Raihan Update : Her first Baby Shower

Got a call from Raihan yesterday evening. She called right after her baby shower, it was a surprise do, by her family and friends. So sweet.. and I bet fun. Both of us were sad that I didnt get to throw her a baby shower and I wasnt there for the party..sob sob. S’alright, I am sure there will be a few more mini Andrew and Raihan’s to come ;p

Well other than that, she’s doing just fine, baby’s great too. Alhamdulillah. Was a quick chat – cos I was in the middle of something. Will call her tomorrow and get sumore downloads.

Love Actually

I’ve watched bits and pieces of Love Actually, just the ending in fact, by chance. I’ve never sat through the entire movie, till tonight and I am absolutely glad I did!

So many people have told me how it’s one of the best romantic-comedy movie to hit the screens and almost killed me for missing it.

The best thing about the movie, was not because it was witty and romantic (duh! it’s a romantic comedy) but it got me sinking in to every line, really, you gotta watch it to know what I mean.

When little Sam said ” what could be worst than feeling the total agony of being in love?” or when he said “let’s get the shit kicked out of us by love!”

total agony of being in love? haha, yea whoever said being in love is all good eh? and can we get the shit kicked out of us by love? definitely.but do all of us (well almost all of us) wanna fall in love anyway? the answer to that is yes. It’s a yes for me.

What happens in Love Actually, the whole drama, sincerity, impromptu acts, is all that only possible in a movie? Guess so.

Cos it feels too good to ever happen in real life. somehow in real life, not many people actually take chances do they? For 2 people who have a language barrier to fall in love, for a guy to wear his heart on his sleeve and confess his love to a girl he knows he has no chance to be with, or a sister to give up the love of her life for an ill brother? (for those who have yet to watch the movie, what I just described are amongst the plots).

Impromptu acts are very rare and far in between in real life. Except when you’re in a relationship, and there are those little surprises – but that doesnt count. How many of us get caught, without us expecting it, like the scene between Karl and Sarah, when he suddenly asked her for a dance that one night.Maybe some of us do get lucky and actually get to experience the “Love Actually” feeling. Have I?Hmmm…to some extent, maybe.

I wish I could have a guy hold placards outside of my door and tell me that his aging heart will love me forever. Or have him run illegally through an airport just to get hold of me and tell me he loves me and I’m the one. Aah bliss..

(Of course it would only be bliss if the above was done by someone I actually have feelings for and not just some random guy..random guy doing the placard thingy = weird = scary ;p)

I know, quit it Nadia, that only happens in Love Actually haha. Nadia’s on romantico mode tonight, all thanks to the movie.

At the start of the movie it said..Love Actually is all Around. Is it? Dunno la.

If you’ve not watched the movie, please do. Warning: you might experience the all sickly romantic after-effects.

Here’s one of the tracks from the movie, by Sugababes – Too Lost in You. love it.

Music when I was a growing up

the American Idol contestants had to sing numbers from the Beatles tonight, I only managed to watch the last few performances.

I love listening to the Beatles, my entire family does actually, right down to Nasha. All thanks to my folks who exposed us to those lovely tunes when we were very young.

Anytime we were in the car, on road trips.. we’d listen to the Beatles, James Taylor, Carol King,Crosby Still Nash and Young, the Carpenters, Sergio Mendes, Pink Floyd, Average White Band, Deep Purple, Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones,Cat Stevens..those are amongst the favorites.  We knew most of the songs by heart, except for ones by Bob Dylan, we were a bit too young then to digest his pieces haha.

 The music stayed with us till today, amongst my compilation of tracks from Ne-yo, Beyonce, yummy Pharrell and other latest acts, I’ve got the “oldies” compilation as well, which I will gladly listen to when I need an oldie fix Sister will download the tracks for my parents, and I’ll just get it off her, or sometimes nick a CD from Mum or Dad’s car ;p

I am so grateful that I got that music exposure…it has influenced me and the way I appreciate music, made me eclectic. When I get kids of my own, Insya Allah, I wont just play them the Justin Timberlake, Had Kendi, Madison Avenue, Fergie tracks, but I’ll fuse some Beatles, the Carpenters and James Taylor as well. Forming a perfect blend of tunes. Baru la my little ones got spunk!

So heres to music and more.

Damsel in Distress

My car bailed out on me! It was 6:20pm, was supposed to meet Zoey and Elsie for a movie at KLCC at 7:40. No way that’s gonna happen now that my Bumble Bee ( i drive a gold Peugeot 206 - hence the bumble bee nick) was dying and stuttering when I tried to start the engine. Luckily I was still at SC.

Well what you are about to read is a heartfelt confession from someone who has no clue about cars other than driving it, and doing the basics of operating the indicator light etc. Am just hopeless.. truly – I had to pull out the manual (embarassing!) to get instructions on how to open the bonnet! page 111..i still remember hehe.

Once I pulled the lever and heard the thump, I couldnt lift the bonnet to open it (am really that bad).  I knew then that there was just no way in hell that I would be able to get myself out from this one, so:

1. I called Sani ( one of the guys in my dept, who also happens to be a good friend, so I takde la so malu) but got thru to his mailbox
2. Called Mrs Foo, told her what happened, and she told me she’d get Sani for me
3. sent a text to Elsie ” my car wont f-ing start. i’ll try and make it if i can”
4. Elsie replied “Wth! omg! k perlahan2 k. check gear on ‘P’ n start slowly”so mechanic of her, like talking thru experience haha, she must’ve tot I was already on my way to KLCC.
5. Mrs Foo and Tai Tai came down to d carpark, they of course didnt give me the light of day for not knowing a thing about my car haha
6. Then Sani, Nizam and Zahril showed up to help me out, by that time Mum (Norlin ok, not my actual mother ;p) was down at the car park too. Used her car to jump start mine
7. They tried jump-starting the car but tak jadi!! Tension! Diagnosis: wasnt the battery, cos I could turn on the headlights, honk, radio was on. So that was that.
8. Mum was also in amusement at seeing me being ultra clueless when the guys asked me “bila last tukar the battery?” ” did you change the water for the battery?” I just greeted them with a “huh” “whaat”. Yup in this area I am literally very spoiled, cos everything gets done for me, battery, sending the car for service etc etc
9. Since all our efforts failed - had to leave Bumble Bee at SC. Urgh!

Well no movie. If I get home in time, might meet the ladies for dins and drinks. So what is the moral of the story? I need to learn the 101s on my car. Must! Although I’m quite certain I’ll still make SOS calls if ever it happens again (God forbid), but at least if I knew a thing or two I wont be a total damsel in distress *eek*..well I’ll try not to be

Thanks guys for helping me out..Love!!

Style Shots

Was checking out People (www.people.com) and tot I’d post some photos from “Style on the Set” section

 check out those pumps..deeelish!

 this number I know Mrs Foo will love, she goes nuts over anything polka dotted.

 love it

 yea she’s a trend setter, fashionista and all, but this is a miss for me

Pug for Nadia

Part of my lunch chat with Mrs Foo and Sarah J earlier today was about dogs (yes we’re very versatile) . I asked Mrs Foo “if I were to get a pet dog, which dog would suit me?” and she told me it’d be a Pug, and Sarah J agreed with her. I had no clue what a Pug looked like, so upon googling the image, i found Pugs to be pretty comel (cute), although at first sight, I was like “hello like mini bull dog je” but after a while, the Pug kinda grew on me haha.

Jessica Alba and her Pug

A post from Pugly

http://pugly.blogspot.com/

I absolutley love Pugly, love love! it’s so raw and real. i find myself going “my God that’s so me”, “Spot on!” “so true!” when reading the posts on Pugly.

Below, is one of Pugly’s post, she’s that good,that she can come up with what I believe is a should-be-adhered to list of dos and donts for you men ;p This was extracted from a post in Dec o2 2007, titled

“Wooing Women without the Woes 101″
Hello boys.

Hands up if you haven’t been too lucky in love all these while.

Two hands up if you are one of those who have often wondered “How do you impress a woman?” – thinking that it is an impossible feat not unlike the logic-defying acts that David Blaine tends to put himself through in the name of entertainment.

Do I see many with both their hands up? Good. At least you’re man enough to surrender and admit defeat. Chucking your massive ego aside is the first step on the road to becoming a better man.

Fret not and wonder no more, because here, especially for all clueless blokes out there, is a concise yet comprehensive guide to impressing the ladies – and it doesn’t even involve a fat wallet, a fast car, a six-pack or a huge dong.

Don’t worry, all is not lost. There’s still hope yet for those who are willing to learn. It’s not about what you have, it’s about how you use it to your (and her) advantage.

15 Ways to a Woman’s Heart

1. Be the perfect gentleman. Always put her person and her needs before yours. This is not the time to be selfish. Open doors for her, ask her how her day was, give her a leg rub when she’s having a bad day, carry her stuff for her, walk protectively behind her in crowded spaces and let her have the Big O first. Never, ever, ask her to come all the way to a specified location on her own, in the middle of the night, just because it is convenient for you. Agree to meet halfway at a location which is convenient to the both of you, or even better, pick her up from her home and send her back afterwards. A woman can never be too careful these days, and such gallant act shows that you care greatly about her and her safety. The first rule you have to remember is when it comes to wooing the woman, the old-fashioned way is still the best, no matter how modern we’ve become and how independent ladies get.(JustNadia: and if she’s driving back from a date with you on her own, make sure you call/text her to check whether she arrived home safely, it’s what a gentleman would do, definitely.)
2. Never stare at her breasts (or other women’s for that matter). Keep your eyes trained on hers at all times, even if they’re just itching to move down south. Yes, we are all aware that you only have one thing on your mind, but can you not make it too obvious?
3. Make an effort. Send her a little message to let her know you’re thinking of her, scrub yourself clean before meeting up with her, take her to a nice place instead of just the corner mamak stall (unless she absolutely insists on it). Be thoughtful. Train yourself to be attuned to her needs, which can only be achieved by paying enough attention to her. Observe and take note of the things that she likes and doesn’t like, and keep her happy by doing more of the former and less of the latter. Don’t be a selfish prat who only thinks of himself. Guys who try score extra brownie points, and lazy lads who don’t bother with nice little gestures end up being left behind.
4. Be charming. And no, I don’t mean it in the sarcastic sense of the word. Impress her with your impeccable manners, not superficial or material stuff (only men with small dicks and/or not much of a self-esteem hide behind ‘stuff’). When it comes to women, keep your difficult nature nicely tucked away. You have no use for it whatsoever. Respect her views, no matter how much they differ from yours. Pay her a compliment when it’s due, apologise when you’ve acted out of line and never, ever, agree with her when she complains that her ass looks big in a given outfit.
5. Humour her. Laugh at her jokes, listen and pay attention to what she has to say and show interest in her affairs. No matter how much she bores you, don’t let it show. And never, ever, under any circumstance, ridicule her or make fun of her, especially when it comes to things that she believes in or is passionate about. That’s a sure-fire way of getting her to permanently label you as The Complete Twat. (JustNadia: A sense of humor is definitely a prereq for me, keeps things light, but obviously the guy must still be able to have those deep conversations as well ;p)
6. Don’t try too hard to impress her. It only gives out one of these 3 signals: a) you’re desperate b) you’re a stalker c) you’re a smooth operator who makes a habit out of charming their way into women’s pants. You’ll push her away sooner than you can say “I’m a Great Catch!” (JustNadia: yup, the “I’m so great” “I’m the best one on the shelf” attitude is a big turn off)
7. Don’t play hot and cold with her. Mind games are so tiring. Either you make it clear how you feel towards her, or you stop leading her on by giving mixed signals on the random occasions that you decide to give her the time of your day. Don’t worry, we’re big girls. We can handle the rejection. What we can’t handle are men who take us for a ride. (JustNadia:Pugly’s spot on. I totally agree with her, mind games are tiring and a plain waste of time. Guys, if you dont act on it, believe me the ship will sail away)
8. Be straight and honest with her, yet sensitive and tactful. There’s nothing more off-putting than chronic foot-in-mouth disease. For every bad news, there’s a better way of putting it. There are the right things to say, the right time to say them and things which shouldn’t be said at all. Learn it well and you shall be amply rewarded. It might even save you a bruised arm and/or a bruised ego.
9. Watch your social etiquette with her. Don’t burp or fart in her presence, or let any of your less-than-desirable traits rear its ugly head. Never let her wait and don’t keep her guessing. Don’t leave her hanging in the dark. The same goes with your netiquette. When chatting with her online, say your goodbyes when ending the conversation, and never make an abrupt exit in the middle of one (unless you have a valid reason such as being abruptly cut off by your server, of which you must quickly get back to her at the next opportunity to apologise and explain the situation). It’s rude and it’s socially unacceptable. I mean, you wouldn’t like it if a person just walks out on you mid-conversation without a departing note of some kind, would you? So don’t do it to her. Just because she can’t grab you by the collar from behind on the net, doesn’t make it okay for you to do so. It’s all about manners and common courtesy, honey. (JustNadia: I tend to just live with it when it comes to guys who cant seem to keep that burp in,it seems so impossible for some men to keep it in, but farting, yes, please do all of us a favor and work some magic with your body to not let one rip!)
10. Don’t try to be/sound clever, because it’s just plain boring. The key is to offer her glimpses of your intelligence, not smother her with the vastness of your knowledge. Nobody wants to hear you quote some dead guy or give a full-length speech on the merits of economic stability in a third-world country. Subtle display of intelligence is sexy, but a Mr-Know-It-All is just plain annoying (not to mention boring … YAAAAWWWWNN!) (JustNadia: yea I would just tune in to BBC, if all I wanted was to get the latest news, dont need a newscaster haha, although on the other extreme I cant tolerate total idiots either)
11. Don’t make her work hard for you. Playing hard-to-get is so yesterday. Besides, you’re the man here; you should be working hard for her, not the other way around. If you prove to be too much hard work, the lady will quickly get bored and move on to someone else. We don’t have the same competitive streak as men do and we don’t thrive on challenges as much. Plus, we don’t have the time. We have this thing called The Biological Clock which keeps ticking louder and louder until we find that man to procreate with, so we really can’t afford to waste any time on some difficult prick. (JustNadia: yea playing hard to get is soooo passe!)
12. Don’t ignore her. Nothing says ‘you are insignificant’ louder than blocking her off. And never openly criticise or berate her, especially in public. It’s something which a bully would do, not a perfect gentleman. If possible, let her win in arguments, then if you absolutely need to prove that you’ve been right all along, do it at another time in another (private) place. It’s not worth it. Nobody likes a nag, do they? Losing in your petty arguments doesn’t make you a loser, it makes you a winner in more ways than one. At the very least, it will save you from the discomfort of sleeping on a lumpy sofa for the night.
13. Be confident and self-assured, not cocky and arrogant. There is a huge difference between the two. One is a turn-on, and the other’s a complete turn-off. It’s well worth learning the difference.
14. Do unto others what you would like done unto you. Treat her the way you’d like to be treated. Don’t expect her to be sweet all the time when all you’ve been doing is treating her according to your mood of the moment. It’s not big and it’s not clever. You get what you give, it’s as simple as that.
15. If a woman takes a dig at you, take it like a man, not a big baby (that is why you will find that women tend to go for good sense of humour – this is where it comes in handy). Your inability to handle crises well is so not attractive. What are you, a big girl’s blouse?

The above guidelines should not only be used on the women you fancy. It should apply to all the women in your life. Because you know how we women discuss things among us, which includes the men we know. Treating other women right will earn you a good reputation – they will readily put in a good word for you to their hot, single friends out there. Never underestimate the power of the female endorsement. Women are experts when it comes to viral marketing, and there is no method more effective than the word-of-mouth kind that they’re so good at. Likewise if you treat them badly. You will find that you have quickly become an incurable social leper. So help make this world a better place (with less women tearing out their hair in frustration while bitching about men’s unsavoury behaviour) by printing this out and sticking it to your pinboard, or memorising them by heart. Before long, you would be effortlessly pulling the choicest babes that the only problem you would be facing is deciding which one to choose to live happily ever after with.If you want to emerge a winner, you have to play your cards right.

Try it.

It really works.

Should I say it?

Have you ever had this strong urge to say something but hold yourself back from saying it because you decide that maybe certain things are best left unsaid? I’m in that situation right now, yearning to say something, almost rehearsing at times of how I want the words to come out of my mouth then in the end decide that nope, I wont do jack and just stay quiet.

Then I get bogged down because I know by not doing or saying anything, I will just stay clueless about the state of things. But the fact of the matter is, I know why I’m keeping silent..I’m actually scared of what I will hear in reply when I actually say what I want to say.

I guess only time will tell whether I let that fear hold me back or I face that fear and take my chances.

Rain on Me

Last Friday I was in Kuantan for a photog job, taking pics for Nora’s nikah and reception. Nikah was on Friday night, reception, Sat afternoon. So I had some time to sneak in the job sched  to soak up some sun and get some salty sea water on myself, but tough luck, no sun nor salty water. Cos it just kept on pouring like non-stop, the rain didnt stop, am not kidding.

We were worried bout the job, cos it’s a bit difficult to move around when it’s raining. But it worked out just fine. It drizzled on Friday night, and on Saturday afternoon. So it took a lot of quick shoot-and hide the camera for fear of wetting it when we were outside taking shots.. other than that it was all good.

Let me just do a run-down on some highlights:

1.  I didnt get any sun & sea (s&s)
2. I didnt get any s&s (yes I am that sad, and I am suffering that bad a craving for s&s)
3. It just never stopped pouring (from the point we got to Kuantan town till we left)
4. Shuq and I developed a no-fear attitude towards wetting our jeans, his Crocs, my shoes and stepping into puddles of water, cos if we didnt we wouldnt have been able to move
5. I learned that when a person is stressed out, the body releases a kind of hormone that induces you to laugh, yea laugh,I didnt believe it at first when Shuq told me, but I witnessed it first hand, yes he just burst out laughing and continued to laugh when we got lost and was running late for the nikah, not the usual laugh k, this was the “hearty-laugh-ur-heart-out-it’s-so-funny” laugh …and that got me to laugh as well – that reminds me I need to check if it’s true the body does that, I usually get pissed when I’m stressed out ;p
6. The job was fun cos the bride and groom, Nora and Kie was very easy going, Nora especially, she was a natural. We didnt have to direct any poses at all, natural I tell you. We have great shots of them and the whole do.
7. Kuantan has a 7-eleven looking joint called D5 or something like that. Seriously, if u didnt know it was called D5 you would’ve thought all the way that u were in another 7-eleven
8. I found out that I am capable of having total dumb-blonde moments or as someone would put it “budak sekolah pun can do it” with the latch on the hotel room door. In my defense it wasnt a typical latch ;p honest to God it wasnt.
9. Gotong-royong weddings are here to stay, that made Nora’s wedding different from the town-weddings, she had the whole neighbourhood help her out, so you had the makciks slicing the watermelon, to young boys washing the dishes, felt very merry and warm.
10. Hitz plays Rihanna’s “Please dont Stop the Music” too often, I know I had a post earlier on loving that track, but when it’s overplayed it gets booo-ring! hehe
11. On the other hand they dont play enuf of Janet Jackson’s “Feedback” which is my new craze
12. The “Haunted Volkswagon car on Karak highway” story is famous. I didnt know everyone knew about it, my brother told me the story. And someone has a funky theory that the ghost will now simply ride in another car cos everyone knows he shows up in a Volks (sure sure)
13. Kuantan has those timers at the traffic lights (that counts down how much time left till it turns green/red kinda thingy), while KL which has way heavier traffic doesnt have em, (although I did spot some in PJ) We should have em.
14. I love KL cos it rarely rains non-stop 2 days in a row.

There you go some highlights…the trip just made me more excited about my Perhentian trip end April and Bali in June. Kuantan just rained on me tsk tsk but I had fun.

Now am going to spend some time with my MacB and go through the shots. Nora & Kie can look forward to two elegant and moment-freezing storyboards of their special day

the Lady outside the White House

Was just talking bout this lady protestor that I met in front of the White House. She has been going on a 24-hours peace vigil since 1981. Wonder if she’s still there? She made me do the whole peace-sign thingy, apparently that’s her signature pose.