Don't waste the good weather

Definition of good weather here is where the sun is shining bla bla bla aka not raining. With unpredictable weather here in Brunei, I had been missing a lot of exercise. Well, I couldn't blame on the weather 100% though coz 80% is because m just plain lazy! But now m getting 'bigger' (tummy-wise) and I need to cut down on my tummy fats for certain occasions (which planned to be next year!).

Yesterday afternoon, the weather is a bit cloudy, no sign of the sun and afterwork, I forced myself to join my male bff and a friend to hike at Tasek. Almost 2 weeks not hiking, m slow! Slow sehabis-habisnya! Urrrghhh! Boreng eh! But I got sporting hike partners. They waited for me..hehe!

This morning, I went for a jog and a brisk-walking around JP. M not an early bird (unlike my bff - she woke up so early, I don't know how!). So, for me waking up early during public holiday is a very rare rare occasion. I only wake up early if I got something to do! Went with my 2 brothers and my mum coz dad is going to Miri with his colleagues.

I don't know whether m up tis afternoon. My hiking partners bring me to Shahbandar, Bkt 17! Done with bkt 17 once and m looking forward to do it again but hmmm....we'll c whether m fit tis afternoon....

If I have you, I don't want anything else.....

What were you guys thinking???!!! Hahaha!

Who wouldn't want to get one of this baby. If anyone out there generous enuf to give me 1, fully paid, I don't mind taking...kweng kweng kweng! Oh well, no harm in dream, ayte?

All Time Favourite!

I am grateful for both my male and female bffs. I am a big fan of Lucy Maud Montgomery and I have to say I love the Anne of Green Gables novels. To tell the truth, Anne of Green Gables in my first novel that I read when I started take interest in reading and i had been a wondeful read. It kept me going to the bookstore more often and spent my dad's money on books (hehe! I was a kid back then, no money leh!).

Now, you were thinking what my bffs got to do with this considering that I didn't know both of them back then when I started reading LCM's novels! Well, I was trying to look for the Anne of Green Gables videos, DVDs all these years, even when I was in Singapore but couldn't find it. Trust me, it's that hard to find. I was thinking to buy online but then my male bff offered to download it for me from the net. Yippppiiieee! Hehehe! It took him around 2-3 weeks to download the whole 4 DVDs! When he's done, all the clips were separated. 1 clip runs for more or less 30 minutes. Then my female bff saw it and because she is sooooooooo good (hehe) at this computer, program stuffs, she managed to combine all into 1 movie. Now, you know how m grateful to both of them! Thanx all!

So, now I got Anne of Green Gables which runs for 3hr 15 mins, Anne of Green Gables - the Sequel which runs for 3hr 40 mins and Anne of Green Gables - The Continuing Story which runs for 2hr 57 mins! Last weekend, I did all Anne of Green Gables marathon which took me nearly 10 hours! Few years back, I only managed to watch until the sequel. I know that they made another movie of Anne but never got the chance to watch it (the reason trying so hard to find the video). And now, m a very happy bunny (figure of speech) coz Anne finally get married to Gilbert; Gilbert went to the war and all those happy ending stuffs.

Watching these movies made me miss reading the novels so last night I took the liberty to open one of the novels - Anne of the Island! I don't know why but of all the Anne's life, this book I like the most. Maybe because in this book, Anne is no longer a small child but a grown up woman. I missed 2 of Anne's books though - Anne's House of Dream and Rainbow Valley. I surfed the net this morning to download these 2 books but then, my female bff offered to download it for me in pdf form. M8! you know how grateful I am with what you did for me! Love ya! Hehe!

So, now my Anne of Green Gables are complete. I got all the 8 novels (6 hard copy while 2 soft copy) and 3 movies of Anne! It is definitly my all time favourite reading!

Diary of Greg Heffley

Few enteries back, I wrote about a book that I recently read, lend from my bff - Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Well, my bff loves the 1st book so much that she bought the 2nd 1 last weekend - Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules.

I haven't finish reading this book yet (I know! For a simple book, it took me a while to finish reading it!). But basically it's the same thing. Grey continues writing in his journal (not a diary - as he said) and Rodrick is Greg's brother.

I let you know how it is once I finished reading it, mmmkay? Hehehe!

Tamiflu

How many of you outthere consider yourself lucky being a Bruneian? I am! Hehehe! Apart from some of the Arab countries, basically you can feel comfortable / safe being a Bruneian. Education - free! (apart from the school fees and so on). Medical - free! (apart from the registration). Fuel - subsidised! (that should be a BIG relief). And there are sooo many things that we take for granted. I (most of the times) took things for granted. Who doesn't? That's because we are living comfortably in our Adobe of Peace!

I used to tell my younger brothers how difficult life was when I was living in Singapore. Didn't own a car, hence had to wake up early in the morning, walk to the nearest MRT station, walked some more and sometimes, had to run chasing the bus! Hahaha! You wouldn't catch me chasing after a bus here in Brunei!!!!

I wanna say something that I know about - medicine! With the increasing of the H1N1 cases in Brunei (I don't know the exact numbers), vaccination was given free until it ran out! Yes, we are running out of the influenza vaccine. Heard that it's coming either September or October, couldn't be really sure. Now, Tamiflu is given to almost all high-risk patient, children and adults who have hi-fever. And it's FREE! Don't you just love being a Bruneian! I love being a Bruneian, grateful even! Don't get me wrong. It's bad enough that if you are given the Tamiflu coz that means you are 50-50 at risk but 1 thing you need to have a positive outlook is that your country is taking care of you. If you are sick, seek the doctor! It might cost you your time (waiting and all) but it cost you nothing (in term of money). Think about it!

Be grateful with what your country is doing for you. Take a lil' of the bad, take a lil' of the good and now, walaaa, you got a lil' of both!

Scrubs

Considering that all the upcoming season of TV series are not due for another few more weeks, I had been watching a lot of the reruns lately. Last weekend, I spent the long weekend by watching Scrubs season 1 and now thanx to my bff, m watching Scrubs season 2 and The Nanny season 4.

Don't you just love watching reruns! Eventhough you know what's happening next but still you couldn't stop yourself from laughing again and again!

Firework at Empire

There was a firework held in Empire last Saturday night in celebration for HM's 63th birthday. Initially m not interested to go coz well, fireworks are just fireworks afterall...nothing special about it. But my elder brother called me earlier that evening, asking whether m going coz my 2 nieces badly want to go and both my brother and sis-in-law were too tired to go. So, told him, m not going.

Around 9pm, my brother after me, Andy said that kesian jua to my nieces and I told him, I don't mind going and accompanying them f he's willing to drive. I don't fancy driving in a crowded place. So, me with me 3 brothers went to fetch my nieces in Beribi and we headed to Tungku beach and fewwwwhhhh! What a crowd! We were using the Tungku highway and the que already started around the DST building! Luckily, as I said, m not the 1 driving hence I just relax and nagged when my brother cut the que...hahaha! But then, who cares? It was even a worst situation around Empire hotel; cars parked on the roadside; basically it was hectic.

We missed 3 minutes of the firework coz we were stuck at the entrance of Tungku beach and once we managed to find a spot, it was far but we managed to see the fireworks. As I said, nothing unusual. It was splendid, no offence but it's just fireworks. Nevertheless, m happy both my nieces, Trisya and Atul, 6 yrs old and 5 yrs old respectively, love it! It's a nice, warm feeling to make kids happy. I know they don't demand much to make them happy (they are happy most of the time by playing by themselves) but to know that you are causing their happiness....that's what I'm satisfied for!

Metrosexual

M not gonna discuss about this topic in general coz truth to be told, m not actually understand myself about metrosexual. Hahaha! Whoever interested to enlighten me, well, feel free....nyeh nyeh nyeh!

Anyway, it's a Thai movie that my bff gave me few days back (or was it last week? - m getting forgetful dah!). She said it's a nice movie and I should watch it. I did! And I kinda like it.

It's a story of 5 (best) friends. One of them getting married and when she (the bride-to-be) introduced her fiance to her friends, they started to question the fiance's identity (straight or gay). From the way he shops and knows all those branded things that women know, they are getting suspicious.

It's a nice story, I have to say. Friendship, trust, honesty all rolls into 1. All the 5 characters all lead different lives and if the writer admits it him/herself, it's an adaption of the real life. You might encounter all these in your own life but to watch it playing in a screen is something like a self-discovery.

I mean, when my bff introduced me her then-boyfriend to me, of coz I asked so many questions. Call me buzybody or anything (I called it emotional intelligence, mind you!) but as a friend (bff especially), we have the rights to ask questions, right m8?! *wink*wink* The reasons I (we) being buzybody with our friend's life is that because we care for them. Can this guy makes her happy? Can this guy holds her when she cries? Can this guy to go all those hardship with her? And I guess this movie explain exactly just that! You would go any roads to find the truth (if he got a skeleton tucked sumwer in the closet)! hehehe!

Just because I'm a woman, doesn't mean I'm weak

Okay! I admit that sometimes we, women cry for no apparent reason but that couldn't prove that we are weak, right? Men cry too, you know. Well, I know some men who are not ashamed to admit that they do cry. I mea, who doesn't? Men might go all macho on you but there are some soft spots in them (if you know how to trigger them) that would eventually make them cry.

I'm just writitng this for fun and from what I had observed around me. Some other days, I would be working along with 3 men and no woman, except for me, of coz. For someone who know me, when I'm working, I can be very independent and I proud to say that I can work equally with what men can do. But most of them times, the men I work with are too gentlemanly especially my boss and my male colleague. Whenever they see me carry a big box (which sometimes weight nothing), they would come rush to me, offering their help. I know! I should be grateful for their thoughtfulness but truth to be told, most of the time, it's annoying. You see me like this, doesn't mean m a clingy, spoilt lady.

Another case would be with my male bff. Everytime we went for a hike, he would keep on asking me, "are you okay?". At first, it's sweet for him to ask. But if every 5 minutes he kept on asking, well.........hmm, malas kan cakap =P

Quite some times ago, a guy once asked me, bluntly in my face, whether m a tomboy. I took no offence in that coz honestly, I used to be! Surprise! Surprise! I acted tomboy when I was lil' girl till around I was 13 years old (I think?). Growing up with 5 brothers, I have to say, I'm kindda tough in my own way. I asked the guy what made him to ask me that question. He told me that, presently, he sees a lady but my behaviours told him otherwise. So, I told him the truth. And the truth? Haha! I think I had outgrown my tomboyish act and if you ask me now about clothes, bags, shoes and all those ladies' things, I think I will pass...hehe!

Ok! Enuf of nonsense. In my opinion, women can be as tough as men and men can be as weak as women. Do you get what I meant? We, women like to act weak to lure the male species and men, in turn, would act tough (manly, macho - whatever you wanna call it) to lure women. So, it's a fair game, right?

"I'm a man, hear me roar!"

I heard these words before, I think from one of the movies or TV series but I couldn't remember which one. I kindda like it..hehe

Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Greg Heffley's Journal

It's a book by Jeff Kinney. I bought this book for my bff coz she likes it and she finished reading it in a day. For someone like me who read novels all the time, romance, fictional, sci-fiction, tis book is (honestly) a kid's book. But it's really really funny! I was laughing to myself when I read this book. It's nice to have a break from all the heavy-heavy stuffs I'm currently reading...hehe!

Greg (the main character in this book) wrote that it's a journal NOT a diary but for me it's a diary.

" First of all, let me get something straight: this is a JOURNAL, not a diary. I know what it says on the cover, but when Mom went out to buy this thing I SPECIFICALLY told her to get one that didn't say "diary" on it."

The good thing about this book is that it's a cartoon novel. Yup! In every page, you will see some cartoons and it's quiet entertaining...

Anyone who wants a good read but not too much a reader, you might want to read this 1.

BFF Day Out

10th July, me and my BFF celebrated our 11th anniversary. It was this date (or around this date) 11 years ago that we get to know each other. Never in my life that I thought I would have a friend that I would see almost every day, text each other every day, chit chat with each other every day. Sure, we have lots and lots of friends in our own circles but how many of those friends that you see almost everyday, you text with almost everyday? Although we like to make it as often as possible but somehow, we just couldn't.

Anyway, just to make this entry clearer, it me and my female BFF day out, not me and my male BFF day. I woke up early (for once in a Friday morning) and my BFF fetched me around 8.30am. We had our breakfast at Big Papa's in Qlap and with by the time we were done, we were ready for our 10 o'clock appointment. Well, me and my bestie were supposed to do foot scrub and massage but considering that m wayyyyy too ticklish with me feet (or any part of my bady, that is), I changed me treatment. Instead I did manicure and pedicure while my bestie sat next to me, enduring all the ticklish-thingy while her foot being scrubed and massaged. But, in the end of my pedicure, I had no idea how, I ended up doing foot massage. The lady must have a good sale talk with me that I ended up ending all the ticklish-thingy she did to my foot. It felt nice though except for the ticklish part.

By 11.45am, we arrived at Sheraton Utama hotel. Nope! We were not booking any room with a couple of gigolo waiting...hahaha *don't you just wish?*wink*wink* My BFF already booked a pool side table for lunch at Tasek Brasserie. The foods....hmmm...not need for me to tell coz I would end up starving. It was delicious. Unfortunately, my BFF was not feeling that well hence she ate less! I know! It's unbelievable! I mean, she is the type of person who can eat everything at anytime but not today....weshhh...rugi eh! But nevermind, we will go again there soon, ah m8? Hehehe! After lunch, we went to Yayasan, then catch Ice Age 3 at Qlap Cineplex and went for a lil' shopping for tudong and books.

I came home around 6.30pm. Haha! Almost 12 hours out of the house...fewwwhhh! My mate gave me this pendrive wit a video in it. The video is the second 1 she made for me. The first one was for my birthday last year and I have to say, she's good at this computer-hi-tech-video-thingy. I was thinking of posting it here (the video) but when I think again about it, well, the video is kindda too personal and call me stingy or anything you like, I don't feel like sharing it with anyone..hahaha..but I would share something she said/wrote.

"Eventhough we are opposite of one another
One is tall, one is short,
One is skinny, one is chubby,
One loves to read, one loves to write,
One is smart, one is blur,
One is systematic, one is clumsy,
One is dieting, one is eating,
We have something in common...
Our love for each other"

It's true you know. No matter how different you are from each other, 1 thing that keeps the friendship going (and kicking) is our love in our friendship, our love for each other! Best friends are not that 1 who will always agree to what you are saying or to what you are doing. But bear in mind, eventhough they don't agree with you in so many things, they will be there for you, for whatever it is you are doing...to support you, for you to lean on.

Although this may come late, but Happy 11th Anniversary m8! You know I love you

InsyaAllah

I was suppose to update my blog today but somehow, now it's late and m kindda tired after all day of laundry, ironing, eating and sleeping and my back hurts! So I think I will try to update 2mr, insyaAllah and post some pix that my bff just send me =) Till 2mr or....whenever! Hehe

Go for Gold??

Today is our KKC group presentation to the judges (or as we called close session). Alhamdullilah, we presented our project and managed to answe some questions. Before the session, we managed to take few group photos.

Group Official Photo

Group Unofficial Photo

Siblings Night Out

Last weekend, my and 4 of my brothers (minus my 4th) went out for a game of pool. This is my 2nd try playing. My 1st would be around 2 weeks ago with the gang.

Faiz - 2nd

Me - tie at the last place *urgh*

Muiz - 3rd

Siblings (minus Adi)

Wadi - tie for the last place ;P

Andy - Winner *ceh*

Women Driver

There are lots and lots of issues involving women and driving. It is understood that women are the worst driver. True, I had to admit that but bear in mind that not all women are bad drivers. As for me, I consider myself as a good driver. Speeding is my worst habit, I know but still, m better than some. My male colleague showed me this video and it's hilarious, I have to admit. I just couldn't resist but to post it. Enjoy!

Bandar Seri Begawan - Part 2

Here are few pictures of Bandar Seri Begawan. Hehehe...guess, I got nothing else to do / post.

The main entrance of Istana Nurul Iman

Royal Regalia

SOAS Field

SOAS Mosque

Kubur Dang Ayang

Few posts before, I did mentioned about a tomb near TAIB in Bandar, just opposite the SOAS field. My bff send me this article few days ago. Thanx to her, at least 3/4 of my curiosity had been answered. Thanx m8!

THE MYSTERIOUS GRAVE IN THE CITY CENTRE
The Tale of Kubur Dang Ayang

by Rozan Yunos

---

Many people have walked past the walled small roof structure opposite the General Post Office Building in the car park yard of the TAIB Building in Bandar Seri Begawan. Many have in fact parked their cars next to it. However, not many have realized that they are actually parked to a grave. A grave which is very interesting and full of mystery. It is not even known whether it is a grave.

It was said that before the World War, the site was actually a huge mound of some thirty feet tall. It was blown up by a bomb during the Second World War and the mound was said to be empty even though according to legend, there should be at least a few people who were buried there.

The grave was said to belong to a lady by the name of Dang Ayang. Dang is the Brunei colloquial term for Dayang and Ayang is the name of that person. Those who know it called the grave Kubur Dang Ayang. Some have called it Kubur Raja Ayang. It was said that the lady is actually of Royal parentage.

Legend has it told that this was a very sad story. Apparently in the old days, a sister and a male sibling was caught in an unlawful relationship (sumbang mahram is the Malay term). According to the laws then, the crimes must be punished by being stoned to death. It was said that nobody then had the heart to stone them to death but neither could they leave them unpunished. So the authorities compromised.

What they did was to build a cavern in the middle of the forest (remember most Bruneians in those days live along the river and this 'kubor' or grave was about a mile inland then - so it is quite far from the other Bruneians). The two of them had to live in it. Some versions said only Dang Ayang lived in it and other versions said both of them. The cavern was fitted with air ventilation. Presumably some food was left with them as there was supposedly a small chimney where smoke can be seen coming out of the chimney. This smoke indicated that they were still alive. They must have been kept there for a long while until one day no more smoke was seen coming out of the chimney and everyone presumed that she or they died.

Nobody knew when the graveyard started to be walled but presumably someone did it because it is still technically a grave and up to now it is left there - to be left unknown and a rather sad testimony to an indiscretion of a young Brunei couple.

If one was to visit the grave, there is a broken tombstone which tells the story of the lady and who she was. Even though she was not named on that tombstone but instead she was called the daughter of a certain person. According to a paper written by the Principal of the History Centre, she was most likely a member of the aristocracy whose father was of Arabic origin and said to be related to the third Sultan. Sultan Sharif Ali was of Arabic origin.

It was most likely too that the crime was committed in 1452 during the reign of Sultan Sulaiman (circa 1432-1485). It was said that the lady upon realising what she committed was an enormous sin that she and her entourage (so it wasn't just one person but the whole household) voluntarily went to their deaths. Given the context of the time and the parentage, the deed perpetrated was deemed to be very serious and merited such punishment.

On the tombstone it was written in Arabic too that it is hoped that the punishment meted out is sufficient compensation for the sin that was committed for the body (bodies) of those who committed the sin and pray that they are in peace and a prayer so that the Al-Mighty will forgive them. Based on the writings on the tombstone, it is understood that for every sin committed, the authorities must carry out the punishment necessary for it. It also reflected the strength of the religion then to the point that the punishment has to be meted out regardless of who the perpetrator was. What has happened can be a lesson for all.

Even though the punishment seemed harsh, some have said that the punishment that one will receive in the hereafter will be harsher if the punishment during the lifetime was light. The young couple understood what they did was wrong. They also understood that they must be punished and they accepted the punishment voluntarily. That is a lesson for us too. To know when we do something wrong and to know when we must pay for it. Hopefully the story of the young couple will make us better persons and that their grave can be a constant reminder to us.

Note: An edited version of the above article was published in The Golden Legacy column in The Brune

The Most Exhausting Day....Ever!

I declare today is the most exhausting day ever! It's like almost half of the students from 5 surrounding schools came down to the clinic! And that does not include the other patients. I am soooo drop dead tired!!!

Masks, Hand Santitzers and Swine Flu

For a health professional, I still couldn't believe that Brunei had an alarming increase of swine flu cases. As of today, the number had leaped to 120+ cases! 120+?? It might not sound like a big number but for Brunei with the populations of less than 500,000, it quiet...scary! Scary, that's the word I often use to define Swine flu.

Some of the public are now aware of the danger of this flu while some just being ignorance. I thought with free education given to all Bruneians, you thought that we were all clever but we might be proven wrong! I know 1 real case of quarantine family members. There were quarantine for 7 days but before the 7 days were up, they (the whole family) was spotted in the Mall, not wearing any masks!!! To hear this, it's just so plain irresponsible. I mean, okay, you might NOT be infected but you MIGHT be infected. If you are infected, why you want to put other people in the same situation as yours??

I have to salute most of us though. Eventhough they are not sick, they also wear masks just as a precautions. Yesterday I was working. Clinic opens at 2PM and by 2.30PM, 86 patients had registered to see the doctors and by the end of the night, a total of 494 patients had registered. I don't know if you can imagine how buzy and hectic it was but by the end of the shift, I was so drop dead exhausted! As a frontline health professions, we are compulsory to wear the mask. It doesn't protect us 100% from all those air-bourne diseases but to all the patients out there, please do not cough infront of others. I hate when people do that!

Last Saturday afternoon, I was searching for the hand sanitizers for my brothers. Schools are re-open this monday. I was thinking to equip my brothers with masks and hand sanitizers. Not only m a good, lovable sister (hahaha) but I also don't want them to contract anything while at school.

May Allah be with us always. Amin.....

Siblings Day Out

Two weekends ago, it was me and my brothers day out. Mom and dad wanted to stay in and rest hence the 4 of us (minus bro Adi) went out to watch Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen. We were supposed to catch the 10am show at Qlap Cineplex but when we got there around 9.45am, the show was fully paid for (unless we want to sit at the few last bottom rows). Could you believe it? 9.45am? And the cineplex lobby was quiet full. Hence, we took the 11.30am show and we managed to grab the top seats...yay!

To kill the time, I had my breakfast at Express. I don't know. M always craving for the RBC Express lately..hmmm...Anyway, the 11.30am show was packed too and the movie? Hmm...nda payah cakap. I guess everyone likes it. I did too. Nothing beats autobots fighting with each other. My favourite part would be when they dropped the guy in the suit from the plane. It was so hilarious! And man! I love Petra! I always dream of going there.

After movie, we went to eat belated lunch at Taurean Too Kopitiam in Batu Bersurat. Lunch done, we went to DVD surfing..hehe! Came home by 3PM and then I need to get ready for hiking. That's what I called exhausted weekend! No work done, which what it should be =) It's a weekend afterall..

Getting Fit and Dark Again!

With the increasing workload, social activities and so on, I neglected my used to be routine exercise - hiking. So last Saturday, I started again. Thinking about it, I was quiet unenthusiastic considering that I got lots of work pending but due to the constant push and support from my male BFF, so I went again. Last Saturday, we went to Tasek and last Sunday, we went to Shahbandar. 2 days in a row of hiking, that's enough to get me back having muscles cramp and a bit of 'tan' haha!

I had been meaning to do hiking as a daily routine, as it used to be but somehow it's just couldn't be. 1st, there is the weather. It had been raining lately here in Brunei. 2nd, afterwork meetings still going on. I couldn't escape it hence no hiking. 3rd, after long day at work, I'm just too tired to exercise!

Will Upate Soon...

I'm going 'missing' for a while hence no updates on my blog. Need to catch few breaths here and there (and hopefully) avoid the flu..hehe! Will update as soon as I got the chance! Adios!