Another year older...

Yup!! The title says it all. I'm another year older as of 2 days ago. I've hit the last year of my "teens". That statement just gave off my age. Well, nothing has changed apart from my age and this year, it's just a busy, normal day for me. No celebrations, no big family dinners, no nothing. It's just a nice, yummy family dinner at an Italian restaurant for the occasion :)

I have received many birthday greetings and well wishes through text messages, Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter and a couple more SNS that I have. It's nice to see messages that makes you feel warm all over or ones that makes you smile like a fool or the ones that makes your eyes well up because it's just so touching. I just want to say a BIG THANK YOU to all who have taken a little bit of your time to wish me a "Happy Birthday". I'm truly blessed and grateful with such wonderful family and friends all over. :')

On a fun note, I have been living 6940 days on Earth since birth until my birthday on the 14th January, 2 days ago (which makes me 6942 days old today :P). Wow!! Almost reaching the 7k mark. All the years that went by.. oh my, how time really flies. The next thing I know, I'd be 40.

THANK YOU all,

Hannah

Birthday Shout-out : Maria

Happy Birthday Maria!! You're 20 today!! How time flies. We were still little girls not that long ago and in a blink of an eye, we're all grown up now! 

I've known you all my life. You're a great sister, a cheche and a friend to me. I will remember all the times we spent together, your nagging, your love, your care and your comfort. You've always reminded me that you're just a text away no matter where you are and where I am. Thank you so much for being there during my good and also my bad times. 

Today, you're embarking on a new journey. I wish you nothing but the very best with your music, Eia. You have always shared your love to us through your music and now, it's time for the rest of the world to feel your love too. I'm sure that you'll be the bright, shining star that you've dreamed of. You dreamt big and now, YOU DID IT! I can't be anymore proud of you!

It's not going to be all easy on the upcoming roads ahead, but I pray and hope that you'll be able to place your trust in God. You have a big support system behind you. Your family and also your friends. Bring out the best in you! I believe that you'll be able to touch the hearts of others with your music. 

Dare to dream big! All the best and I love you!

Hannah

2 Birthdays and a Royal Wedding

I haven't been using the laptop for the past week and hence, the no post for last week. I've been busy, you know, with the finals coming up and all. I'm currently bogged up with assignments and revisions which I'm not liking and enjoying as much. But even with all these dull activities, I still spared some of my time for a few more exciting stuff. (I'll be writing on the dates itself, so, today doesn't really means today. :P)

21 September 2012, Friday:

Today is my daddy's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!! However, it's rather boring and sad today because my dad isn't exactly at home. My dad went back to KK, Sabah which is our hometown. Dad is the peacemaker in my family. With all the constant fights and bickering between siblings and the defiance against mum sometimes (not that my siblings and I are very naughty but there's always these moments right?), dad is always there at the end to fix everything out. So, daddy left on Wednesday evening and will be back Saturday noon, so hopefully he comes home soon. 

Well, dad had to go back to KK to attend the funeral of his elder cousin which is also my uncle and this is not a very nice reason to go back home to. As far and as much as I can remember, there have been 4 funerals of the people whom I know of this year, as of September 2012. They were family members and friends. Well, it is a hard time especially to their respective families but there's always the fond memories spent together to cherish on. That's what I told myself after the passing of a dear family member of mine. It is painful but as time passes, things would get a little better. :) Below is something that I  said and wrote, not forgetting you, baby chubbs, as each day passes by. :')

"Remembering you every single day, keeping you in my heart. The memories still fresh and the love for you is always there. I miss you. "

Okay, enough of that and moving back to the main story. Since dad's birthday falls during his stay back in KK, he had the honour of celebrating his birthday with his mother, sisters, nieces and nephew, simply speaking they're just my grandma, aunts and cousins. :P They had a birthday dinner together at a Korean restaurant and I sort of gatecrashed their party. Hehehe.. the restaurant, coincidentally, had WiFi and dad was whatsapp-ing me with pictures of their food and fun. So, I was a little jealous because I wasn't there so I FaceTime-d my dad. When I FaceTime-d my dad, I was just in time to sing the birthday song and see my dad cutting his birthday cake! Thank God for modern technology! 

After the cake cutting, my aunts and cousins were surprised at this FaceTime thing and also they haven't seen and heard from me a long time, it became a catching up session for me and my aunts, cousins and grandma. Haha.. it's like stealing the spotlight away from my dad to me. :P But I had fun, they had fun and I led them to discover the wonders of FaceTime. Even when we're miles apart, it can make you feel like you was there too. I had a nice day seeing my KK family. Can't wait to go back to my hometown for a stay after my exams. :)

22 September 2012, Saturday:

Today is Mel's birthday. Yay!! You're finally 19!! I'm so happy for you. We had a normal school day but I for one, was excited about the party happening later tonight. School went well as well as everything else. I carpooled with Alicia and Bums to the party. However, in the car, Alicia informed Bums and I that Mel had gotten into a car accident. Further details weren't known at that time. So, when we arrived at Mel's residence, Mel still wasn't back. She had to go to record a police statement as a result of the accident and to the hospital to check on her injuries.

Mel came home not long after we arrived. Thank goodness that nothing serious has happened to her. What a birthday for her to remember. Poor Mel. Other than that unfortunate event, the party went fine. She had invited our school gang as well as other schoolmates. It was a fun party and I got to talked to friends whom I haven't talked to in a very long time even though we see each other in school. Mel, of course, was in a lot of discomfort from her injuries but it didn't really stop her from having a good time. What a champ she is!

Mel is one friend that I appreciate a lot. She and I share a lot of similar situations in life, though being different in personalities and all. She's always the one who talks practical sense into me for I sometimes have a fantasied view of life. Mel has a unique persona. She's a very straightforward person, so don't get offended by what she says really and she's a bubbly and happy-go-lucky girl. I've known her for 9 years and it's been amazing getting to know her. HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIRL!! You're the bomb and I love you! 

23 September 2012, Sunday:

In Brunei today and for the past week, people have been busy and getting ready for a big occasion. There's a royal wedding in the Sultanate today! One of Sultan's daughter, Princess Hafizah, is getting married. Though there's no wedding procession along the streets this time, we can still watch the wedding through TV. Wow.. I'm ever so amazed by how grand royal weddings in Brunei can be. It's really great. I've seen the repeat telecast of the wedding at night and  I can feel the excitement of the royal wedding.

This wedding has been full and rich in Bruneian rituals and culture, as like the many other weddings in the past. The items that I see in the Royal Regalia is used in the wedding and all. There's also so many people being invited to the royal wedding being held in the Royal Palace including foreign dignitaries. One thing that attracts me most is the outfit and the many blings. ;) 

You can clearly see how happy the Sultan is. When I looked at him through the TV, he's smiling from ear to ear, seeing his princess (like literally :P) get married. Ahh.. so heartwarming. SELAMAT PENGANTIN DIRAJA! :)

What an eventful weekend!

Hannah

Disclaimer: All photos aren't mine unless stated so. Credits to the original photo uploader.

Last week of the school holidays

This week is the very last week of the school holiday for us students in Brunei. Even the international school students are finishing up their summer holidays and getting ready to get back at school. This last week of holiday for me is the last week for me to do my revisions for my upcoming school-based exam before the BIG ONE in October! This freaks me out a little. You can ask almost everybody whom I know, they will say that they're not ready for the exam too. Oh bummer...

So, as yesterday was the 1st day of raya, I went to Sophia's open-house, so to pay a visit to her family, to have a look-see at her house, and most of it all, to catch up with each other! The both of us haven't seen each other in more than a week. Yesterday was definitely a great catch-up session for the both of us. How us girls can talk on and on and on, I don't know but it was all great and I appreciate the bonding time. :)

It was my first time to Sophia's house, though I've met her parents before, it was he first time meeting the rest of her family. Her parents were so ever hospitable and they were so nice! When I first stepped into the house, I greeted and wished her mum, and her mum asked Sophia to usher me to the Dining Room to eat. Eating was practically what I did aside from chatting with Sophia and playing with her nephew. Sophia's mum is a really good cook who cooks really nice Soto (a type of Malay soup noodle dish) and the chicken curry was great! Yums~ No worries, I've been fed well the entire time I was there.

Playing with Sophia's nephew reminds me of having younger cousins. He's just so adorable. Have you met a 2 year-old who can sing the National Anthem by heart? Brunei's National Anthem of course. He's a smiley and happy boy. I can see that he has been the joy of Sophia's family. Active and a little naught of course, but aren't most little boys like that? Because I stayed for a couple of hours at Sophia's house, her nephew and I got along well, and the 3 of us including Sophia's brother-in-law who is also her nephew's father played with sparklers. What a night! I enjoyed every bit of it. :)

My parents were urged into Sophia's house when they came to pick me up together with my youngest brother. Haha! My family was invited as well but they didn't manage to come together with me. It was all great. My parents love Sophia's mum's chicken curry the best whereas my brother love the Soto. He had 3 big bowls of it! Now, you can imagine how nice it was. It was also wonderful for my parents to be able to meet Sophia's parents and family because Sophia has been such a great friend to me.

So, after all the talking and eating at Sophia's house, it was time to depart to another open-house. My mum's friend's house. Even though I was too full, I still manage to stuff a little more food down in me out of politeness. They have great food too! Haha! Bruneians and their love for food. Food makes us all unite eh? It was a wonderful day full of celebrations and food. I love food and one of the things in my bucket-list is to try the food of all the different countries around the world. ;)

Happy 2nd day of Raya!

Hannah

Disclaimer: All photos are not mine unless stated so. Credits to the original photo uploader. :)

Belated Monday Fun

Counting down 3 (4 including Sunday) more days until it's officially another school break for us students in Brunei. I know it seems recent that school has just started for me after the second semester break but how time flies! It has been more than a month already. This upcoming school holiday would be the third semester break which would be 2 weeks long. However, I don't think it'll be holiday time for me since I'm having my mock exam right when school reopens. What a bummer!

As I've mentioned in my previous post, Monday was a public holiday for us in Brunei. It was a well spent day for me. It's sad to say that I didn't spend my day studying, like what a good student should. I kind of went out the whole day - Morning with the family, afternoon through evening with my friends. What fun! :) 

Mom woke me up on Monday morning after my parents have sent my youngest brother to tuition asking if I would like to have breakfast with them. Being such a big lover to food nice daughter, I agreed and we went out for DimSum. I love DimSum and having DimSum originating from the Chinese makes me so proud! :D It was a great breakfast which satisfied my DimSum cravings. *Have I ever mentioned that I have a lot of cravings just like a pregnant woman?* I skipped grocery shopping with the parents after breakfast, reason being it's really crowded these days and I'm claustrophobic or it simply being that I was just so lazy. Sorry mom and dad! 

So, Sophia came and pick me up around 3 in the afternoon because she had planned a movie outing with a few others to sort of "unofficially" celebrate Zee's belated birthday. We watched Total Recall. I have heard tons of reviews from many people about that movie saying that it's a must-watch, really good, interesting, awesome movie. As you know, I'm just not an action movie watcher but to me, Total Recall was pretty good. It's all in the future with flying vehicles, floating buildings and the sorts (which totally reminds me of Avatar. LOL).I wouldn't want to spoil the movie for those who have yet to watch it, so I'm not going to blab all about the whole story plot.

With Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale and Jessica Biel as the protagonists, the movie wouldn't be that bad to watch. Guys just ogle at the ladies whereas Colin Farrell is a pretty good eye-candy to the girls. No? I would suggest you watch it clear-headed otherwise you would end up not really understanding the whole thing because it's just so darn complicated at first. Sophia and I were asking each other during the first half of the movie if we understood what's going on. We both shrugged and only caught the ball on the second half part of the movie. Just go watch it if you're just so curious. ;)

After the movie, the group of us went for sungkai (the breaking of the fast) at Buffalo Steahouse. The whole restaurant was packed with customers when we arrived. They served a whole lot of food, ranging from asian to western. Rice, pasta, fish and chips, ikan bilis (anchovies?) burger. The food smelled great and the taste was good. Good only because some of the dishes fell short of my expectations. However, it's worth a try. Eat all you can for only $16.90 per adult. I forgot the kids price but it should be reasonable too. There's soup and salads for appetisers, tons of main courses and there's many cakes and drinks for dessert too. Sounds pretty good right?

Sophia sent me home later after dinner. Throughout the entire day, Sophia has encountered her own series of unfortunate events. A total of 9 of them. It was mostly pretty funny but a couple were quite scary. A couple of them I remember it vividly. It was when we were going home, just right when Sophia turn out from the junction in the ever, crowded Gadong, a woman dashed out right in front of the car wanting to cross. Sophia immediately braked of course while the both of us were screaming inside the car. Hey woman, there's a pedestrian crossing further down the road, why just cross the busy road, full of cars and try to make a run for it? It's so dangerous!! If you don't care about your own life, think about others. If we didn't braked in time, there would be severe consequences. Even the Beatles used pedestrian crossings. LOL.

Then just right after the woman dashing out in front of us, the car directly in front of us made a sudden stop as well. A group of woman wearing black burkhas were crossing the road just like the lone woman did. Like woah!! We almost banged into the car in fornt of us as well because of the sudden brake. See, this is a perfect example of using the pedestrian crossing. It's a short walk to the pedestrian crossing. Save you life, save others as well.

Oh, another neighbour's domestic helper found a kitten in the wee hours of the morning today. She couldn't keep it so she just gave it to my domestic helper hoping we could keep it. This one is a female kitten which is a good companion to Tigger, my other kitten. Both are so hostile to each other. Any tips on how to make them get friendly at each other? Because if they're still hostile at each other after a couple of days, we might not be able to keep this new kitten. :( My kittens are exactly the same colour as the last 2 kittens in the picture below.

So, I should get back to my books now otherwise, I'll be in big, fat trouble in a few weeks. Shall be back soon. :)

Trying to study,

Hannah

Summer Escapades 2.0

Okay, some might wonder why I've titled this post with a "summer" in it since Brunei has no 4 seasons at all but only a hot and wet climate most all year round. But due to it being summer in most part of the world, also how I've named my previous post similarly and how the international schools here in Brunei are all having their "summer" break now, the summer part can stay. :P

And so, I've spent my week full and hectic but I did manage to squeeze out some time to chill for a little and socialise with a few of my friends. Something that I will miss very soon when I start my full revisions and preparations for my upcoming mock exams which is in 3 weeks. I'm pretty scared for the upcoming exams because I'm not quite ready but hopefully, the situation will be able to change for the better in the course of the 3 weeks.

Monday:

After school, Amy and I went out together because we wanted to go check out the Ramadan Stalls which is happening outside the National Stadium. The urge to visit the ramadan stalls was caused by the many nice food pictures that both Amy and I have seen in many of the SNS (Social Networking Sites). But before that, the both of us kind of detoured to the nearby shopping complexes aka Times Square and the Airport Mall. We went to try out the latest food craze which is the ice cream mochi from Belluno Gelato Mochi. I liked it a lot because I love both ice cream and mochi since like forever however, the expensive price tag may be a reason of my unfrequent visits.

We also went to ShareTea together to try it out. They have pretty interesting flavours such as drinks with rock salt and cheese. It might sound a little gross but hey, it does taste pretty good. The milk tea was nice too. It has this nice, milky, tea fragrance that I adore plus, it's not too sweet too. I love milk tea and I can't forget the milk tea I had in Hong Kong. Mmmmm.. the taste, oh-so-fine.

Amy suggested that we pick up a friend from the airport who's there to send a friend off for further studies. So, in the end, it was the 3 of us going round the ramadan stalls. The food that I bought that day was only okay, in my opinion. A little disappointment with some of the food but maybe it's because of my high expectations to it due to the high ravings of them. Hmmm.. a lesson learnt perhaps to not put expectations too high?

Wednesday:

I had a busy Tuesday, full of homework and hence, no appointments made. But on Wednesday, it was decided that Sophia and I would go to do a little gift shopping for a friend's birthday. After we bought what we wanted, we went to pick Zee and then go to the Ramadan Stalls again because Sophia and Zee wanted to go to have a look-see. So, I kindly accompanied them since I had some free time. I only bought cakoi or youtiao (a popular asian deep fried dough snack) this time round and it tasted really good. HAHA!! Maybe it's my big love for cakoi. 

I remember my grandma bringing me to the morning market on Fridays in town when I was a little girl with my brother. If we were behaving well, she would buy us cakoi as a treat and I have always loved cakoi ever since. Cakoi and I go way back. However, due to the high content of flour and oil used to make and fry it, it's rather unhealthy to have it often. I don't eat cakoi frequently hence, this cakoi was a nice treat to myself. :)

Sunday:

I spent the morning sleeping in after a midnight show watching the 3 stooges. I didn't really like the movie except for the last few parts of the entire movie, maybe it's just me not that into these kind of movie genre. Went to have a delicious chicken rice lunch then off to church for the afternoon.

I went to a Sungkai (breaking of the fast for the Muslims) Buffet at Excapade Sushi. Oh boy, were there a big crowd. The food was great and the plus points was that there is a free flow of sashimi and there's also snow crab legs!! My family enjoy eating seafood so we had a glorious time savouring the crabs. Hehehe.. our dinner was made comfortable with the 2 waiters whom we're on first name basis. If there was some kind of "Best Employee" or something, I would have definitely give the award to the 2 of them in a heartbeat. They are so ever nice and it's a pleasure to have them serve and entertain us. They are the kind of waiters that will make us, the customers, crave to go back there. :)

In a nutshell, these events have actually made my week better at some point after having a couple of really down-in-the-dumps moments. It's gonna be another public holiday tomorrow today (a past midnight post on a Sunday) in lieu of the Nuzul Al-Quran in the nation. So, I'm looking forward and praying for a nice day tomorrow.

Good night,

Hannah

Summer Escapades

I haven't had the time to sit down and go online hence, no new post since the last one. I could actually do a quick post or so but let's just say procrastination got the best of me. My week has been wonderful as it was full of fun and a few outings for me which I enjoyed a lot. I don't think I will be getting much relaxing time after this short weekend break due to the start of Ramadan, the fasting month. Oh, Happy Fasting to my Muslim friends! :)

I shall do a short re-cap on my outings for this post so I can actually remember these times when I look and read back on all of my post. Tuesday was a normal, typical school day. So, nothing on that. Let's just start off with Wednesday. :D

Wednesday:

I went back home after my classes in the morning. There was a hang-out session planned between Eia, Amy and I because Eia is going to leave soon. Amy came and picked me up from home and we went to the Thai Restaurant nearby my house to get Mango Sticky Rice for Eia since she was craving it a lot after seeing Amy's Mango Sticky Rice post on instagram. After buying the Mango Sticky Rice, we headed to Eia's house. 

We were really blessed because Eia's grandma has graciously made us some food for lunch. Oh my.. the food was amazing and totally delicious! Her grandma made chai-kueh (steamed veggie dumplings) and Lo Mai Gai except it was without the Lotus Leaf but in a steel container. The food has the potential to make a person really homesick. We just chat (like what girls would normally do when they're together) the entire time about the things under the sun. 

Oh, in the midst of all the talking, I got lectured and nagged at by Eia and Amy about my serious negativity on life and my studies. Yeah.. they said that's what they, my big sisters or as I call them my che che, are for. They said they nag and lecture me because it was for my own good. Well, it did kind of kick some sense into me so, I guess all of their nagging didn't go to waste. You guys happy now? HAHA! We even took a mini road trip to send Eia to her next schedule. There was a jam because it was peak hours as people just knocked off work but we still enjoyed the jam because we get more time to talk. There's just never ending talks between girls eh? It's going to be really sad when Eia and Amy leave which will be very, very soon. I'm going to miss them a lot.

Thursday:

Thursday was suppose to be another typical school day but my afternoon class got cancelled and there was supposed to be a compulsory function in school that I was supposed to attend in the afternoon. I cancelled my piano lesson just for the function however, the function is cancelled and postponed. So many cancellations.. but then, Sophia had a movie outing planned for the afternoon, so I decided to join her. 

There was a big group of us for the movie outing. 2 girls and the rest were boys. Sophia and I were the only girls but we didn't mind. HAHA! The boys were very accommodating to us the entire time. We watched Batman: The Dark Knight Rises. I usually don't watch action movies because it's just not my type (I'm more of a chick flick and rom-com person) but I just went for it and guess what? I actually liked this movie! I love the actions (believe it or not), the story-line and the actors. Hey, how bad can a movie go with Christian Bale and Anne Hathaway in it? I also like the Bat-mobile or whatever that's call because I like how the tires work. Hehehe. The movie was really nice that we and the other people in the theater actually applauded when the credits rolled.

We hung out, took Polaroid pictures together and ate ice-cream sundaes. It was just a nice, fun afternoon with my friends. Fad, a friend whom I haven't seen in the past 1 1/2 year joined us for the movie. It was nice seeing and talking to him again. I was glad I didn't make a mistake to go watch the movie and join them because I actually enjoyed my afternoon. Thanks Sophia for inviting me along. Big love to you. x

Friday:

Dad texted me and asked if I'm actually around his office area. If I was, I could help him get coffee. Haha! I actually went out with Jess to the area after the text. How nice of a daughter am I? My brother came and joined us after his gym work-out session then we walked around the shopping centres of the area, ate some Frozen Yogurt and had Taro Pearl Milk Tea from ShareTea. It was my first time trying Sharetea and it wasn't a bad experience except for the long queue. I had dinner with the family at a Icebar & Cafe which specialises in shabu-shabu. I will do another post on this soon. ;)

Saturday:

The day isn't officially over but it'll do. I and the whole nation of Brunei get today off work and from school because it's the first day of the fasting month. I slept in and woke up at 10am because my biological alarm woke me up. We had a Care Group Family lunch together at Thiam Hock, a famous chinese restaurant in town. It was a nice lunch and get-together with the whole care group because it's not always that we can actually come together and relax over a meal. Usually, we will have to rush off for something but we actually had a good 2 hours of food and talks. The lunch was for Brother JC who's leaving for further studies in a couple of days.

These are just the little bits of my escapades for this week. I'm really grateful for all the fun and love I received. It's amazing! I enjoy every bit of it. :D

Enjoying my Saturday,

Hannah

Everything will be okay in the end

Today is a very nice day, for me that is. :) It's been filled with fun and something memorable. I finally FINISHED my MIB presentation that I've been worrying about the past week. WOW! Was I ever relieved that it's over. I can finally put my mind at ease and sleep better during the night now. :P

Today, I have achieved another thing. After practicing through my lines for my presentation for a few times last night, it all paid off. I kind of told myself to not think about how others will look and judge me, and also told myself not to panic or get scared. I prayed a lot for my panic attack to not happen and that everything will go smoothly. Guess what? God totally answered my prayers! HAHA!! My presentation went really well, I was a little jittery at the start for a few seconds but all went well after that. I tried my best to speak with a loud and clear voice and also with confidence.

I just want to THANK MY TEAMMATES for helping me out through the whole thing, patiently explaining the things that I don't know and also for preparing the slides. Also, Thanks F for the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup! THANK YOU SO MUCH GUYS!! :D I got a nice grade for my presentation and some compliments from the teachers. I haven't really received any compliments about my work nowadays, so this was a nice pick-me-up. I'm glad that it's over and that I've gained more confidence in public speaking and also, in experience. (I guess my Malay wasn't as bad as I initially thought. So, the person who said that I sounded "karau" should err.. make it sound a little better)

The lessons from my different classes were interesting as well. For sociology, we started on a new topic yesterday, which was Religion. It sounds pretty interesting from the introduction itself. So, I'm hoping that it will stay as nice as it sounds. Also, for Accounting, we also started a new topic. It was a little crazy at first but all is good after I get the hang of it. (What's with all the new topics? HAHA) And, I won't talk about maths since I don't feel like it. That was one of the few downsides I had for the day. I really do hope I can keep up with all my studies.

Oh yeah, yesterday, my nom-nom buddy and I went out for a study date. More like a teaching date since she taught me some MIB things and help me go through my Malay for the presentation. Yeah, thanks N for correcting my horrible Malay. Thank you for being so ever patient with me! I LOVE YOU FOR THAT! :D We went to Cheezbox for tea because both of us were feeling hungry and then headed to Coffee Bean for the "study or teaching date" (whatever you want to call it). We planned for dinner at McD's but it rained heavily so it didn't work out. I promise you N, we'll go next time alright? :)

So, I'm quite happy for the many things that have happened for the past couple of days. For once, I feel happy and that everything fell into the right place. I'm just really grateful that my prayers had been answered.. if not for it, I don't know what would really happen. :)

Loving the moment,

Hannah

p.s. I just had to add the picture of the dream catcher because it's just so pretty. I want one ;)