Fast Forward to 2022

It's 2022. Im 43 now. I suddenly remembered this blog when i played Blondie in the car for Naima on the way back from Ikea. 

I married Dannie on 18 January 2008. The only friend who flew in for my wedding was Putri, bless her. She eventually married my brother Erfan and they have 2 beautiful daughters, Alexa and Aleeya. Coincidentally, they are finally coming to Singapore tomorrow.I havent seen them since the pandemic. i have never met Aleeya. She was born during the pandemic. 

This pandemic is insane. 

Anyways, I have 2 wonderful children now, Naima and Mika. Naima's 12 and taking her PSLE now and Mika's turning 9 in October. 

 Windy's still my friend. He married Selina and have 2 amazing sons who goes to the SAME SCHOOL as my kids now. 

Alwiyah is still my dearest friend but she got married in 2012 and moved to KL to be with her husband Hassan and have 2 adorable kids, Hamza and Noor. 

 Kin is still my dearest friend too. We just met with Gill on Thursday. She married Sharul when i just found out I was pregnant with Mika. they have 2 adorable kids, Zia and Adam. 

 Farrah is no longer a friend. our friendship has reduced to reacting to each other's stories on Instagram. she married a welsh i think,and has a beautiful daughter Heidi. 

No longer friends with wan and harry. both married with kids though. I do meet fi occassionally but rarely. he has a son and twin girls now. 

Adrian Low is now just a facebook friend sadly. He has two cute sons whom i have never met. 

 Ilaiza? Ilaiza. I dont wish to speak any ill of her cos shes a beautiful but lost soul i wish i could keep up with her complex energy. i wish her peace. 

 I have new friends now. Some ive known back in 2006 but grew much closer over the decade. 

Oh how can I forget my beloved youngest brother Lutfi.  lutfi is married to a syrian welsh girl named Nadine and has a beautiful daughter Alia. Nadine is a rare gem. i love her. They live in Cambridge at the moment. Lutfi is doing his PhD there. 

Dannie's sister moved to Bonn with her husband Ravi. 

I do wish my kids’ uncles and aunties and cousins are here in Singapore but the sad reality is, they are not. Singapore is not home for them. It always hits me hard thinking about it but I try not to dwell too much on it and I think Dannie and I have held the fort pretty well without them, Alhamdulillah. And I guess it makes their visits extra special and not to be taken for granted. The inner deeper thoughts on this shall never be written but shall remain in my thoughts. I have accepted that this is what life’s meant to be and to enjoy every moment of it. 

I read my “about me” and lol-ed. bali is now a special place I share with my children. I’m so happy they love Bali as much as I do. We’ve made some sweet memories there over the years and I do laugh to myself when flashbacks of past bali trips hit me at familiar spots. 

Since 2006, so much has happened. ive grown in way i could never imagine. im a stay at home mom and full time wife since 2011. i dont work but being at home with the kids is my whole life. being around for my parents is the biggest gift too. this pandemic has changed the world in a way we could NEVER IMAGINED. I had covid back last month. it was the worst. it woke me up too. health is not to be taken for granted. ive made some adjustments and changes in my life since then. i hope to continue that and progress in my wellness and well-being. mental health is also very important. 

I dunno what else to say. i am extremely grateful to the almighty. i hope if i go back to this blog in 16 years time, in sha Allah, i would have more blessings, more clarity, more peace. I have eliminated almost everything in my life that does not bring me joy. i try not waste my time and energy with people who do not bring me joy. i have gotten rid of toxic people in my life. i stay away from drama. i meditate. i try to pray on time. i try to not idle and fill my mind with dzikir. i try. im nowhere near perfect. i have been exponentially humbled over the years. i have made so many mistakes and i continue to learn. i have hurt people. people have hurt me. i try to grow everyday. i try to be in the moment. i try to fill my day with love and happiness. i continue to strive to be productive. i continue to remind myself to be grateful for every single thing. 

Oh Allah, Ya Rabb, Ya Rahman, Ya Rahim… I am grateful for all the pain that turns me back to You again and again and again. 

I still have many hopes and dreams but they will be kept in my heart. Only Allah knows. i will continue to strengten my connection with Him. He is closer to us than our jugular veins. i love you Allah. thank you,Alhamdulillah, for everything. for the pain,for the hurt, for the lessons,for putting everyone in my life good and bad, for the magic, for the love, for the joy, Alhamdulillah. i will try to live my life with grace. 

drink tea everyday. 

My anxiety gets milder and milder by the minute. It has been reduced to a few seconds of panic followed by deep breaths that easily melt them away in seconds and I have no idea how I got here, well I know but it’s too long to type but I am forever grateful. 

My parents are really getting older. Subhanallah. I don’t want to talk about them cos I will just cry and it’s 3.22am now. I need to sleep. I just love them more than I probably did in 2006. Exponentially more. Me and my mom, MashaAllah. That’s all I am going to say. 

 If this was june, my narrative would have been very different in terms of my well-being and health. getting covid in july shook my soul. that ustad who came by, a gift from Allah. Allah made that happen. my years of plight and tears and duas were finally answered. ALLAHUMA BARIKH. 

Please keep me in your duas. Never take anything for granted. Time waits for nobody. To all the friends ive lost, i wish you all the best and hope you are well and in peace. i dont hate you. I am just glad you are no longer in my life. thank you for making me stronger though. 

To all my friends today, i love you all so much. you are my biggest blessings. In no particular order... i will type your names and hope in years to come, you are still in my life: Mariam Gill Kin Wiyah Hafiyah Ayu Yana Nadra Fana Ameelia Rudy Hairul Dani and all your children by default. you guys are it. 

Naima and Mika, you are both more important than the valves of my heart. You both and baba (Dannie), are my whole world. now i have to sleep because in sha Allah we get to wake up early tomorrow to have mcdonald's breakfast. we shall try.

Also this shit is therapeutic af. Lol language has changed too since 2006. Oh well. Salaam.

Happy Ever After

Once upon a time, a guy asked a girl "Will you marry me?"The girl said, "NO!" And the girl lived happily ever after and wentshopping, dancing, lunching, drank martinis, always had a clean house,never had to cook, had sex with whomever she pleased... did whateverthe hell she wanted, never argued, didn't get fat, travelled more, hadmany boyfriends, saved more money, and had all the hot water toherself. She watched chick flicks, never wore lacy lingerie that wentup her ass, had high self esteem, never cried or yelled, felt andlooked fabulous in sweat pants, and farted whenever she wanted.

THE END


Well not my cup of tea, really. I want to get married and have lots of kids that are crazy like me!

My Latest Addiction

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the newest sport to hit 2006:

MOSQUITO-ZAPEROO BADMINTON

7 FAQs:

1) Why is it called Mosquito-Zaperoo Badminton?

Because the racquet looks like a badminton racquet, you zap mosquitoes with it and 'Zaperoo' sounds damn cute.

2) Why should I play Mosquito-Zaperoo Badminton?

It burns a few calories (as good as playing 2 holes of golf), it's chic (or at least I tried to make it look chic), it's addictive, it's fun and it gets rid of all those annoying mosquitoes.

3) Where is the best place to play?

Any third world country. (I tried my room here in Singapore and I found zero mosquitoes. I started killing ants instead but it's not as thrilling at all)

4) Where can I get one of those racquets?

Any third world country's supermarket. Unfortunately, they don't have it here in Singapore. I got mine in Jakarta.

5) Is it safe to play Mosquito-Zaperoo Badminton around food?

Well, if you like vapourised-mosquito-dust to be all over your food, go right ahead.

6) How did this game come about?

It started when I was travelling in western Java and my friends Putri and Ades took me to this island called Pulau Umang where they owned a private bungalow with the most gorgeous view and untouched beach (Ok, I digress) and they had these racquets there and the only thing that spoilt the island's serenity were these annoying mosquitoes, so then I made a point to kill every last bit of it before we sleep and that's what I did with the help of Putri and I never went anywhere on the island without the racquets and ever since then I'm addicted. The mosquitoes in Indonesia really give you a good workout. They're pretty challenging. Call me sadistic, whatever, but I just love the sound of the mosquitoes zapping. More satisfying than hearing that favourite car that you can never afford zoom pass.

7) What would be the perfect, ideal song to listen to while Mosquito-Zaperooing?

I recommend "Through The Fire" by Chaka Kahn:

Through the fire, to the limit, to the wall
For just to be with you, I'd gladly risk it all
Through the fire, through whatever come what may
For a chance at loving you, I'd take it all the way...
Right down to the wire (get it? get it?), even through the fire.

Say goodbye to those pesty mosquitoes today!

If you wish to order the these racquets, I got a good deal. SGD$10 a piece. It's a very thoughtful cool and funky gift for your cool and funky friend. Trust me. Email me now to order your very own.

The Jakarta Weekend

We came back from Jakarta. We left on friday night after work and came back on Sunday night. It was awesome. Got to meet my wonderful friends namely Putri, Ades, Ilaiza and baby Mikael, Fardan and Mila. Sensational! We had a blast catching up, food fest, and lots of drama (or dramage (drama + damage) as I call it) that puts 'The OC" to shame!

I kinda love Jakarta. Well, not really. In fact, I can't imagine living in Jakarta. Bali - YES! Jakarta - HELL NO! The only thing that makes Jakarta worth going are my friends. PERIOD. I would not go to Jakarta to save my life if I had to. The traffic is horrendous, it's like HAZE 24/7 due to the pollution, the soundtrack of Jakarta is the traffic (honking and whistles from the parking attendants), so little trees planted on such a huge city, therefore it's scorching hot during the day and many many many many more reasons. But I love my friends hence, I'd take that little trip Jakarta any day just as long as we stay indoors and travel only to nearby places.

Dannie still has the pictures so I can't upload any for now. BUT... I do have some random photos in my phone which I've been meaning to post.

So I drove up to Upper Pierce Reservoir one boring lunch to just check it out and saw this random sign about us not being able to feed the poor monkeys:




Upper Pierce Reservoir is gorgeous! And it's just 2 minutes from the shithole where I work.



This idiot had spent a dollar on each parking coupons and still got a fine! In Singapore, we tear our coupons with date and time on them for parking. Each coloured coupons has it's own duration of time (purple = 30 mins, orange = 1 hours, blue = 2 hours etc.) This dude placed hours worth of coupons and still got a nasty fine of $30 for insufficient coupons. It's just the silliest sight:



Last but not least, I was driving back to work from lunch one day and saw this across the junction:

See? Even cop cars can get towed in Singapore.

I was an NKOTB Fan

What was I thinking? No. What were WE thinking, girls?


NKOTB = New Kids On The Block

I'm guilty. Once upon a weird time, I was crazy over these guys. Heck, every girl from my generation (The MTV Generation: b. 1975-1984) were madly in love with these guys.

All grown up now, I find them so tacky. Their moves are gasping and Jordon Knight (who happened to have the same birthday as me - Uhuh... all the girls in school who were crazy over him, were jealous of me. Uhuh...) looked sooooooo..... gay!!! I mean, back then it was HOT. Now, if anyone were to sing and dance like him, they'd instantly be labelled 'gay'.

Not that I have ANYTHING against gay people at all no. Or that there's anything wrong with loving gay people no. No. I'm in denial. Yes I am.

But seriously, Joey McIntyre and me, we go way back, I swear.

I was an NKOTB fan. (number one fan for that matter) There I said it.

The Blender Experiment

Will Golf Balls Blend?

Will it blend? That is the question!

And now... Goldfish in a blender!!!!!

Cute annoying music though. 5 for the song, 1 for the video.

And finally, a REAL goldfish in a blender!!!

Whatever happened to the goldfish is still a mystery. But I would love to press blend for one second and see goldfish spin :( I think the water will turn to a very pretty colour.

milli vanilli

Lip synching macho idiots. Hilarious. They sang with such convinction and had all of us fooled indeed!

How hilarious is this video? But somehow, it's cute in some ways. The dance moves were outrageous. I can't seem to get enough of it though. Somekinda weird obsession.

I miss the 80s. Really.

trippy

This is some cool shit. Best viewed on full screen. Enjoy.

ilyana in a flash

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