last last weekend fun

this is on potluck picnic two weeks back. well, for one it was a success. two, it does not lack fun. but three, only 5 of us turn up (and budi)! more on the numbers next time i hope!!

while waiting for muni who took eons to reach, we played that dino game. fanah was the ultimate pro...tumpahkan root beer, duduk kan card, ketawa macam hantu, timang pasir etc. etc. and for all that, she lost 11 or 12 ?? times! forfeit was suppose to be going up to a makcik to help carry the light plastic bag she was carrying eagerly while she was surrounded by her family but apparently, cik fanah kita masih ada sifat-sifat malu so she decided not to do that. but BUT, she was not malu enough to stand in the middle of no where, point towards the sky in the direction of an oncoming plane and shout "aeroplane! aeroplane!" like a mad excited kid, jumping around and all. hahahah...

and cik munirah kita datang dengan star karat nya, membawa bubble tea untuk diri SENDIRI and dah nak habis pun! she came and step salam-salam semua orang and say sorry pasal lambat due to JAM at TPE. padahal after much interogation, the most part she was late pasal overslept sampai nak tengahari. oh, dah lah tu...then still can "sorry lah...aku tak bawa apa-apa" and open her bag to reveal one bag of chips! (which she end up bringing back herself mind you! hahaha) muni muni...orang lain bawa sandwiches (even though kurang tuna), ice cream (even though dah cair), mango pudding (even though tak tau mana hilang), brownies (even though tak begitu menjadi), durian dan air berbotol-botol...kau bawa DIRI jer. tapi takpe kau bagus! =D

jangan marah yer muni for your "special" mention in my blog *tepuk peha muni* sayaaaaang muni! ;-b

anyway, since i brought a ball...we played soccer! although we look more like a couple of minahs congregating in front of a ball here...

okay more like playing soccer now...

then back to congregating minahs trying to kick a ball by pushing others, selit-menyelit in between others and shovelling sand...*shakes head* yes, this is what we do.

what's potluck picnic with the girls without durians? *points to chop durian 1st*

and we headed over to rp all the way from changi to support our dearest izzati for her match!

shagged, head spinning, full and sleepy BUT very happy indeed! :) :) :)

global audit intern

A card of words I dedicate to you,
To show my utmost appreciation,
For your warm amiable welcome,
And your priceless guidance and mentorship.
Of SOX, CSA Reviews and Skills Matrix,
Performance Appraisal and Progress Template too,
You taught me considerably,
Lessons of working functions,
Lessons of life,
Of which I can’t pick along the streets,
Nor seek in my stacks of notes.
For one and for all,
My thanks and my gratitude,
A gift back to you.

a matter of choice

i have always thought whatever we do or don't do is a result of our own doing. a right to decide and to choose. however, many a times we abuse what rights we have. at times, we even undermine them...only to blame circumstances that leave us with no choice but to resign to fate. is it really circumstances that lead to resignation? even our religion teaches us to persevere first, however trying the situation may be, before thinking about resigning ourselves to whatever fate there is.

i was again triggered by this theme of choice. this time, after reading steven chia's blog about national service here. while many men fear their awaiting torturous stint, many men whine 24/7 during their neverending stint and many men hated their passing waste-of-my-2-years stint. but at the same time, there are many men who are eager while waiting, positive while serving and grateful while reserving/retiring.

i was appaled when i read comments like this:

"i believe it is every Singaporean guy’s duty to speak negatively of National Service.
It is, after all, still a gross violation of human rights and blatant slavery. "

"to be concise, friendships are what made life great.Not NS.it has only brought pain and sufferings."

"To prevent spending too much money on defense, conscription is the only choice."

i'm a woman and may not so fully understand the backings to all this negative notions (so pardon me) but guys really, is this how you view protecting the women and children of your country (all your loved ones included; grandmama, mother, wife, girlfriend, daughter, grand daughter, niece, friends etc.) ? gross violation of human rights? woah, such strong use of words. blatant slavery? hmm...are you not paid (albeit the meagre amount)? are you not fed? friendship not NS? you fostered meaningful, lifelong friendships THROUGH NS and here you are trying to make a distinction out of the two? getting citizens to stand up for OWN country is an economical stance? wow. i guess national pride, has a long way to go if this is where it stands.

oh wells...besides these few sad souls, i really hope the rest of us will choose wisely. to rid ourselves of negativity towards whatever challenging situations we undergo. to be smart by refusing to wallow oneself in self pity (which goes no where but to only shrink our own morale). to be positive and determined to learn something priceless and valuable (even how small that lesson would be) from anything that we do. to persevere even before thinking of resigning. afterall, happiness suffice when we finally learn to realise that the glass is half full. and i'm working on it... *smiles*

weekend fun

haven't been exercising for nuts and suddenly, my weekend was written with it all over. night cycling was great, not gerek. i probably came with an expectation from a previous experience and all i can say is that i came to appreciate the whole thought and planning process from the previous one much much better. shouldn't delve into details. i still have unfinished business, i mean WE right ain? hahah. but in any case, who's gonna create fun for you if not for you yourself right? most of the participants were secondary school kids so mentel partner and me felt a little out of place and "kakak-kakak" there. luckily we have faces that could pass off as secondary school kids too so, the perfect blend! hahaha. during ice breakers, we had to list two real facts and a lie about us and get others to guess which was false. and i was blamed an outright liar for this, "i am 20 years old" (i think mental partner too) ish! oh, we had flag painting and it was fun! macam survivor moment. we had the best flag! woohoo~ i also like the fact that they brought the islamic war theme into the event. perang badar and perang uhud. laBADAR and chandUHUD. no points for guessing it right, we cycled to labrador park and bukit chandu. the hike up kent ridge park was torturous since we had to get off our bikes and push it up the steep winding road. really tested my endurance since a long time running. and i think me and ain were the only participants who brought digicam and cam-whored away. some commented that they don't get how we can keep clicking away irregardless of time and lethargy. on the other hand, WE don't get some of their peroccupation with being "single or attached?" or "unattached but unavailable" kinda thing. age mentality gap! ;-b

my wonderwall that night. for the one whom i could bitch with and the one who kept me sane when i'm near breaking point, thank YOU!

headed home for a light sleep and went back out to meet the girls for some futsal! although we played for just a couple of minutes, i had fun and definitely want to go play again if i'm asked. the girls contemplated another hour of play and for a split second i was tempted to. but the all too familiar advice, "don't tire yourself too much" ring a bell and i decided i was not game to play another hour in the condition i was in. sorry mentel partner for killing your semangatness. salute you for your stamina like that (to think you went for the same event with me the night before). really hope there is a next time for this. (: (: (:

data mining without consent?

The Facebook craze sees many "ditching" Friendster for seemingly better and wider social networking pursuits. No doubt with applications such as the Email Friend Finder and Friend Suggestion, we get to be in touch with many whom we really know and matters. Albeit there are still the occasional strangers who add us for the sake of amplifying their matter of fact minute original network or god knows, hidden agendas, it again SEEMS as though we have control to contain and maintain our page. Or do we?

The tens and hundreds of application invitations scream for us to accept and 'beautify' our page. Sometimes, it gets too overwhelming we just delete them without bother looking at its content. Moreover, the hassle of registering the application following the routined cycle of inviting friends to accept our request of the same application can be another rather turning off factor. Why then bother to create many more applications by the day and overloading millions of pages with invitations?

"A Flashy Facebook Page, at a Cost to Privacy"

Some of the things written in this Washington Post article:

Those mini-programs, called widgets or applications, allow users to personalize their pages and connect with friends and acquaintances. But they could pose privacy risks. Some security researchers warn that developers of the software have assembled too much information --home town, schools attended, employment history -- and can use the data in ways that could harm or annoy users.

When a user installs one (program) on Facebook, which has 70 million members, the developer can see everything in a profile...and developers are allowed to keep those data for only 24 hours.

But it is often difficult to tell when developers are breaking the rules by, for example, storing members' data for more than 24 hours, said Adrienne Felt, who recently studied Facebook security at the University of Virginia.

She examined 150 of the most popular Facebook applications to find out how much data could be gathered. Her research, which was presented at a privacy conference last month, found that about 90 percent of the applications have unnecessary access to private data.

"Once the information is on a third-party server, Facebook can't do anything about it," she said.

Revealing information on quizzes or maps of places visited, for instance, may also make it easier for strangers to piece together tidbits to create larger security threats, said Alessandro Acquisti, assistant professor of public policy and information systems at Carnegie Mellon University. Some online activities ask users to list pets' names or to display their high school's mascot, answers to common security questions asked by financial companies.

"Nowadays, some people have downloaded so many [applications], it's a constant flow of information about what they've done, what they're doing, which can be mined by your friends and also by someone you don't know anything about," he said.

You can read the whole article here.

Since reading this, I have in fact taken down many of the applications I've once installed out of naivety. So my friends, think twice before we download more applications in Facebook. Yes, it is addictive and yes, it is still subject to own perspective of what you want to make up of this article. I am just here to share.

At the end of the day, nicely summed up in one of the comments:
"The internet will always be used by both good and bad people for different purposes. If you intentionally give your personal information away, you don't deserve privacy."

there's so much I wanna say, don't know where to start

in the midst,
the falling leaves seem to cry,
the sun seems too bright,
the morning crowd seems oblivious.
why?
the nonchalant chirps seem to fly,
the clear blue sky seems to hide,
and I seem vague...quickly blurring out,
smudging the beautiful landscape of a canvas.

For good I realise, time doesn't wait for us. Time doesn't wait for us to reconcile our satiety. We have to settle our contenment when circumstances take even the slightest detour. And with that, I count my blessings. Being a part of something is better than being a part of nothing. Learning to accept a condition is a subtle scrimmage I'll vanquish and subdue. There is no plea to the workings of a natural course. It happens and will continue to transpire. It is not a fault nor an onus to vow an unfathomable failing promise. I fully acknowledge, with much hope it transcends my fears.

new comforts

Those who think I really meant "nanti hilang seri bilik anak dara" must be joking right? Hahah...I just didn't have time to take pictures proper. So here's some random shots of the new room I so love. (:

looking forward to you

Oh gosh, I must have been either very dazed or utter ignorant. The restroom is just outside the office so while on my way out just now, as per usual I tapped the small panel that would unlock the door. Pushed the left door panel...it won't budge. Recep looked at me and told me the door is open and I was puzzled. Tapped the panel again. The door is OPEN! Glanced at the door again and there, the right door panel was wide ajar! We looked at each other and laughed at my silliness. *hides myself under my hands*

The room makeover is completed! Over the weekends, the transformation was rather drastic (ok, I'm just being very dramatic here) but yes, I'm very pleased with it. It was so tiring yet satisfying. I've thrown guess what? 7 big black plastic bags of rubbish! Wow...I am shock myself at how much dump I kept beneath all those quite, neat wardrobe and drawers. Thanks to my family for rendering all the help, dad especially! And no Kak Noor, I won't post pictures of my new room (just yet). Takut hilang seri bilik anak dara. *mentelmacampaham*

Girl talks, catching up are love. I feel blessed to have insightful girlfriends who are ever so inspiring and supportive. Knowingly or not, we sometimes get caught up in our whirlwind of thoughts. Most of the times fingers point, accusing or assuming issues about others when in fact, they are just reflections of ourselves. If we are constantly wondering about these issues "supposedly" others have and thinking that they are affecting us, I don't know...I just think it's WE who are having issues with ourselves for not being able to drop that mentality.

I've also been attending Usrah sessions with my NTU sisters, twice so far. Thanks to my darling, my dearest, my sayang and my love, Nab for inviting me over (Sidetrack a bit...Congratulations babe! I can't congratulate you enough and I'm so happy for you. Was it just yesterday we were so kental in our blue pinafolds, gossiping so ignorantly and conversing so childishly? No it was not. That was more than 10 years ago. I love you *smiles*). Alhamdulillah, there's so much that I took from it and I'm looking forward to more. Hopefully the door of opportunities is always open for me, InsyaAllah. Discussions that take advantage of the application to our everyday lives is what's so intriguing about it. The beauty of Almighty's verses. It inspires me to think and ponder alot, in a good way definitely. I'll probably share in another entry cause if not, this one will definitely be too long for my standards.

Oh, someone else was just fooled by the door too! hahahah...

a piece of the love thread

"I put my daily thoughts into this Rhapsody.
Deliver my feeling of appreciation.
Thanks for always. Thanks, for real.
You've made everything crystal and incredibly surreal."

- unknown

a sweet torment

Far up mountain alps

Missing silence breeds longing

Till next we meet, love.

to You, i believe

with serendipity, comes soothing calmness and predestined goodness. alhamdulillah good results (: how not to miss my previous semester with all its chilled out mugging sessions, you tell me?

last semester seems just yesterday. and it past like a gentle gush of wind teasing through leaves. looking forward to the next breeze...

revamp!

over the weekends, i tagged the family along to ikea to do some shopping with me. i wanted to make slight changes to my room which involves getting myself a study table. yes, some of you should know that i don't have one in my room and its getting inconvenient as the semesters go by. i had a budget to work with and i thought i'd just do some surveying first but it turns out, i got them right away! a study table, a comfortable chair, two billy book case, a mobile drawer, a book shelf and a mural mirror. just slightly over budget but very satisfied with my purchases. and since that was settled, my mum wants to makeover my room completely before raya and i'm excited! i'm going white! coming up will be a change to a white bed frame and white wardrobe. going to tidy the room to make way for the new furnitures over the coming weekend. oh, and i'm painting the room lilac! i can so picture everything falling into place cosily in my head right now~~~ (:

and i bumped into ah soh! i think we spent 10 mins laughing at each other. ah soh sekalang dah up, talak jual sayur kat pasar lagi...sekalang jual langsir. wah, lu manyak bagus lah ah soh ;-b

here's a shoutout to the malay aj girls! i'm organizing a pot luck picnic and i've emailed you girls. there's a whole thread going on so for those who have not replied, please ah...you all know what to do hahahh. tentatively i think it should be on the 14th at changi. looking forward to see all of you, i miss you girls! (: (: (: