I was wearing a polka dot baju kurung too!! 

The messages inside was so damn funny/ sweet! I can't remember whether I shed a tear, but I swear it was very touching (the sweet parts) and I remember laughing at the funny ones. I showed my Dad the car, and one of my manager calls me "Ais" at work, so his message to me was "Ais Ais Baby ...." and even my Dad laughed at that, lol.

It was definitely a great way to kick-start my birthday weekend (which was the start of a very loooong tiring, but fun week!)

___________________________________2 July 2016___________________________________

My actual birthday!! 

I woke up for sahur that morning replying to my birthday wishes (as I slept immediately after terawih the night before) and then while having sahur this happened:

I went with Beauty & the Beast and I swear, I forgot how enjoyable and easy-going the movie was! See I've been having Disney reruns once in awhile and Jasmine/ Iago/ Abu from Aladdin can sometimes be annoying, but with Beauty & Beast, there was no annoying character! So it was a good way to kick start my morning. 

Considering that I was going to have a long day that day, I decided to sleep after Subuh. When I finally woke up to start my day, I saw a name on my Whatsapp that have never personally messaged me before - my ASEAN Advisory Leader or as I like to call him, "my biggest boss" O.O

Was so surprised he even had my number!! I won't lie, I did have a mini shock when I saw his name on my notification and jumped out of bed to read the message (I mean duh, what if it was work?). And then I also stunned for a moment thinking "Omg, what do I reply. Do I just say 'thank you!'? That's too simple right.. He wrote me a paragraph..". 

After that was sorted out, I got ready and followed Daddy to the workshop to pick up his car and then met Pisang at Bangsar - for reasons I can't remember but when it's Bangsar, I'm sure it was errands. 

I quickly rushed home afterwards because initially mother said that we're going to Starhill. As soon as I parked my car at home, she called and said she was lazy to go suddenly -___-' After 5 minutes of trying to convince her that we have to go today (cause I had other things planned for the next day), she still ended up saying she has other plans for herself too so I gave in and said okaay. 

I got out of the car and re-confirmed with her whether we were going or not. She was in the toilet and said "Yeah" when I asked her "So, we're NOT going rightttt?". I told Pisang that I'm no longer going to Starhill and she decided to come over and hand while she wait for 3PM to collect my cake. 

As soon as Pisang arrived, suddenly Mummy called me and asked "Are you ready?" 

-__________________-''

Thankfully Pisang also had to leave for another errand after she prayed therefore we all left the house at the same time. Upon reaching Starhill I had to arrange for Min to pick up my cake as Pisang had to send her cat to the vet suddenly. 

After about 1-1.5 hours of being Mummy's handbag consultant, we drove to KLCC to pick up dinner/ buka puasa for the house. 

Reached back home at 5.30PM and I rushed like craaaaazy to get myself ready. 

Left the house with Min at about 6PM and thankfully for the empty KL roads nearing/ during Raya season, I managed to get to Pavilion within 15 minutes. Pisang was already there and helped me ordered the food and got the balloons. We set the place up before everyone else arrived and I swear, I was so filled with glee!

Everyone had a personalised place cards - with my own messages for each of them inside, a coaster which had my favourite SRK quotes (from his movies) on it, a gift from FAWN, and a placemat that was so pretty I had extra printed out just for my keeping, lol. 

Flowers was from Petit Petals. I swear, I love it so much that I've decided my wedding shall be hydrangeas, peonies and roses only (with antihistamines for me..). After the dinner I gave Mummy the flowers and she was so happy!

Food was from Celadon at Pavilion (the sister to Busaba @ BSC/ Sunway Pyramid). We had, seabass in sweet & sour sauce, garoupa in thai chili sauce, chicken green curry, black pepper beef, thai fish cakes and some mango salad thingy. What's missing from the pic was their awesome tomyam! It's the best ever in my opinion. 

Cake was from Kek and Co. It was such a moist chocolate cake inside despite all the decorations outside. Everybody was so intrigued with the decoration.

See... 

It was however very hard (literally) to cut the cake... 

It required some proper analysis (of its weak point) and two guys to carefully maneuver the process of transferring the cake to a plate - there is a video but iMovie is being annoying right now *rolls eyes*

We also played games (Know It All and Catchphrase), so no guesses we were the noisiest bunch in the restaurant. It was so hilarious, but it's a you-have-to-be-there kind of moments, so there's really no point to blog about it. Unfortunately, since I prepared the flashcards for Catchphrase, it was so easy for me. So next time (yes, we've agreed to have a full Games Night - so I do get to have my "pizza & chill" party afterall! - sometime in August) I'm going to "hire" someone to do this... #fulldedication. 

All in all, everything turned out so beautiful and I was the happiest birthday girl on the planet! So here is a special shoutout to my "birthday maids" - Yasmin and Pisang! THANK YOU!!! xx

Also a great thanks to those that came too! It made me realise (as I was writing each of their cards) that I've been friends with these people quite long! Some have seen me since even before I became the loud, confident person that I am today (I was very timid in primary school). Some I've known for a shorter period of time but they've stood by me time and time again during my "low season". And then there are some who has seen me both in between the two phases.

Nevertheless, so grateful that I still have them around even after >10 years of friendship (for some).


#squad

p/s: Missing a few key people, but you know, they haven't #Brexit yet. 

My "Control Ayu" girls.. "Crazy" pictures with them always end up with my looking like the person who had too much sugar and them looking descent macam perempuan melayu terakhir *rolls eyes*. 

And then there are these people who I somehow have a "trademark" pose with:

Est. 2010 

 Est. 2010 (the pose, not the friendship)

Est. 2013 #pestlifesince2011

Est. 2011 #meadowhalldays

My night ended with a really horrible traffic jam (inside Pavilion) and by the time I got home I was so knackered I just went straight to bed. To this very day (13 July) I still have not open my birthday cards - I told myself, that they are to be treasured so I need to properly sit down to read it and not do it while I'm in between stuff. #aisyaslogic

_________________________________10 July 2016_________________________________

In between 03 - 09 July I was busy with other stuff - so that'll be in a separate post. Anyways, the party continues post Raya!

It all started when of my ex-colleague asked for a get together cause he wanna cook for us (and of course to catch up - but you know food first!) and to celebrate my birthday. Actually it was supposed to be before Raya, but considering that I couldn't find an even night that was free and thankfully all others weren't free either til that Sunday... So yay me, cause Wan Li made salmon that night and I swear it was super delicious! It had the crispiest skin!!

Maybe I was super tired from the Raya-dash (I swear, it passed by so fast that 1 week) that on that day I wasn't really myself. I wasn't so inquisitive about things (I mean, Wan Li asked if I was allergic to nuts out of the blue.... I thought, "Oh maybe his cooking ingredients included nuts.."), I lost tracked of time (I was supposed to be ready by Maghrib so I can run out after Maghrib but 7.30PM I was still texting Zoe, til she asked me "Whatchu doing?" and I thought "CRAP, what am I doing still sitting down here!?"), I didn't even caught a hint of Yeoki's insincere interest in my Instagram! This guy, who is like world's least bothered about other people suddenly asked me "Eh, got any pretty girls in your Insta? Come show me!" and sat next to me as I scroll down my timeline........

Suddenly the next thing I knew they started singing "Haaaaaaaappy biiiiiiirthdayyyyy...." *blush*

My reaction once they finished singing: "So you mean you WEREN'T actually interested in my Instagram?! It was all a lieeeeee?!" #betrayal!

Second year together now, so blessed with awesome colleagues!

(MIA: Carmy - not real name, fyi - who so unfortunate wasn't well on that day)

Boys being boys well... Basuh pinggan pun I yang kena ajar :p And even after most of the dish washing done by me, when it's time to eat the cake, they refused to take plates cause they don't wanna do the dishes.... *roll eyes til I see my brain*

This is their desperate attempt of refusal (the cake in the plate obviously belong to the only girl present. I couldn't stop laughing!! They all had to sit on the floor to use the table as a flat surface.. SMH.

_________________________________________________________________________________

I truly enjoyed my #CikKentangTurns24 celebrations even though I've not received any presents. Mummy asked me while we were spending time together, "What do you want this year as your birthday present?" and my reply (which will be the same to anyone else) was: 

I wish for nothing other than you prayers that all my doas, especially those I made in Mekah/ Madinah would come true. 

I wish for good health, happiness and good wealth. 

That is until #CikKentangTurns25 - by then I may start wishing for a husband. Lol.