Ejin's 2014 - in pictures

Tinggal 2 hari lagi before we end 2014 ..this year flies so fast ...pejam celik pejam celik dah ujung tahun ..tapi jiwa ini tetap tersa muda gila ...hahahaha ....like i mentioned before, i was reflecting on what did i learn in 2014 ..what did i do in 2014 (selain kerja kerja kerja) ..i know i had my ups and downs (well, who doesnt!) but i also know that i am blessed in so many ways ..

kampung halaman ku di 2014

so, here's my 2014 in pictures!

January - the craziness of submitting my PhD proposal, yang bakal menentukan whether I can proceed with PhD or not. So, it was  busy busy start to the year! But I had a great NY party with the gang to usher in 2014 :-) New Year with Nabil and the architecture gang at Aro Valley with lots of fun memories ..despite busy tu, I often took day off or half day to explore the beach - especially Jan is warm, and it is summer! ooo and we had one big quake in Jan lol ..the one at Etekehuna ...i was in my office when i happened ...on a sunday ..kak shidah came to my place and soh aku temankan dia malam tu hehe both tak nak sorang2 ...

during one of the break from work ..melencong gi Lyall Bay in the afternoon pas grocery shopping - then masuk opis lagi :-)

February - I got my result...candidature confirmed! happy news but i was then busy with human ethics application. And i have to move to a new place plak tu ..turn out that was a great move. My new flatties, Berna and Yanan are two awesome people and we had a great time ...

March - sibuk with my preparation to go home for data collection. Was supposed to leave mid marh but delay sebulan ...so masa nie memang aku spent 10 hours in the office ...but kuar parties masih seperti biasa :-) went to the International Women's Day - a British High Commission and WWW4 Peace function is one of the highlight ...

April - I am leaving for 3 months to do my fieldwork ..so sebelum tu I had a series of farewell parties - gaya cam nak balik for good! It was then I realised that I am blessed with so many good friends ...and having friends are good - they keep me grounded, keep me motivated, keep me company ...and i love each and everyone of them  .....

one of the farewell parties - with some of my awesome friends but now half of them are gone, the finished their respective studies ..beberapa kerat jer tinggal

May - I spent most of May in Kapit - my case study area. A very hectic month ..rushing sana sini sebab mengejar waktu ..but pengalaman yang sangat berbeza ...and banyak le aku naik sampan ke ulu ke hilir ...

June - spent two weeks with family. I sempat Gawai at the longhouse, and my sister and Umang pun balik to spent time with me ...but I cut short Gawai trip sebab nak kena start lagi my work di Kapit ....so was in Kapit till end of June ...

July - I was back in Kuching in time for birthday Al ...and then balik ke Welly a week after that ..nak singgah KL pun tak sempat sebab jadual memang tersangat lah pack nya ...and after 2 nights di Welly, aku terus gi holiday with Berna ke Nelson, Golden Bay, Farewell Spit and Abel Tasman ...a wonderful holiday indeed ,..my first ever hiking trip lol and in the winter plak tu!

 sunset at Pohara Beach, Takaka

Abel Tasman

August - I started my study again - selepas 3 bulan away, and selepas 2 minggu bercuti ...it is a hard month ...sebab nak carik balik momentum yang hilang ....officemate helped a lot - in terms of encouragement, motivation and just being there ....ooo, also my second raya di Welly - went to a few open houses :-) and lots of parties - farewell parties for my flatmates ..the birthday parties for friends ...aku masa ni kan tak sibuk sangat, so memang every weekend ada jer joli ..potluck and gathering ...

 pagi raya with the girls ...

french moustache themed party for Nabil's birthday

September - my"low-key" birthday month hahahaha ..malas nak cerita sebab dah buat posting on that ..but it was a great month of fun and parties and outing ...as well as mula busy with data entry at this point! Also had weekend outings to Tulip Festival nd to Castlepoint this month too

 Castlepoint - just perfect! macam poskad

October - weekdays spent 8-9 hours di opis ....weekend di spend berjalan jalan ...to Makara, to Red Rocks, to the Bays, around towns ...sebab masa nie, we had access to a car hahaha so berjalan jauh sket ....but weekdays memang gila babas sibuk ....

that feeling of being crushed by a giant troll ...that's how I felt most of October!

and it was halloween as well

November - this is a sad month ...my close friends semua leave this month! memang terasa sangat le ketiadaan dorang :-( but as usual before dorang pegi, we had endless farewell parties hahaha ....and I am on panic mode coz I am aiming to apply for travel and conference grant, and also to apply for conference ...giler pressure ....and everything have to be in by 20th Nov ...so, more hours in the office ...

 shu's surprise early birthday before she left for Malaysia

December - busy, busy, busy ..but the good news - I got the grant that I applied for! and my paper is also accepted at the conference ..so hard work paid off! and then back to busy, busy, busy sebab i am actually 2 month behind in my work! yesterday, the last sunday of the year - i spent it at bbq at P's place ...a great way to end the new year ..and maybe our last party there before he finish ...

 look what i got in my choclate! a sign, perhaps?

sooooo .. all in all, I think I had done quite well ...busy tak usah cakap ...but I did balance it out with fun ...and food ...and other crazieness yang tak leh dinyatakan di sini hahahaha ...what have i learn this year? I learn that there is more to life than being negative all the time, there is more to life than just focusing on one thing - work-ife balance is the key ...2015 is upon us, whether we like it or not ...I am praying and hoping that 2015 will be good to me, to all of us ....

From Wellington with love, 

Ejin xoxo

red, red flowers

I love flowers ..memang minah bunga lah ..especially here, where flowers are plentiful ..and always banyak tak kira musim ...I have this habit of having fresh flowers in my room ..tak lengkap kalau takde flowers rasa nya ...and it was great bila kat sini, flowers are plentiful ...pastu plak rumah aku ada garden ..and lots of flowers ...garden kitorang ni di maintain oleh uni jugak ..and every season dorang akan tukar tukar bunga ...best kan? all i do is gi kat garden and pick them! or beli ajer - quiet cheap jugak ......

while browsing my photo folder, I noticed that my of the flowers that adorned my office, or room are red hahaha ...so vibrant ...check it out:

my officemate planted this one and it was his favourite ..tapi once in a while, aku masuk opis jer nampak bunga2 nie menghiasi meja aku ...meneriakan hari hari yang sibuk gitu

meanwhile at home:

yang nie plan alstromeria merah .. one of my fav flowers ...tahan lama plak tu and they come in a variety of colours ..aku either beli white or red ...love the shade! ingat esok nak carik yang putih lah ....lama tak ada alstomeria putih kat my room

and, a few month back, I got a lovely bunch of red roses ..delivered to the office of all thing hahaha ...sebab I spent more waking hours di opis than di rumah, decided to leave the flowers kat opis ajer ..and officemate siap sediakan vase ..and maintain the roses for me ...aku hanya enjoying the view ajer ...

and Ped dah help me to make these roses into dried roses ..I came in one day and saw that he had already gantung the wilting roses ...in fact masih tergantung kat window aku la nie ...aku ingat nak buat rose petals as my potpouri at home ...tapi tak terbuat lagi!

selain roses, we always have camelia in the office masa winter ..a lovely flower indeed ...either aku petik from my garden or dia bawak from his garden ...ada bunga kat opis menceriakan suasana ...makes me feel like homey sket hahaha padahal hanya perasaan semata mata kot

and another favourite aku is this one here ..tak tau nama nya ...but it is also a native NZ flower ...

ok ..enough of being minah bunga ..time to watch another dvd hahaha ....alang alang dah cuti kan, masa nie lah nak catch up with dvds and book!

Christmas break

I am finally on my Christmas break. Uni has been officially closed since the 20th but I have been in almost daily since - I am still behind in my work and managed to convince my supervisor that I'll get it all done before the end of the year ..hahaha gaya cam jauh but hey, a few days extension pun jadi lah ....so, semalam pun masih masuk office ..balik kol 6.30pm ..but sempat gi garden and petik a few sprigs of pine leaves  ...and buat my Christmas centre piece ...melampau tak melampau gitu ...

It is an assortment of my kiwi experience ...pine cone from my hiking trip di Mount Victoria ...seashell from my beach trip ...paua shell from my Makara beach hike ...the two kiwis that were given to me as my christmas momento ...postcard of Abel Tasman from my last trip to South Island ...all things kiwi ...

I was skyping with my UK families tadi ..and couldnt help reminising about the difference between UK (or European) christmas and NZ christmas ..kalau sebut christmas - usually the thing that come to mind is white christmas ...winter christmas ..cold and dark days ..turkey feast (my fav is turkey with cranberries sauces with all the trimming) ...kat NZ plak, it is summertime ...so christmas usually means family bbq ..and heading to the beach or the mountains afterwards ...bbq instead of sit down meal ..selalu nya lah ....i had a few invitations for BBQs today - one at Evans Bay - bbq then a beach get-together - tapi akak malas ....prefer my own company hahaha ....

another unique kiwi christmas is this tree - the pohutukawa tree! It is also known as NZ Christmas tree - sebab of its vibrant red flowers ...pokok nie native to NZ ...and kat Welly berlambak ...and now, semua berbunga and it is so lovely to look at! ada a few places where I should visit to take pictures of pohutukawas nie - the one with the ocean background ...the one berbackground kan Opera House etc ...will try that soon - kena gi town heheh ..yang nie are the trees kat sepanjang Kelburn Parade ..which is on my way to uni ....

close up of the pohutukawa

the last few days have been hot and sunny ..we are finally experiencing summer here! sebelum nie mendung ajer ..but last few days were warm ...tapi today cuaca kelam balik ...and akak just stayed in jer ..kat sini semua kedai tutup on 25th ..even public transport pun tak jalan ...like i mentioned to adik beradik semalam, my christmas plan for this year is ...makan makan makan, lepak depan tv, watch endless movies (I siap ada a stack of dvds here ready in case the movies on telly suck!), read my novels (also have a stack of new novels yang belum baca lagi plus a long list of audio books!), and nanges hahaha ...so far, tak nanges sangat ...more like distracted with movies and food ..

started the day with banana pancake breakfast ..then nasi ayam for lunch ...lama sebenarnya nak buat nasi ayam tapi malas haha until today ....ingatkan ada tomato kat rumah ..rupanya dah abis hehehe so salad pun tak lengkap :-) tapi sedap gak sebab makan bertambah tambah ...

I also have time to catch up with my family at home ....and my friends kat Kapit ...miss my family but macam biasa le ...alah bisa tegal biasa ...sedih sedih sekejap ...then ok jer ....and now that christmas is over, it will be just another day di perantauan for me ...

Happy Birthday EJ

Semalam Birthday EJ. Kakak Fid and anak anak datang Keramat sebab plan nak lunch sama sama dan celebrate Birthday EJ sekali. 

We went to restoran Sambal Hijau kat Penchala. Gambar tak ada sebab sampai aje sana macam too crowded nak kena tunggu meja kosong nak beratur ambik lauk bagai. Nak makan ala ala gedik santai borak borak memang tak la kan. Sebab the moment nasi nko habis cam kesian tengok orang berdiri tunggu meja dan kerusi kosong. Selection of lauk pauk memang terbaek. Macam macam ada.

Lepas dah kenyang terus drive ke Bangsar sebab nak layan chocolate kat Dip n Dip.

Aku drop semua orang depan cafe and drove to Bangsar Village cari parking. Fid order siap siap. Bila aku sampai aku tanya if they have candle. Actually they have more than just a candle. Siap tulis happy birthday Misha, deem kan the light dan played Birthday song. Terkezut kezut kami semua. Bila lagu habis satu cafe tepuk tangan. Semua orang sporting. Seronok rasanya. EJ senyum sampai ke telinga. Happy la tu!

Posing posing adalah wajib. Cousin Ej tu tua setahun dari dia. Masa ni seharian dok risau result nak keluar esoknya. Alhamdulillah result dia bagus. 4A 3B etc etc x tahu sangat aku. Lol.

Hope to have more fun session makan makan macam ni. Anak sedara Fid yang sulung x dapat join sebab dia bz buat praktical kat Hotel Marriot Putrajaya.

Sedap brownies ni lembut di dalam dan garing di luar. Memang kesedapan sangat sangat la kan. 

Bunjut ni crepe yang dalam ada banana dan cream. Pastu rich flavour of cinnamon. 

Yang ada tulisan Birthday tu crepe yang dalamnya ada brownies. Semua mantap mantap belaka.

Tahun depan EJ pulak exam year. I just hope she will hard work and rajin. Apa result pun aku OK. Rajin usaha then tawakal. Risau penyakit malas dia bawak ke tahun depan. Fenin dan fengsan di buatnya nanti.

Finding "food" di key ell

Tajuk copy cat posting Ejin. Dia nak finding herself dah 2 tahun kat welly... Aku 2 hari dok finding food merata kat KL ni.

Aku cuti last friday. Lepas rasa rasa jalan tak jammed kami keluar tumah ke kampung pandan layan makanan pantai timur yang sedap mantap.

Nasi berlauk daging kicap dan ikan sarsing goreng garing. Memang mantap habis.

Fid layan laksam dan EJ layan nasi dagang.  Ej memang fav dia nasi dagang. Sedap je dia telan tak pelawa langaung kat mommy daddy dia. Lol. 

Zahra kena paksa makan. Dok ugut ugut kalau tak makan balik rumah tak jadi jalan jalan. Dia makan beberapa suap aje. Srlalunya kalau ke sini Zahra suka nasi berlauk ayam. 

Lepas dah kenyang kami ke Shah Alam uruskan hal hal kerja Fid. Lepas dah settle bila aku tanya nak kemana. Ej came with an idea nak ke Salon du Chocolate sebab dia selalu nampak kengkawan dia post gambar dessert sesedap. Gigih la aku dengan fid google kat mana rupanya kat Publika. Aku pulak dok terbayang Solaris. Masa drive ke Solaris masa kat Mont Kiara aku termasuk silap simpang. Ikut waze bila type Publika baru aku perasan aku terimagine salah. Bagus jugak tersalah simpang ni... Takde la aku confident je menonong drive ke Solaris. Ha ha ha.

hensem and 25 years old katanya. 

Zahra dok sibuk tunjuk tunjuk gambar waffle. EJ kata too common. Kena cari yang tak biasa jumpa. Tapi zahra insisted. Layannn. Aku prefer black chocolate. Sedap sangat.

EJ ordered choc wrapped. It is crepe yang dalam ada strawberry and crispy rice. Siap ada rose petal bertaburan. Sungguh heaven rasanya. Sedap meletop letop.

Licin...zahra makan sebelah.

Lepas dah puas hati layan choc kami posing posing kat tingkat bawah. Ada banyak arca and arts.

Layannnn...suka sangat berselfie.

Mommy pun x nak kalah posing posing. First time masuk publika ... Kami pusing pusing window shopping. Bila dah lapar kami cari Boat Noodle. Aku dah beberapa kali nampak orang post gambar Boat Noddle tapi tak tahu kat mana. Last week Darling Ngasri poat kat instagram dia dgn kengkawan layan boat noodle kat Publika. Tu yang aku cari sampai dapat. 

Kedai sempoi je macam kopitiam.

Order semua 4 jenis yang ada. Setiap satu untuk aku, fid dan ej. So 12 bowl kesemuanya.

Aku prefer yang masam. Ej prefer yang kicap.

Licin...satu bowl rm1.90 ada la dalam 2 sudu size food dia. Sebab tu kena order banyak. 

Pagi tadi pulak layan lempeng kelapa dengan sambal tumis. Terbaek la sebab lempeng lembut dan sambal aedap.

Tadi kami ke Shah Alam attended wedding anak to my ex colleague. Seronok jugak buat wedding kat Hotel De Palma. Romantis dan simple. Food sedap sedap.

Lepas dari wedding kami ke Ampang Puteri visit kawan Fid baru bersalin. Lepas tu terjah Bangsar Shopping Centre sebab nak makan makanan thai.

Deco superb. Fine dining sempena esok Birthday EJ.

The best pandan chicken aku pernah layan. Zahra sorang habis seketul.

Tapioca beraira santan pekat. Sedap jugak.

Tom yam meletup...kuey teow lembut sangat.

Recommended! Red ruby, isi nangka dan isi kelapa dalam santan dan ice. Menu wajib nk.

Pineapple fried rice...so so je.

Beaday Gugurl. Happy to see her enjoying the food. Sekian pencarian food aku. 2 hari je. Ejin 2 tahun pencarian dia. Lol.