"Happy Loving Someone Day"

Hiiii

I'm feeling slightly mehh as I write this because it is Sunday evening, and I have a few e-mails to send out (so I don't have to rush on Monday morning) for work purposes. Also because tomorrow is Monday, and it's my first day back at work after a long weekend. Haih. 

Anyways, to get myself in the mood for work, I've been spending the last few days shopping for work clothes. #girlslogic 

On Wednesday, I bought grey pants from ZARA after my lunch date with Zawir. It's the most perfect pair of pants, if ZARA had all 5 colours (black, dark blue, white, nude and grey) I would've bought all five right there and then. It was the perfect length (something very rare for a petite girl like me), and it was not too loose and not too tight either! The perfect work pants I tell you! On Thursday, I finally received my parcel from ASOS. The parcel contained a cigarette cut dark blue pants, white flare cut pants and a nude colour twin. So I guess I do have pants of all colours now for work.. 

With all these new pants on its way (because all of them are currently being altered either for waist trimming or shortening.. You win some, you lose some), I figured I needed new tops to go with it too! #againgirlslogic

Today, post lunch with my family, I received a text from Zayana: 

"Kentang, where are you?"

See, there are only two occasion where she'd ask me this, 1. If I'm depressed and she's checking up on me or 2. She's depressed and need me to annoy here. Since it's not 1, I immediately called her

Me: I'm on my way back from lunch, kenapa?

Zayana: I don't wanna do work anymore.. I'm in Bangsar..

Thankfully I was already on my way to deliver Zawir's lunch and Bangsar is like 5 minutes away.. 

Me: You wanna go do our eyebrows? I can be there in like 15 minutes?

Zayana: Okay!

Ladies and gentlemen, on 14 February 2016, Zayana finally got her eyebrows done!!! Her sister said I was a miracle worker for finally convincing her to get it done, but I say it's audit that has pushed her over the edge..

Me: Oh look, there's Baskin Robbins, we can go there later as reward for yourself if you want

Zayana: Or we can use it to put on my eyebrows...

Less than 10 minutes later we were out of the beauty salon with clean eyebrows. #success! We then made our way to ZARA just because it's us and it's ZARA. While in ZARA, 

Zayana: You were telling me about work pants kan?

Me: Oh yeah, they don't have it here.. It was in KLCC. We can go to KLCC? 

Zayana: Omg, can we?! 

Me: Jom!

#girlslogic

About 30 minutes later, we were in KLCC. While at the parking lot, 

Zayana: Why on Earth is Team Snapchat sending me Snapchat... Oh they're wishing me Happy Valentine's Day! Omg, Kentang! This is the second year in a row we spent Valentine's together?

Me: Really? What did we do last year?

Zayana: Yeah, you came with Ferrero and Nutella

Me: I did? I don't remember this.. Oh wait, is it that day that I was bored all by myself so I decided to come over?

Yeahp, it was that day apparently..

After close to 45 minutes in ZARA, we walked out with 4 tops for me and 2 tops for Zayana (she previously did some shopping at BV's ZARA while waiting for me.. So tak payah nak kesiankan dia sangat).

We then made our way to M&S' Food Hall #oneofmyfavouriteplacesonEarth. 

Zayana: OMG! They have the chips here?! Penatlah I suruh Shin bawakkan balik from UK..

Me: Yeah, they have two more over there, you want?

Zayana: I have three at home.. I thought of giving you one, but not anymore!

Me: *holding a over a box of cereal*

Zayana: :O 

Me: Yes, they have this over here tooo..

Zayana: Where?! But wait, tak pe lah, I have no time for cereal

Me: Like I have time for cereal.. This is for my dinner

Zayana: But I don't eat cereal for dinner..

Besides ZARA, we also made a pit stop at MAC (I needed a pinkish lipstick for work, okay I lie, I want) and Nike (Zayana needed wanted new gym shoes). 

Zayana: You know last year you came with chocolates and Nutella.. This year mana hadiah you?

Me: Deepika and Ranveer are spending V-Day together.. There, my Valentine's gift for you

And urm hello, your Deepika-esque eyebrows please Zayana.. #yourewelcome

My Most Stable Relationship

My version of "reunion" dinner was with Jenn last night - mainly cause this girl has not been back for  at least two - three years. 

We were catching up on each other's lives and people around us, also reminiscing about how different things were for us and how much we've grown..

Jenn: So.. 3 years.... A lot has changed huh?

Me: Mhmm! Except this place.. I think this is the only thing that's constant in my life

Jenn: Antonio's is the most stable relationship you had in your life

So true! It's been 7 great years with this restaurant.. :') And her too of course! 

The Things That Really Matter In Life Are,

I am a bag of emotional sappiness right now, because I found this - a letter from Prakash Padukone to her daughter, Deepika:

Dear Deepika & Anisha,

As you stand on the threshold of life’s journey, I want to share with you some lessons that life has taught me. 

Decades ago, as a little boy growing up in Bangalore, I started my tryst with badminton. In those days, there were no stadiums and courts where sports people could train. Our badminton court was the wedding hall of the Canara Union Bank near our house, and it was there that I learned everything about the game. Every day, we would wait to see if there was a function in the hall, and if there was none, we would rush there after school to play to our hearts’ content. 

Looking back, I realise that the most important thing about my childhood and adolescent years was my refusal to complain about a lot in life. I was thankful for the few hours a week we had the opportunity to hit the shuttle back and forth. In fact, the foundation on which I based my career and my life was the refusal to whinge or whine about anything. And that is what I want to tell you my children, that there is no substitute for perseverance, hardwork, determination and passion for what you choose to do. If you love what you do, nothing else matters — neither awards nor compensation, not even the gratification of seeing your face in newspapers or television. When I won the All England Championship, the prize money in badminton became significant — £3,000 — a huge amount in those days. But that did not distract me from the sheer joy of having been instrumental in putting India on the global map of this game. 

Deepika, at eighteen, when you told us that you wanted to shift to Mumbai for a career in modeling, we felt you were too young and too inexperienced to be alone in a big city and in an industry we knew nothing about. In the end, we decided to let you follow your heart and thought it would be cruel to not give our child the opportunity to go after a dream that she lived and breathed for. If you succeeded, it would make us proud, but even if you didn’t, you would not have any regrets that you did not try. 

Deepika, I have learned that you can’t always win in life, that everything you want might not come your way. That events don’t always turn out as you want them to. To win some, you have to lose some. You have to learn to take life’s ups and downs in your stride. The amount of effort that I put in my game never varied from the first day till my retirement. Even during my toughest times, I focused on what I had, instead of dwelling on what I did not. I had the ability to make the best of the worst circumstances and remain steadfast to my goal. 

Remember how I constantly tell you both about the importance of making your way up in the world without waiting for your parents to pull strings? I believe it is best for children to work hard to make their dreams come true and to not have things handed to them on a platter. When you are home visiting us, Deepika, you make your own bed, clear the table after meals, and sleep on the floor if there are guests at home. If you occasionally wonder why we refuse to treat you like a star, it is because you are our daughter first and a film star later. The cameras that follow you everywhere and the arc lights will eventually fade and what will remain is the real world. 

Strive to generate positivity around you even though you are too new and too small a player to effect a big change. You are in an industry where there’s always going to be big money, but I believe that it is important to try to be the best in whatever you do regardless of the money. The things that really matter in life are relationships, honesty, respect for your parents and elders. Material success is important, not fundamental to happiness and peace of mind. I can’t tell you enough about the rejuvenating power of prayers and a little faith. Spare a few minutes of your day to close your eyes and meditate, to think about God and you will see how much faith in His power will strengthen you. In the end, when your career is behind you, what remains is family, the friends that you have made. Live a life that is healthy and one that will allow you to live with your own conscience. Everything else is transient. And remember, no matter what, we are always going to be there for you.

Lovingly,

Pappa

---

This brings me back to the conversation I had with Zayana, 

Me: I could've been a princess!!

Zayana: Aisya, you really think if you were a princess you'd have the same values as you do today? That you parents would still be Amin & Nona and would've brought you up the same way they did?

...

I mean I would like to believe that if I were a princess, Mummy and Daddy would still be my Mummy and Daddy and I'd still be the same girl that I am today with just a different tittle in front of my name.. but Zayana is right, there's no telling that it'll turn out that way.. 

I am what I am today because of my parents and I have learned a lot from them. I learned to be a strong independent woman from Mummy, to be a good multi-tasker - whether at work or at home, Mummy balances it all. I learn to not always trust people but nevertheless be kind and always assume the best out of people from Daddy and no matter what, there's always a greater power with you - your prayers to God. 

There is no telling that what they have thought me will be the same if I was born differently.. Like my life motto, whatever happens, it is the best thing that's going to happen for you - God is always the best planner. And the best I can ever have is having my parents as my parents. 

A 6.5 to 7

I am not going to say I have quite high level of spiciness but I love spicy food!

At one point in UK I was just making plain tomyam soup (literally just water and tom yam paste) with cili padi just because I felt like I need that "kick" for my taste bud/throat and stomach. 

Back in Sheffield, our favourite Asian restaurant would rate their spiciness on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being I-think-your-head-can-actually-explode kind of spicy and 1 being you-coward! My level was always 5.5 or 6 and any beyond that is literally just as good as eating cili paste. 

In Malaysia, I've failed to find any fried rice that can match the yummy-ness of Yummy's fried rice, but I recently discovered World's 3rd Spiciest Instant Noodles and boy, do I love it! I remember when I was actually sick and was put under house arrest for a week, I asked Zawir to bring me like 5 bowls of those noodles. 

It is so sedap to eat it with nuggets zomgggg. This would've been so perfect on those cold winter nights!

Last weekend I got a care package from Zayana and it contained a pack of Maggi's Kari Cili Api instant noodles with a note: "I couldn't find the Korean noodles"

Me: I'm so tempted to try the noodles, but maybe I shouldn't (considering I spent the wee hours of the morning before puking my guts out -.-).. What level of spiciness are we talking here?

Zayana: Well... If I'm using Yummy's level, it'll be 6.5-7..

That would mean I'd be curling up into a ball after every 2-3 spoons of the food guys.. Should I?

**edit**

I tried the Maggi Kari Cili Api.. There was nothing Cili or Api about it -___- 

Sunday Night/Early Monday Morning

Last Sunday night I joined one of the firm's CSR events - it was in collaboration with a local soup kitchen. The event finished about 11.30PM/12.00AM and since majority of us were hangry, we decided to stop by the nearest McDonald's for supper.  - I swear the waitress probably thought I was desperate when I asked her, "Kak, that like few bits of curly fries letak dalam saya punya normal fries sekali boleh?" :D (they were out of curly fries). 

After that the initial plan was to drop me and a couple of work friends back to my car at the first distribution point. There were 4 (Arinah, Dee, Roy and me) of us in the car, Arinah and Roy actually remembered the initial plan whereas Dee and I completely forgot about it. Funny thing is, we were the two people showing the way back to Dee's place because that's where Roy parked his car too.

Once we reached Dee's housing area, I began searching for my car...

....

Hrmm.. That's Roy's car.. Where did I park my car?

....

Me: DUDEEE! Where's my car?!

The rest: ....... Wait, what?!

All of us: OH. MY. GOD! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I swear I had a moment thinking my car got stolen..