bye bye 2013

sedar tak sedar, today is the last day of 2013 ...dah 31st dec 2013 dah ni ..aku lagi lah, kat negara kiwi yang mana merupakan salah satu negara terawal yang menyambut 2014 ...apa plan aku for this last day of the year ...well, boring really ..coz I plan on going to work hahaha that's my life now ..kerja kerja ..dan kerja ...but i have a few invitations for New Year celebration - tak tau lagi sama ada nak gi or not coz aku rasa cam nak lepak sorang2 kat rumah ..watch dvds and makan2 ..but my opismate dok kata you shouldnt be alone lah ...malas akak ...nanti tengok mood nak gi party yang mana satu ..or to stay home ajer ...

seperti biasa kan, menjelang ambang tahun baru nie, i nak flash back on what 2013 has bring me ...2012 has been a really tough year for me professionally ...but 2013 was much better ..i started off with a bang - celebrated the first day of 2013 with my family ...coz my uncle buat party besar2an masa tu to celebrate his son's engagement ..and I get to usher 2013 with my parents and surrounded my relatives and close families ...then a few weeks later, I had a fun 24 hours with my best buddies - hahaha a part of my farewell - kira last ronggeng le ...sessi karoks, makan makan ...and lepak2 sembang2 ...was a great fun guys!

and the end of Jan marked a new chapter in my life - both professionally and personally ...29th Jan I flew to NZ to start a life as PhD student ...in a land where I do not know anyone ...and a country that I have not set foot into before ..it was very hard especially since I have to be away from the two boys ...memang banjir ajer lah Welly and Kuching ...hahaha gaya tu macam tak pernah dok overseas ... memang lah benar orang kata, life begins when you leave your comfort zone ...i came here tanpa kenal sesapa, but I was lucky enough to meet a few people who are very nice and kind enough to introduce me to their friends and friends of friends ...by mid Feb, aku mula dapat invites for party every weekend ..memang tak disangka ..hahaha but that's how i know many nice, friendly people here ...and most of them have become my firm friends ...

i found that i have different groups of friends - kekawan from Maryam's circle - selalu meet them for yoga, coffee, potlucks, movies and just hanging out ...and kekawan from my school - selalu for coffees, talks, discussions, potlucks and dancing parties, and then I have the girls - anita and the gang:  I met Kak Shidah, Anita, Sue and Ms .S ..tak tau macam mana kami jumpa but we clicked straight away and become very close ...things happened - as they do, and i know these are the people I can count on masa aku susah ...and masa senang memang we all have fun together ...Kak shidah took me in - bawak makan2 jalan2 lepak2 ....and it helped me to adapt to life in Welly ...selalu weekend ajer mmg akan ada activity dengan dia and anita ...now I am missing both of them!

besides new friends, persahabatan yang terjalin with old friends masih dikekalkan ..my Yetis came over for a quick visit after Raya ...and walaupun singkat, we had a blast exploring Wellington! Am sure Kiky and Tijot will remembered how I dragged them walking on foot to explore Welly hahaha windy and hilly Welly :-)

another peristiwa yang tak dapat dilupakan this year was the earthquake ...my first ever earthquake experience ..and it is some scary shit I tell you! Welly was hit by a quake yang besar in July ..but masa tu takde effect kat aku coz I was taking a month off balik Malaysia ..ingatkan dah ok leh kan ..but in August, another big one hit Welly ...this time aku memang ada  kat sini ...i remembered that day well ..just finished my supervision meeting ..and alone in my office ..tetiba gegeran berlaku ..it just felt like you are being swayed from side to side ....and it was long!!! biasa kejap ajer ..this one was on and on and on for like 30-40 seconds ...and then hundreds of aftershocks ...scary ..memang aku ingat rumah le masa tu ..Malaysia ku yang tercinta ...biasa panas sampai ke tulang tapi stabil takde gegaran! alhamdulillah things are ok ..rumah aku selamat ...opis aku pun ok ..and aku pun ok ..kira ok le kan ...but, memang scary ...

 

ooo and the night of my birthday, ada gak smallquake lol ...sangat memorable birthday aku pada 2013 lol i had a few surprises on my birthday ..dr m and gang send a vid of them singing Happy birthday to me - so touched! then had two bday celebration - one with the girls - siap ngan surprise cake - and the other with Nabil and the gang ...sangat2 terharu ...almaklum a big 40 this year kan ...

but not all are fun and glorious ...cabaran utama aku adalah dok rumah share nie ...yarabi, at times kesabaran amat teruji ....tapi dah lumrah kan ..dapat lak minah pemalas ...and jenis tak suka mengemas ..aiyooo pening akak ...sampai fikir nak pindah keluar ...but when push comes to shove, aku fikir2 balik, rumah nie paling sesuai - dekat and affordable for me ...rumah yang aku plan nak pindah tu cantik ...atas bukit, with a view of the ocean and Miramar peninsular ...but jauh ...and aku tak sanggup le ...so stay put here for 2014 ...rumah nie 5 min ajer from my opis :-)

and cakap pasal opis ...that is actually my second home for 2013 ...masa mula2 masuk, i hated my office and i dont really like my officemates ..I came in as the fourth person in that small room ..small compared to my own opis kat uni aku dulu ....dulu aku takyah share share kan ..so cam tak best le nak share share ..and those three memang tak welcoming pada mula nya ..charlie - aku sempat jumpa 2-3 kali ajer ...coz masa aku masuk, dia baru sbumit thesis - so selalu takde kat opis ..and left NZ sebulan pas aku masuk .. Mike and Ped cam toya ajer hahaha rupanya masa aku masuk tu dorang both had deadlines - so memang takde masa sembang ...but after two weeks both are ok ...last month aku uglit balik kat Mike how I hated to be the unwanted fourth in the room ..and when charlie left aku jadi the dreaded third ..he was laughing and said he was glad i masuk opis tu ..and no, i was not the dreaded fourth but most definitely a terrific third ..hahaha and when he left (dia grad dah) he gave me his workspace ...the one with a view of the harbour!

Now opis ni lah my sanctuary ...i spent most of my waking hours here ..and kerja pun start banyak ...but so far so good...my sv said i am on track, so that's good news ...one thing I learned this year - you got to love what you do! I am at work  - sebab I love what I do ...and it was my choice to do a PhD... at times, sangat mencabar minda ...tipulah kalau aku kata aku tak stress, tak nangis ...but at the end of the day, when I think about it - the answer is the same, i choose to be here ...i choose to do this course ..and it is up to me to get it done ..and while I am at it, might as well enjoy the process kan ..afterall, happiness is a choice ..I choose to be happy ...happy people get more work done :-)

the reason I said that was, despite a good year I was shattered by a bad news a few weeks back ..i am so down that i was not able to work padahal dalam saat critical as my proposal dateline was looming ..the situation is out of my control ..but I have friends who help me see sense ...he said, things are thrown at us from many directions, how we handle them will show how we are coping ..we can cope by crying - but it may not solve anything ...we can cope by ignoring the problem or running away, and that will solve nothing ..or confront it heads on ..but with clear, rational thoughts about how to solve a problem ...i did that ..i followed that advice ...and i hope to settle this once a for all ...i now realised I have been running away ..i have tried to ignored how i feel ..i feed the hatred inside me for so long ...without realising that by running away, I am still very much "broken" inside out ...i have made a resolution - if and when I have a problem, running away will not be part of my option...happiness is a choice ...and I make my own happiness ...

tu dia, panjang kisah suka duka aku for 2013...apa apa pun, am wishing for a better 2014 for all of us ..for better life - yang sentiasa diberkati, and most of all, i am wishing all of us success in whatever we do! Thank you for all your support all this while - you know who you are - 

arohanui and Happy New Year 2014

much love from me

xxx

Makan di Aroma ikan Bakar jeram

Posting ni pasal makan makan lagi. Kali ni kami makan ramai ramai kat Aroma Ikan Bakar di Jeram. Sebelum ni aku dgn fis pernah pergi sekali dengan kawan kawan Fid some time last year. Mula mula kena la tepek gambar tuan tanah dulu kan, buat penyeri.

Geng ronggeng sebenarnya plan nak makan ramai ramai kat sini dah lama dah. Tapi setiap kali plan terpaksa di cancel oleh sebab sebab tertentu. Akhirnya menjadi kenyataan masa cuti x'mas baru baru ni.

Kami buat check point kat R&R sg buloh. Aku yg lead our konvoi ni guna waze. We went 4 kereta. 13 dewasa dan 5 kanak kanak. Nak ke Jeram ni senang je sebab kami ikut Latar highway. Dari lebuhraya plus utara selatan tu exit kat Rawang Selatan terus ikut sign board Latar. Exit kat Ijok. X jauh lepas exit tu ada cendol bakar yg femes tu. Terus sampai penghujung jalan kat T junction ambik kiri. Beberapa km dari situ ada trafic light yg ada sign board Medan Ikan Bakar Jeram masuk kanan and follow je sign board. Senang sangat.

Kami sampai awal. Meja dah siap reserved cuma sms yg kami sent untuk pesan order orang tu kata tak sampai kat dia. So we ordered our food again. Sementara nak tunggu makanan siap, kami ke pantai untuk posing posing. Sebaiknya sebelum datang buat booking dulu and pesan order sekali. X lama la menunggu nanti.

Pantai kat sini x boleh mandi sebab tanah selut. Lagi pun masa kami sampai air tengah surut. Ada la beberapa orang datang kutip baby lala. Ramai jugak customer kat pantai posing posing sementara tunggu food siap.jom layan gambar makanan pulak.

Kami order ikan macam ni 4 ekor size sedang. 2 masak 3 rasa dan 2 lagi masak sweet sour.

Ketam pulak kami ordered 12 ekor untuk 4 hidangan. 2 masak cili dan 2 sweet sour. Sedap A plus untuk ketam cili ni.

Lala masak lada hitam 2 set mcm ni. Kami nak order pepahat masak hamluk tapi pepahat xde pulak hari tu.

Tom yam ni kami ordered 2 set. Selain dari food yang ada dalam gambar ni kami ordered sotong goreng tepung 500 g per plate kami ordered 5 plates. Udang goreng butter kami ordered 4 set 400g per set. Yang lain lain tu kami ordered telur dadar 3 set untuk size 3 org makan, kailan Ikan masin 2 set. Air pulak kami ordered 3 jug ice lemon tea, 1 jug sirap dan 2 jug air suam. Total kami kena bayar rm759. So seorang dewasa kena rm54 la  lebih kurang.

Nuar lepas makan dok kata x puas sebab xde order ikan bakar. Nama kedai pun ikan bakar tapi kami x order pun ikan bakar. Bijak bijak. Nanti kalau ada repeat ke sini ken make sure order ikan bakar. 

Masa otw tu kami ada singgah minum cendol bakar. Punya la ramai orang kat cendol bakar tu.

Sedap sangat sampai posing pegang tiang. Ha ha ha. Kat cendol bakar ni ada lempeng bakar, cucur udang, nasi ayam dan lain lain. Kiranya kalau ke Jeram ni boleh la kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

Ok. Tu je nak citer pasal makan. 

Uniquely New Zealand - Pohutukawa

alooooo .... it is Christmas Eve today ...so feeling a bit homesick. Missing family very much coz if I am home, this time will be spent helping mom preparing for family dinner ..we usually invited my cousins for christmas eve dinner ...and the merriment will last till 2-3am ...tapi nak buat cam ne ..aku jauh di Kiwi Land ...my bro and sister dua dua balik rumah mertua masing2 ...so tinggal mom and dad keseorangan celebrate Christmas at the longhouse this year ..their first tanpa cucu and anak2 ..biasa always ada at least sorang anak menemani dorang ....sad lah ....

anyway back to posting nie ...this is the first time I am experiencing Christmas in the southern hemisphere ...kalau biasa kat kampung halaman kiter, Christmas masa winter ...potential salji turun ...weather memang sejuk sampai ke tulang ...kat sini plak, the complete opposite!!! Now is the middle of summer ...panas sampai ke tulang jugak hahahaha ...and people seems more relaxed lol but I learned that one thing that is very Kiwi during this festive season is the Pohutukawa trees ...cantik yang amat bila bunga2 dia dah keluar ..merah menyala gitu ....

a huge Pohutukawa tree on the way to my flat ...

Lately I saw banyak pokok2 nie around Wellington ..everywhere I go always terpandang this tree with attractive red blooms ...so I asked my friends, they said it is also known as Maori Christmas tree ..memang mesmerizing ...and yesterday, on the way to do my grocery shopping to Kilbirnie, there was a scetion of the road yang lined up with these tress ...OMG the view was awesome, sayang nya my camera was inside my bag and mamat tu plak memandu laju ...tak mau berhenti utk aku ambik gambar ...malas akak! but to give him credit, he started to tell me all about Pohutukawa tree and its significance to the Moari and NZ ..and even forced me to pronounced it correctly! By the time aku balik shopping tu aku dah boleh sebut nama pokok ni hahaha ...kat sini dorang punya nama tempat or nama pokok ke apa ke susah nak sebut ....like ada tempat nama Whangarei tapi pronounced as Phang-gha-tey ...berbelit lidah siot ....

see, kat town pun berlambak pokok nie ...cuma selama nie tak attractive sangat coz tak berbunga ...bila dah ada bunga baru nampak outstanding ....biasanya berbunga between nov to january ...that is why it is considered as an iconic Christmas tree for New Zealand ...plus pokok nie native to NZ ...according to a friend, if the  tree blooms in Novermber, the Maori believe that they are going to have a good harvest the next year ....

yang aku jumpa tadi nie semua tak full bloom macam yang aku nampak semalam ...yang tu memang awesome ...kalau tempat semalam tu dekat memang aku dah gi untuk selfie kat situ hahaha tapi jauh le pulak ...like 15 mins drive from my flat ....

but, kiter kan ada encik Google utk tolong kiter hehehehe:

Pohutukawa tree in bloom (from Google Image)

So, my first Christmas in NZ and I learned about this iconic NZ Christmas tree - that is uniquely NZ and not found it other parts of the world ...

so, say it with me ..it is pronounced as PO-HU-TU-KA-WA ....

Melepak di Bagan Lalang Sepang

Tersebutlah kisah di weekend yang sudah kami sekeluarga melepak di taman nan indah terletak di Bagan Lalang. Kami lepak tidur semalam kat rumah kawan fid.  Kami sampai sabtu malam terus join bbq party. Ada nasi jagung, ayam dan daging panggang, satay, cake, tiramisu dan local fruits ie rambutan dan manggis. Tapi photo makanan xde sebab lapar terus makan makan dan makan lagi.

Red velvet cake kawan fid buat untuk EJ. Kan hari sabtu tu Birthday EJ. So kami potong cake ringkas ringkas aje. EJ pun x nak orang nyanyi besday song utk dia. Malu katanya sebab dah besar. So potong cake aje cukup.

Ada blueberry tiramisu yg sedap kawan fid buat. Yg ni rasanya sangat mantap. Rasa nak makan lagi dan lagi dan lagi dan lagi. Macam x puas puas lak rasanya melantak tiramisu ni. I wish i know how to make one tapi Makan many je tahu. Ha ha ha.

The very next day kami ke warung kampung kat area situ for breakfast. Sedap sedap makanan kat situ. Harga pun berpatutan sangat. Again no picture. Lepas dah kenyang kami ke pantai.

Dari kejauhan aje nampaknya sepang gold coast tu. Private area and hotel yang mahal ya amat. Lepak lepak makan ice cream pagi pagi sambil menikmati keindahan pantai sambil sekali sekala bau busuk sampah menerjah hidung. Kaget x tahu arah punca bau busuk tu. Pasrah.

Bila penat sudah bersembang sembang, kami pun masuk kereta meninjau kawasan sekeliling. Pantai luas dan panjang. Pengunjung pun boleh tahan ramai. Ada gerai gerai menjual pelbagai barangan thailand ke china mari tak pasti.  Kami tak singgah pun. Lepas dah puaing pusing kat situ kami terus ke litar go cart.

Ej said dia dah lama teringin nak naik go cart. Tercapai lah sudah impian sekian lama. Dia kan besday girl. Bagi la chance dia melasakkan diri enjoy kan sanubari mencuba go cart yg lama di hajati.

Fid yang bawak paling 'laju' bersuka ria menemani puterinya. Asalkan mereka gembira daddy pokai pun tak apa. Rm20 sekali entry untuk 5 minit masa di beri. Berpusing pusing la drive go cart tu jangan sampai vontot kematu. Helmet yg sama di share beribu ribuan pemandu. Kalau ada kutu kira nasib la badan. Tapi jangan gusar jangan segan. Setiap orang di bekal sarung rambut. Sebagai protection biar tak serabut. 

Lepas dah puas bergo cart kami ke sebelah sana mencuba atv pula. Hanya ej dan uncle fazlinya yang bermaharaja lela. Litar itu seperti mereka yang punya. Ej mengeluh x puas merempit sebab ada marshal depan dan belakang menghimpit . Nak tekan minyak tersekat sekat sebab marshal di depan penunggang berhemat.

Zahra x padan kecik. Nak jugak enjoy naik atv. Malangnya tak cukup tinggi sebab kurang 6 inci dari tahap yang di beri. Dapat duduk beberapa minit sambil mulut bervrom vrom dah cukup memuaskan hati Zahra.

Wajah wajah perempit kota. Atv pun x kisah la. Biar beroda 4. Kalau takut jangan rapat. Sekali tekan minyak berdesup laju atv tu. X caya ke? Boleh la cuba. 

Selain atv dan go cart ada archery dan paintbal. Boleh je sesapa yang berminat boleh ke sini menunjuk bakat. Biar letih biar penat. Asalkan hati gembira teramat.

Bila dah makin panas kami pun beredar pulang ke rumah Dalind. Lepak lepak menonton tv sambil bersembang banyak cerita. Bila perut dah lapar kami gerak ke labu. Attend kenduri. Makan free. Lepas tu baru balik ke rumah di keramat. Untuk beristirehat. Tamattt

Summer Party with friends - Kiwi style

Aloooooooooo ... I am back! Just emailed my draft proposal to my sv a couple of hours ago , so I am free a bit till I get feedback from him (he said to get back to me by 27th hahaha)....with all the other mess that life thrown at me this week, I am not feeling particularly chirpy ...more like nak mencarut tak tentu hala ..but like a dear dear friend said, I am made of sterner stuff, I should be able to ride this wave and emerge on the other side, stronger than before ..and I hope he is right about that! 

Anyway, last Sunday we had an awesome party ..the girls and I decided to co-host a summer party ...merangkap farewell party for Anita and an early summer Xmas ....the weather was so nice masa tu ...and it was such great fun! Location pun meletop ...buat kat Maungaraki ...at a house with super duper awesome view ...

this is a view from the back lawn ..overlooking the ocean ...

masa plan this party, Ms. S plan menu ...I am in charge of cekodok pisang and onde onde ..hahaha only because I have made these before and they love it! Since we stayed overnight at that house, we started to do all food preparation by 10.30 that morning ..party starts at 3pm ..so banyak masa ....we were cooking, then put up the xmas deco ...posing sana posing sini ...menyanyi ...it was fun yang diselang seli ngan sadness coz we know that was the last time all four of us are spending the weekend together in NZ ...as our dear friend is leaving for good the very next day!

taaadaaaaa ...onde onde yang akak buat ..hehehe made guna sekilo tepung tu ...licin ok! but overall, I think it was ot as good as the one I made masa I mix the adunan tepung pulut with mashed kumara ...this one takde kumara ...

my version of mashed banana fritters ..atau nama kampung nya cekodok ..i tak reti buat bulat2 hahaha...but again, licin sebab dorang bukan tau pun it should be bulat :-)

homemade cheesecake by Ms. S ...sangat2 yumm ...aku harus belajar how to make this ..sebab masa dia buat, kami asyik main cards ajer  ...

the usual vege and aioli dip ...safe bet, kalau potluck memang selalu ada :-)

like I said masa tunggu tetamu tu macam2 le aktiviti kami ...posing..nyanyi ..sue plak main piano ..and main ukelele ....

It was actually potluck ...very NZ style ...kat sini apa2 jer selalu potluck ..so host sedia apa yang patut and tetamu akan bawak macam2 ....takde lah seteruk nak host makan2 like in Malaysia ...hehehe selain dari the onde onde, cekodok, cake and salad ..kami sediakan jelly, garlic bread, bihun goreng, and pasta salad ....and those who came brought a lot of food ...cupcakes, tuna pasta salad, pizzas, cookies, strawberries and grapes, packets of crisps and dips, drinks, banana muffins, and lots more ...penuh meja and kitchen counter top with makanan ...and, surprisingly ..abis hahaha see, betapa kuat makan nya kami aritu .....started at 3pm ..ended at 9pm when the last guest left ...

 anita kena paksa bagi speech hehehe

sepah sisa makanan ..and look at that view in the background!

coz the weather was nice, people were just chilling outside ...we had our dances outside ..ada yang main game ..ada yang sunbathing ..chitchat ...kind of nice just to chill and not think about work ...

 with Marisol and Anna

Antonio (husband Marisol) dok ajar aku menari salsa ...

Now that Xmas season is here, got a few invites for summer xmas bbq lah..beach bbq lah ...but tak sure aku akan gi or not ....now nie sebab too tired from work ..i just feel like nak lepak kat rumah hehehe sebab malas bersosial ..tapi tengok lah macam mana nanti ....

anyway, all in all our very first party yang mana kami jadi host sangat2 menjadi ....so, perhaps, there will be more parties in the future kalau kami ada masa nak hosting ..sebab next year masing2 akan sibuk :-)