Lucky number 21

Love and I have always loved the "Rumah Lelong" advertisement on the way back to my house.

Previous two weekends, I saw an advertisement of a house with a very reasonable price. We hadn't really look for a house at that time, as we were waiting for our bonus this year, then only thought of house-hunting. But just out of fun, we decided to look at the house and got up all excited, then the next day, we've almost forgotten about the house.

Last Saturday, we had a tea with Omma (my mum-in-law). I didn't remember how the conversation got there, but we came to the house topic. Then, Omma grab a pencil, a calculator, a laptop and a paper, she said, "Now, serious talk, bukan main2!"

For hours, we calculated on our savings and our salaries and surprisingly, we managed to pay for more than 10% for the deposit of the house, just on our savings.

So, yesterday, after Omma insisted to look at the house, we went to really take a look at the house and thought about all the pros and cons. And we fell in love with the house. So badly that I just have to drop by to look at the house everytime I drove my car out of my home currently.

After a while, we realized that the number of the house is '21'. I've always loved 21. Our anniversary is on 21st. Our previous house number is 21. And you know the kind of feeling when you looked at something and you know that it is gonna be yours so badly that you already feel that it's yours? That's kinda how I felt right now. (Anyway, I thin slice a lot this lately, I trust my instinct and I don't do unnecessary extra thinking. This is what happened when you read too much of Malcolm Gladwell, Blink)

Insya Allah, if this is the best for us, we're gonna have a castle of our own by end of this week. Ameen.

As of now, I feel so grown up already!! :D I mean mentally, not physically. Though I heard some comments on how "grown up" I am (physically) after I got married. Ugh! So depressing! I need a jog!! Or better I need to ganti puasa soon!

Goodbyes

I hate 'goodbyes'! What am i talking about? Everybody hates goodbyes..

Yesterday morning, I received an SMS from Nana (actually she sent the SMS the night before, but I went to bed quite early these few days). It says, "Dearest all, Farah's 2nd bro, Yan has just passed away today due to some sudden illness. Sedekahkan Al-Fatihah, semoga rohnya dicucuri rahmat.. Amin.."

I called Love straight away and he asked, "Ada tahlil tonight? Let me know, I can try go home early."

I wanted so badly to see Farah last night, she's one of the best friends I would forever treasure. But Love usually got home around 8.30pm and another hour to Farah's house, we might arrived really late. So I said, "If you get home early, we go, but jgn rempit, take your time."

Later in the evening, I found the courage to actually call Farah. She picked up the phone with one ring, sounded all chirpy that it surprised me and totally clueless on how to react. I even for a while had a feeling that I must have had the wrong 'Farah'. She even managed to convince me that she's fine when I asked her about how she's been doing.

Not until I asked her again, "U ok?"
Farah: Terkejutla ikeen. It's just so sudden. He was healthy. Dr. said he was ok the morning before. It was just so sudden.

And that was when I sensed how hard she was trying to sound as chirpy as she usually is.

I said, "Kalau sempat, i datang tonight ok.."
Farah: Kalau dah habis tahlil, lambat pun takpe..

The moment she said that, I called Love and said, "Sayang, can we go and see Farah tonight?"

See the best thing about him is that he said OK to almost everything for me. He cancelled his meeting, got home before 8pm, for the first time in our married life and I'm so glad we made it.

Sigh.. life is so short. The incident of Farah's bro really hit me, this morning you're healthy as a horse with no history of major sickness, and the same evening, you're just no longer here.

I still feel all gloomy this morning. The fact that I have to say another goodbye to a colleague that is so dear to me. I just hope the power of internet will keep us closer.

Al fatihah to arwah.

And to a really really REALLY strong woman whom I know will get through this all, hang in there, k. ♥

4 out of 6 and it's only June!!

Woke up late this morning. Yes people, when you are married 6.20 am is considered late ok. Usually woke up at 5.30 am, did some breakfast for hubby cuz he usually leave home around 6 am.

Arrived 10 minutes after 8 at the office. Nasib baik flexible hour. Then, dropped by at admin building to photostate some cert for my PhD application when I suddenly had the hunch to check the pigeon hole. I don't usually like checking the pigeon hole, because I hardly get any mail (sounds like loser gile.. hehe)

Anyways, I saw this giant envelope with my name on it. I thought, "Owh.. the grant I applied the other day. Must be telling me officially that it is accepted". So I took a glance at the letter. And stopped. Looked at the envelope, read my name again. The letter head, read my name again. Ehh.. Betulla it's my name there.. I mean except that the HR calls me "Cik", pfftt..


I captured the first word, "Pensyarah" then I captured some numbers and I smiled. Alhamdulillah. I just got promoted, with double of my current salary.

I emailed my darling boss,

Me: Salam Puan, Saya dah dapat surat tawaran untuk jadi lecturer!!! :)
Boss1: Excellent!!!, Congrats Ikin, welcome to the academic world (At this point, I jumped happily)
Me: Thank you, Puan. Thank you for helping a lot in getting us a place untuk jadi tutor and promoting us for a lecturer. I can’t thank you enough. May Allah bless you and your family always.
Boss1: No problem, you prove yourself well!

How sweeeettt...

Then, I talked to Boss Number 2.

Me: Salam Dr. I just got promoted!!
Boss2: How much is your salary?
Me: (Happily) Double than what I received now!! Yay!
Boss2: Too low! You should call them and asked them to raise it to at least RM???? (whatever I'm receiving now) + another RM 1K. (And the nagging goes on..)
Me: Can't you just be happy for me for one moment? Just one moment. *Laughs*

So yup, I just got promoted..

And about to submit my PhD application today.

It's June. And my to-achieve-list; 4 out of 6 things have been achieved. All praise to Allah SWT. Alhamdulillah.

Updates on my BIG day! -The chaos.

I remembered seeing one video in Youtube from NadrahTheDreamer, The Joys of Wedding Planning. And, there's a caption saying..

"Wedding planning: The living HELL which consumes the peace and sanity of the unsuspecting couple, even haunting them in sleep. If a couple can withstand the stress of planning (without eloping), then they are sure to have a long and happy marriage"

I laughed when I read this. A week before the wedding, I got almost everything ready and I thought, hey.. this is not as bad as they said!

My aqad was in Saturday, reception on Sunday. That same week on Wednesday, I received a phone call from my closest Aunt, sobbing on the phone..

Me: Are you ok? Why are you crying?
Aunt: Kak, Danial (his first son) was admitted to the hospital today. (Pause). H1N1.
Me: OMG!!! Quarantined?
Aunt: Yup, not only Danial. Syabil, Danish and Pak Cik pun (All his sons and hubby). I'm clean.
Me: Whaaattttt? Mak (Grandma, cuz my Aunt stayed with my grandparents) and Atuk?
Aunt: They don't know yet. Waiting for the result.

Then, the whole chaos started. Mum did nothing on Thursday, she cried the whole day. Phone kept on ringing. Grandparents eventually clean. Me? Thank God, I have my bridesmaid, she kept me sane and stayed with me Wednesday and Thursday, helping out with the room.

Thursday.. As the pressure worsen, Mum and Dad caught in an argument. Well, that was not the worse part. In the evening, suddenly there was an overvoltage due to the lightning. Failure with my autogate and some electrical appliances... and the light in my room.. in my bilik pengantin for God's sake!

Friday.. Lampu bilik pengantin still tak ok although we changed the bulb. Called the technician, he said he'll come first thing in the morning tomorrow, and tomorrow is my aqad. The drama continued..

Saturday (The Aqad)..

1) Dad tried to get his car out of the porch, and suddenly we could not start the car. :( Tried jump start, failed. Tried everything else, failed. At last we gave up, so throughout the aqad, the car stucked inside the porch, guest nak masuk rumah pun susah.

2) Before aqad, I should have had my khatam Al-Quran at 9am. I messaged the Ustazah the day before to remind her. But at 9.15am, she had not yet arrived. I gave her a call, she was surprised she thought it was at 10am and told me she did not received my sms. I checked the delivery report, yes i wondered why, "failed". So she came at 10am, and we had to cut it short cuz I was scheduled to have my make up at 12noon.

3) Photographers should arrive at 11am, but until I almost finished doing my make up, they were still not there! Aqad was at 2pm, they came around 1.30pm, acting all innocent. If you followed my previous blog, you would know my photographer.

4) Deco called, they said, "Miss jalan semua tutup, hari ni Hari 1 Malaysia. We cannot do your pelamin in hall tonight. Esok first thing in the morning kita datang." Panicked, but nothing I can do seriously.

5) Later that night, during rehersal (12 midnight), I called my Dad..
Me: Alat merenjis semua I passed to my friend tau, he'll come first thing in the morning tomorrow.
Dad: Ops! I forgot to do the bunga rampai and all the merenjis thingy. How?
Me: What?! You can't ask me how, Dad!! I reminded you hundredth times already!!! I don't know how!
Dad: We don't have daun pandan here!!
Me: Takpela i cari, nanti i ketuk2 la rumah orang cari daun pandan. (dengan sangat frustrated)
Dad: K.. K.. takpe, i tried ask around.

Sunday (The Reception)

1) 8am, my cousin should be in the hall, to monitor the deco and pelamin (also to give them the remaining balance). I woke up at 8 and asked, "Mum, Iwan dah pegi hall?" Mum said, "he just woke up and refused to go". OMG!!!! You're 23 and so irresponsible. Just because you're lazy to wake, you don't want to go! Stups!!

2) Guests should arrived around 11 am, so our cathering should be there latest by 10 am. 11am, our phone continued ringing, "Cathering is still not here! Meja beradap still tak siap. Chair cover pun belum pasang habis" I tried call the catherer, he off his hp! How dare!!! They came at 11.30am, guests were already waiting and my family did not have the time to eat before the guests. Again, you know who my catherer is.

And a lot more chaos.. but as we got to the hall, there's nothing but excitement! Allah is fair, enough said. Alhamdulillah.. :) Aunt and family were released the night before my reception, and they were there in the hall smiling brightly. And for the first time ever, that uncle of mine sang.. and he said "just for this wedding, just for you, I sang this song.."

Moral of the story: You're wise enough to choose what's good and what's not from my entry this time. Don't do the same mistake as I did, please. But whatever it is, kita hanya merancang.

Enjoy these pics!!

During, khatam.

During aqad, sekali lafaz! :)

Our hantaran

During reception, yes, we asked for a white and dark silver pelamin. Not dark blue.

Our hanbok, Korean traditional gown, arrived from Korea two days before the BIG day, and they suited us perfectly!

The two things I love; my make up and my live band!

The beginning of sharing

It's been exactly two weeks since I started to really learn the true meaning of the word "sharing".

Sharing my room, which I've never done that to anyone before, not even during my uni time.

Sharing my family, which is something really major to me.

Sharing the most private part of my life..

And as I was writing this, I realized that all the "my" in my life has now changed to "our", and it really is a turning point of my life right now.

I'm adjusting.. and adapting.. and at the same time, grabbing hard on not to lose myself along the way.

There's a lot a lot that I want to share with all the readers on my wedding experience, but I'm still on a break, I'll be back next Monday to tell it all! The do's and the dont's.

In the mean time, let me share with you my honeymoon pics!

I'm in NST!!

Haha. Just discover this!

A dreamer, doer and thinker..

When i received her message last two days, telling me that she might not be able to make it to ITEX 2010, I chose to not take it seriously. I knew her very well, and she wouldn't miss this important event, she's a wonderwoman.

Then yesterday, I received a short message telling me she "might not be able to make it, please prepare for the presentation." I thought, "Me? A presentation to impress the judges? That's too funny, better asked someone with Doctorate do it." Again, I chose to play dumb.

But later that evening, upon receiving the phone call from her that I started to feel like my world was upside down for a while. I just sat in the car for about 15 minutes with lots of thoughts going through my mind.

She said she's not coming. She was sick. The sickness was quite serious. Googling about her sickness doesn't make me feel better at all. She said she was so down, she did not feel like doing anything. And that there's no other person that is suitable to present the project but me, since I'm local. And she sounded very different from the person we knew, that I cried in the car.

I'm not crying because I need to present. I don't mind presenting. Although I didn't prepare anything. And I have less than 24 hours to prepare. I took that opportunity for me to shine, for me to challenge my intelligence.

I'm crying because I feel helpless. To not able to do anything to help a person who help builds who I am currently; the one you are proud of and even better the one she is proud of.

At night, the stress got even worse. The need to get a gold medal for her, as I see it's the only way for me to make her happy.

And in the morning, after calling to check up on her, and the whole way to KL Convention Centre thinking how dull would it be without her, I eventually got to the hall feeling a sense of emptiness all over me. We used to have so much fun in MTE, where she helped me to shine on my first exhibition, thus steal the gold medal.

Just about I put my phone in the locker, I received a message from her,

"Salam, sorry to put you thru this, but I know you'll be fine. I am trying to distress my nerves at home. Dr said that my nerves too work up and manifestating it on my leg. Anyway tqvm for giving ur best all this while. Tq."

Then, I stood up from where I sit, did my make up a bit, cheered myself up, took the judging criteria's note, go through the flow a few times, and when the judges came, I imagined how she would kill the presentation and impressed the judges, I did just as that.

And when I was done, all my project members ran to me, hugging me, "Impressive! Very confident! OMG they love you, Ikeen, the judges love you!"

I blurred for a while, and I quickly grab the phone, calling the woman who is already a part of me. My mentor. My supervisor. My project leader. My head of department. My inspiration.

This is for you.. And may we get that gold medal and may you recover very soon.

Thank you for everything. I love you, for everything you are. And I am proud to work under your department, a department that you called as the Department of dreamers, doers and thinkers.