Given the speed of trade globalization, the convenience of internet excess and the wonders of Facebook, many entrepreneurs wannabe have reaped the benefits of modern technology and started doing online business. Almost everything under the sun, from apparels, handbags, potteries, lingerie, accessories, cakes to furniture and lots more are available online. There are literally thousands of internet entrepreneurs making full use of Facebook and blogspot. And like thousands other Facebook users, I too have fallen into this online purchase trap (more precisely, terjebak!).
To date, I’ve purchased a pair of baju kurung, a “Laura Ashley” dress for my girl and a blouse for myself. And guess what, the saying “what you see is not always what you get” best explains my experience with online purchase. I vow to never buy anything online ever again, seriously! I don’t mind paying more for peace of mind than pay less and get crap.
Baju kurung – the quality wasn’t as good, though the price is darn cheap for a pair of baju kurung like that. The quality of sewing particularly, is really bad. Nonetheless, to buy a pair of heavily beaded baju kurung at RM150 is unbeatable in term of price. It’s so so cheap. I just wish the manufacturer would pay a little bit more attention on the quality of sewing. But then again, you can’t expect much from a RM150 baju. Hence, this one is forgivable lah. The next time I want to purchase baju from her again, I’d rather take a little extra effort to go to her house and hand pick the baju instead, like I did the first time.
“Laura Ashley” dress – the online seller claimed that it was a Laura Ashley dress for girl. I bought it at RM61 including postage fee and it was couriered down all the way from Kuantan. One look at it I know for sure it’s not from Laura Ashley. You can dupe a makcik kampong but not me okay!
Korean blouse – my latest purchase. This one really pissed me off. It looks so pretty in the picture (on a very pretty model) but when I got it through Pos Laju, the quality is worse than those you can get from pasar malam. I’m not joking or exaggerating, it is really bad to the power of 1000! Although I paid only RM39 for it, I felt really cheated. A blouse like that could easily be bought at pasar malam at a much cheaper price. I don’t think that I’d ever wear the blouse in this lifetime...grrrrr. I think if I were to pass down the blouse to my maid, she too wouldn’t want to wear it. Yes, it's that bad...percayalah!
In short, I’ve learned my lesson, not once but thrice. No more online shopping for moi thank you.
I say, seeing is believing. Nothing beats the sense of sight, touch and smell. Allah jadikan mata untuk melihat, telinga untuk mendengar, hidung untuk menghidu, tangan untuk memegang dan kaki untuk berjalan...
Friday, October 8, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
Burning the midnight oil
It’s 4am and I’m still up, burning the midnight oil. Never in my wildest imagination I thought that I would say this one day - I’m having writer’s block! Yes, I’m saying this again loud and clear, I am having writer’s block. I can’t write, I just can’t for no apparent reasons. My mind wanders elsewhere each time I switch on my notebook. Last month I could blame it on puasa and lack of caffeine but this month...who and what can I blame it to? Can I blame it on the husband? Ehehehehe...
I am behind schedule in my book. I still have a few chapters to write, the few last CRITICAL chapters. Chapters that carry the most important information of all and would guarantee the sale of the book (not that it would affect me though coz I don’t get royalty). Perhaps the emphasize on the importance of the chapters scared the hell out of me and keep me from writing it *puzzled*. At this point of time, I really need divine intervention lah coz I promised the client that I’d deliver 2 chapters by this weekend *gulp* (sendiri korek lubang kubur gittew). And I haven’t even finish a chapter...how lah? Ya Allah ya Tuhanku, permudahkanlah urusan hamba-Mu ini...amin.
Ok need to get back to work now. Can’t afford to waste anymore time, the clock is ticking Azura!
I say time may not always be on our side. Make the best of it at all cost, including sacrificing your precious sleep like moi...teeheehee.
I am behind schedule in my book. I still have a few chapters to write, the few last CRITICAL chapters. Chapters that carry the most important information of all and would guarantee the sale of the book (not that it would affect me though coz I don’t get royalty). Perhaps the emphasize on the importance of the chapters scared the hell out of me and keep me from writing it *puzzled*. At this point of time, I really need divine intervention lah coz I promised the client that I’d deliver 2 chapters by this weekend *gulp* (sendiri korek lubang kubur gittew). And I haven’t even finish a chapter...how lah? Ya Allah ya Tuhanku, permudahkanlah urusan hamba-Mu ini...amin.
Ok need to get back to work now. Can’t afford to waste anymore time, the clock is ticking Azura!
I say time may not always be on our side. Make the best of it at all cost, including sacrificing your precious sleep like moi...teeheehee.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Sampaikan walaupun se-ayat
Please view the video with an open mind. A very interesting video to watch, especially part 1, part 2 may come as a little hard to believe for me though. A great revelation indeed to those who believe, but then again DO NOT take everything and anything you see on the internet as the truth and nothing but the truth. Remember, keep an open mind...
This video was posted by a friend on FB (it's 20 mins long!), that was taken from http://salafus-sholih.blogspot.com/ But this guy wasn't the original author.
Part 1
Part 2
Do check out the blog. Lots of useful info there if you fancy reading about Islam & akhir zaman. I particularly like the author's point of view about Islam - he's neither extreme nor moderate. Me & him are on the same page, I loike!
I say Allahuakhbar, Allahuakhbar, Allahuakbar!!!
This video was posted by a friend on FB (it's 20 mins long!), that was taken from http://salafus-sholih.blogspot.com/ But this guy wasn't the original author.
Part 1
Part 2
Do check out the blog. Lots of useful info there if you fancy reading about Islam & akhir zaman. I particularly like the author's point of view about Islam - he's neither extreme nor moderate. Me & him are on the same page, I loike!
I say Allahuakhbar, Allahuakhbar, Allahuakbar!!!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Raya Get-together at Micasa
It’s the time of the year again (no it's not what you think!), I hosted the 2nd annual IU9 girls Raya get-together recently at my humble abode. A week prior to the event I was down with very bad flu that kept me sleepless for days (in fact I’m still down with flu and severe cough as we speak). I was worried that I might not have the energy to cook and to entertain friends on the actual day. But, entertaining being my forte (I loike this statement!), I brave myself and got everything ready in time for the gathering, syukur Alhamdulillah.
Based on the learning outcomes from last year’s event, I set up 2 food stations – one for the ladies and 1 for the gentlemen, and arrange more chairs at the living room. I also prepared some finger food for the kids. It was so much easier this way but pity the hubbies coz they had to eat on the sofa whereas us ladies had the dining tables all for ourselves...hehehe. The bigger kids on the other hand had a party of their own upstairs – and there were 28 of them!
Thanks to friends who brought food for the day we had so much to eat and plenty of leftover too. It's always hard to eat as much when you keep chatting non-stop kan. But fret not there was an AJK to tapau the food, thank God! Otherwise, I wouldn't know what to do with the leftovers.
In addition to my nasi daging, Shikin brought laksa Penang, Wengky - fried angel hair pasta, Saf - bread pudding, Lin - Kuzi Ayam, Eika - kek lapis & super delicious choc cake, Shahar - swiss roll cake, Am - 3 types of homemade talam, Ezy (who came after everyone left) - ice cream and jelly, Wan - dates and drinks from Bahrain & Jaimy (I terforgot la). Thanks all!
Coming back to entertaining being my forte (teeheehee!), I actually love having friends and family at my house. I like the sense of the house being ‘alive’ with lotsa people in it making a lot of noise. But, to get lots of people like that is not easy. This event was almost cancelled at the last minute coz quite a number of couples couldn’t make it. But, thanks to those who could make it, it was a blast indeed! Till next year people...muahhhs.
The girls who came. It was great having all of you frens!
Upacara tapau-menapau
The husbands who are also from the same batch. I loike this...pandai cari jodoh kannn!
Some of the 28 kids who came with their parents. Some were having a party of their own upstairs. These are true IU9 kids coz both parents are IU9-ners :-)
Based on the learning outcomes from last year’s event, I set up 2 food stations – one for the ladies and 1 for the gentlemen, and arrange more chairs at the living room. I also prepared some finger food for the kids. It was so much easier this way but pity the hubbies coz they had to eat on the sofa whereas us ladies had the dining tables all for ourselves...hehehe. The bigger kids on the other hand had a party of their own upstairs – and there were 28 of them!
Thanks to friends who brought food for the day we had so much to eat and plenty of leftover too. It's always hard to eat as much when you keep chatting non-stop kan. But fret not there was an AJK to tapau the food, thank God! Otherwise, I wouldn't know what to do with the leftovers.
In addition to my nasi daging, Shikin brought laksa Penang, Wengky - fried angel hair pasta, Saf - bread pudding, Lin - Kuzi Ayam, Eika - kek lapis & super delicious choc cake, Shahar - swiss roll cake, Am - 3 types of homemade talam, Ezy (who came after everyone left) - ice cream and jelly, Wan - dates and drinks from Bahrain & Jaimy (I terforgot la). Thanks all!
Coming back to entertaining being my forte (teeheehee!), I actually love having friends and family at my house. I like the sense of the house being ‘alive’ with lotsa people in it making a lot of noise. But, to get lots of people like that is not easy. This event was almost cancelled at the last minute coz quite a number of couples couldn’t make it. But, thanks to those who could make it, it was a blast indeed! Till next year people...muahhhs.
The girls who came. It was great having all of you frens!
Upacara tapau-menapau
The husbands who are also from the same batch. I loike this...pandai cari jodoh kannn!
Some of the 28 kids who came with their parents. Some were having a party of their own upstairs. These are true IU9 kids coz both parents are IU9-ners :-)
Nana is 6!
Mini me (she looks exactly like me!) celebrated her 6th birthday recently on 22nd Sept. Yup, in case you are wondering, both my girls were born in September. Wait! My boys were also born in the same month – December. Talk about planning ek? Bagus punya! I haven’t organized any ‘real’ birthday party for my girl ever since her first because her birthday has always fell either in puasa month or Raya week. This year, fortunately it falls in the second week of Raya. Hence, I could organize a small do at her school.
On the actual day of her birthday, we took her out for dinner and she chose Chilli’s (again!). Off we went to Empire Subang with the whole clan and after dinner we took her to Toy’r’Us. This year I decided to let her choose her own present. I told her she can pick ANYTHING she wants from the store, no restriction whatsoever (sounds like heaven for kids isn’t it?). Guess what, she picked a Playdoh set that only cost a fraction of the present that I would normally get her. This little girl sure knows how to save her parents money, bravo Ariana! I was actually trying to coax her to pick another item that I felt was more suitable as her birthday present but she was adamant on getting the Playdoh set. Well, I normally don’t allow Playdoh at home, hence it was a ‘present’ for her indeed.
Two days later, I organized a party at her kindergarten with her classmates. I ordered a mermaid cake (she likes Princess Ariel so much) especially for the celebration, fried some chicken nuggets and made mini 3-cheese pizzas. The cake was simply beautiful and she loves it. I’m delighted that she felt special that day. I have to admit that ever since Sophie came into the picture, she didn't get all the attentions she used to get when she was the only girl in the family. And it wasn’t easy having an adorable girl for a baby sister. All attentions seem to diverge to the younger one.
But one thing I adore about Nana is even though Sophie has taken away almost all the stars from her, she never hates her little sister. She loves her so so much and very protective of her baby sister, such a darling sister she is. Momma loves you darling...muahhhh!
Here is my not-so-little-anymore princess during her birthday celebration at school...
This little girl was also there to celebrate her kakak's birthday :-)
On the actual day of her birthday, we took her out for dinner and she chose Chilli’s (again!). Off we went to Empire Subang with the whole clan and after dinner we took her to Toy’r’Us. This year I decided to let her choose her own present. I told her she can pick ANYTHING she wants from the store, no restriction whatsoever (sounds like heaven for kids isn’t it?). Guess what, she picked a Playdoh set that only cost a fraction of the present that I would normally get her. This little girl sure knows how to save her parents money, bravo Ariana! I was actually trying to coax her to pick another item that I felt was more suitable as her birthday present but she was adamant on getting the Playdoh set. Well, I normally don’t allow Playdoh at home, hence it was a ‘present’ for her indeed.
Two days later, I organized a party at her kindergarten with her classmates. I ordered a mermaid cake (she likes Princess Ariel so much) especially for the celebration, fried some chicken nuggets and made mini 3-cheese pizzas. The cake was simply beautiful and she loves it. I’m delighted that she felt special that day. I have to admit that ever since Sophie came into the picture, she didn't get all the attentions she used to get when she was the only girl in the family. And it wasn’t easy having an adorable girl for a baby sister. All attentions seem to diverge to the younger one.
But one thing I adore about Nana is even though Sophie has taken away almost all the stars from her, she never hates her little sister. She loves her so so much and very protective of her baby sister, such a darling sister she is. Momma loves you darling...muahhhh!
Here is my not-so-little-anymore princess during her birthday celebration at school...
This little girl was also there to celebrate her kakak's birthday :-)
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Sophie is 2!
My sweeety pie celebrated her 2nd birthday on 17/9. Sophia Amani was born via emergency c-section on Nuzul Quran 2008. I chose the name Sophia in honour of my late maternal grandmother who was my second mother. I miss my Tok sooo much *sob sob*
We were all looking forward to celebrate her birthday with makan-makan days before her birthday. I’ve been craving for Red Velvet Cake from Just Heavenly for a while hence I suggested Chilli’s BSC (so that I could get the yummylicious cake there, smart eh?). My kids love Chilli’s hence they get pretty excited and superbly happy (they actually shouted 'yeay' in the car) the minute I suggested the place...phewww! Should I pick the wrong place everyone would put on their long masam face I tell ya. My kids, especially the boys, are really particular when it comes to food. They would rather go hungry than dine at a place they don’t like. Trust me, I’m not exaggerating.
But, even an experience parent like moi (perasan teheheee!) makes mistake. I didn’t feed the birthday baby before we left the house. Hence, she threw tantrum all the way there until the food arrived on our table (yup she was that hungry and I was a mean mom). My first attempt at cutting the cake at the venue failed. She refused to cooperate and almost hit the cake with her bare hand. Nevermind I said, we’ll do another round of cake cutting at home. Owh, I made another major mistake - I requested for only 1 candle when in fact my girl was turning 2! In my defense (as usual I have to defense myself ler), I was coaxing a baby who kept screaming “nak mamam” when I was ordering the cake, so I couldn’t think straight *grin*. Good enough excuse? Yes, I think so...hehehe.
Once we reached home, dear hubby improvised by halving the candle (thank God for the smart hubby) and we sang her happy birthday enthusiastically (yes, really!). She was so so happy and kept clapping until we finish the song. The look on her face was, like MasterCard says it, priceless!
Here are some snapshots of my baby, my heartbeat, on her birthday. Momma loves you so much darling!
I wish she could stay this cute forever and ever...
All grown up! She's the only child that I 'raised' myself. The rest was practically 'raised' by the maids :-(
We were all looking forward to celebrate her birthday with makan-makan days before her birthday. I’ve been craving for Red Velvet Cake from Just Heavenly for a while hence I suggested Chilli’s BSC (so that I could get the yummylicious cake there, smart eh?). My kids love Chilli’s hence they get pretty excited and superbly happy (they actually shouted 'yeay' in the car) the minute I suggested the place...phewww! Should I pick the wrong place everyone would put on their long masam face I tell ya. My kids, especially the boys, are really particular when it comes to food. They would rather go hungry than dine at a place they don’t like. Trust me, I’m not exaggerating.
But, even an experience parent like moi (perasan teheheee!) makes mistake. I didn’t feed the birthday baby before we left the house. Hence, she threw tantrum all the way there until the food arrived on our table (yup she was that hungry and I was a mean mom). My first attempt at cutting the cake at the venue failed. She refused to cooperate and almost hit the cake with her bare hand. Nevermind I said, we’ll do another round of cake cutting at home. Owh, I made another major mistake - I requested for only 1 candle when in fact my girl was turning 2! In my defense (as usual I have to defense myself ler), I was coaxing a baby who kept screaming “nak mamam” when I was ordering the cake, so I couldn’t think straight *grin*. Good enough excuse? Yes, I think so...hehehe.
Once we reached home, dear hubby improvised by halving the candle (thank God for the smart hubby) and we sang her happy birthday enthusiastically (yes, really!). She was so so happy and kept clapping until we finish the song. The look on her face was, like MasterCard says it, priceless!
Here are some snapshots of my baby, my heartbeat, on her birthday. Momma loves you so much darling!
I wish she could stay this cute forever and ever...
All grown up! She's the only child that I 'raised' myself. The rest was practically 'raised' by the maids :-(
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Catching up after Raya
It’s raining heavily outside, tones of works are waiting for me, clients are calling asking about the status of the jobs and I’m down with flu and fever for the second time after Raya (I can’t think when I’m sick, hence no work done yet since Raya). But I’m not complaining, instead I’m thankful, alhamdulillah. Moga terhapus dosa2 kecilku, aminnn.
I have a lot of things in mind but too little time to write, hence this entry will be short and sweet. I need to warm up my brain too before I start work again hehehe...
The recent TV3 Raya ad has caught my attention big time. I have a lot to say about that but I guess what I wanted to say has been said by others online. I feel that those responsible for approving such lousy ad should take full responsibility for their action. 1Malaysia is not about religion you dum***s, you should never ever mix religions together. I have been involved with TV commercial productions before and I know for a fact that it takes a big team to work on the project from the story board to final editing. What puzzled me was, weren't there anyone who was quick to say something about the improper and offensive concept that clearly won’t work? Don’t tell me that everyone in TV3 is blinded with the 1Malaysia concept so much that they can’t see that religion is a very serious and sensitive issue? Come on lar people!
Sadly, Islamophobia is on the rise around the world too. And the western media is doing their best to portray a very negative image of Islam. I feel so sad when fellow Muslims take what the western media is saying as the truth. I think we all are smart enough not to believe everything the media is saying (particularly when those behind them are out to tarnish Islam). The stoning of Soraya M for example, the Western media had a field day with this sensational story. I’m not saying that I agree with the stoning punishment, all I’m saying is the story has been sensationalized and manipulated to their benefit and to our detriment.
The murder of the local cosmetic millionaire also garnered our attention, so much so that the media is covering the news every single day. Even the story about her daughter going to the office for the first time since her death was aired on TV3 Prime News (do we really care?). It was like a plot in Hindi movie to say the least. If there is one thing I should learn from this saga is – money does not guarantee a good ending to your life. Your ibadah is the only guarantee, wallahuwa’lam. Also don’t ever befriend lawyers from a certain race...hahaha. Oops, am I being racist here?
Speaking of racism, I wonder why it is ok for people from other races to utter racist remarks, but it’s not acceptable when we the Malays did it? It’s so unfair isn’t it? But then again, the world is unfair and unkind. Live with it people. Suck it up!
Interestingly, so many ulamak are making their say about FB these days. There was even one circulated in FB that shows an Imam giving advice about FB in his Friday sermon, I loike! He said in a gist “FB adalah agenda Yahudi untuk menghalalkan maksiat.” I can’t agree more, it’s so so true. We all have seen it and done it, but try to deny it either consciously or otherwise. Nau’zubillah. There was one about dosa 24 jam on FB. I have since deleted all my pictures that show aurat (accept for one that I recently posted). Hubby has requested that I deleted that too *grin*. And I tell you that it wasn’t easy for me to click the delete button.
I say it takes a lot of courage and conviction to do good things ke jalan Allah but it’s so so easy to perform maksiat. May Allah show us the righteous way, insyaAllah.
That should be it for now. I’d like to wish everyone SELAMAT HARI RAYA, MAAF ZAHIR & BATIN, TERKASAR BAHASA, TERSILAP KATA, HALALKAN MAKAN, MINUM & HUTANG JIKA ADA.
I have a lot of things in mind but too little time to write, hence this entry will be short and sweet. I need to warm up my brain too before I start work again hehehe...
The recent TV3 Raya ad has caught my attention big time. I have a lot to say about that but I guess what I wanted to say has been said by others online. I feel that those responsible for approving such lousy ad should take full responsibility for their action. 1Malaysia is not about religion you dum***s, you should never ever mix religions together. I have been involved with TV commercial productions before and I know for a fact that it takes a big team to work on the project from the story board to final editing. What puzzled me was, weren't there anyone who was quick to say something about the improper and offensive concept that clearly won’t work? Don’t tell me that everyone in TV3 is blinded with the 1Malaysia concept so much that they can’t see that religion is a very serious and sensitive issue? Come on lar people!
Sadly, Islamophobia is on the rise around the world too. And the western media is doing their best to portray a very negative image of Islam. I feel so sad when fellow Muslims take what the western media is saying as the truth. I think we all are smart enough not to believe everything the media is saying (particularly when those behind them are out to tarnish Islam). The stoning of Soraya M for example, the Western media had a field day with this sensational story. I’m not saying that I agree with the stoning punishment, all I’m saying is the story has been sensationalized and manipulated to their benefit and to our detriment.
The murder of the local cosmetic millionaire also garnered our attention, so much so that the media is covering the news every single day. Even the story about her daughter going to the office for the first time since her death was aired on TV3 Prime News (do we really care?). It was like a plot in Hindi movie to say the least. If there is one thing I should learn from this saga is – money does not guarantee a good ending to your life. Your ibadah is the only guarantee, wallahuwa’lam. Also don’t ever befriend lawyers from a certain race...hahaha. Oops, am I being racist here?
Speaking of racism, I wonder why it is ok for people from other races to utter racist remarks, but it’s not acceptable when we the Malays did it? It’s so unfair isn’t it? But then again, the world is unfair and unkind. Live with it people. Suck it up!
Interestingly, so many ulamak are making their say about FB these days. There was even one circulated in FB that shows an Imam giving advice about FB in his Friday sermon, I loike! He said in a gist “FB adalah agenda Yahudi untuk menghalalkan maksiat.” I can’t agree more, it’s so so true. We all have seen it and done it, but try to deny it either consciously or otherwise. Nau’zubillah. There was one about dosa 24 jam on FB. I have since deleted all my pictures that show aurat (accept for one that I recently posted). Hubby has requested that I deleted that too *grin*. And I tell you that it wasn’t easy for me to click the delete button.
I say it takes a lot of courage and conviction to do good things ke jalan Allah but it’s so so easy to perform maksiat. May Allah show us the righteous way, insyaAllah.
That should be it for now. I’d like to wish everyone SELAMAT HARI RAYA, MAAF ZAHIR & BATIN, TERKASAR BAHASA, TERSILAP KATA, HALALKAN MAKAN, MINUM & HUTANG JIKA ADA.
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