My crashed Blackberry

I bought 2 new BB to replace our phones 20 days ago. Our phones were working well, okay...but I just want a change. I have used my Nokia 5800 for 2 years now, it's about time I have something new. I aimed for Samsung Galaxy s2 and BB Torch 9860, but finally rested on BB. When hubby said he wanted a BB too, I decided to order 2 phones and told him that it was an advance birthday gift for him.

Hubby's Curve

I settled for Torch 9860...because I hate toying around with keypads. This is very similar to the Iphone in many ways....but it has a more "professional" look....(please don't ask me to explain...but I love the look and the feel of the phone in my hand).

Great luck I have, my Torch hang in less than 20 days. I realized that this is one problem about Torch and the latest Bold version since they use the latest OS system. There are many complaints about the phones faulty operating system. When I read reviews before settling on this I did not come across these complaints. My Torch is now sent to Celcom (I mean SAMART) for repair...

I cheekily told the girl at Celcom Blue Cube i didnt have a spare phone and I wanted a BB for replacement...Lucky me, she loaned me a BB phone, but a very old BB phone....Take it with no complaints m'am....

This is the BB replacement I got until SAMART fixes my NEW phone!!!!

Reaching out for nature: My cotton story

I started falling heads over heels with cotton trending when Jakel first opened its outlet in JB many years back. I started buying a few pieces of viscose, one at a time. By then, I cleared my wardrobe, chucking away all other Baju Kurungs made of materials other than cotton and silk. I kept only cotton and silk. Of course, cotton is difficult to handle. I mean, I don't look good wearing cotton. It crumples easily and you have to put in extra effort ironing. Being me, I didn't put in much effort though. I don't care if it crumples on my body but I do care that I feel comfortable in what I wear.

Lately, people are going crazy selling cotton over the internet or blogs. I am not quite sure of the origin but it could be from Vietnam, China, Bandung? Who knows? I bought a few from the internet, but in my personal opinion it is best if you can actually feel the material before buying. Most retailers don't actually know the differences between Swiss Cotton, or such and such. When asked, they would either describe how the material felt on the skin.

There are many different kinds of cotton sold in the market. But I don't have a clear picture of what each kind means. After wearing so much of cotton-wear, my preference go for cotton voile or kasa rubiah. When I was a child, my late mum used to buy kasa rubiah from Arab Street Singapore. Wearing a kasa rubiah kurung with kain batik jawa was a prestige for many Singaporean women. Mum would take so much care of her kasa rubiah, soaking it with diluted starch flour & water, and then she would spend ages ironing her kurung. Her kasa rubiah kurungs and batik jawa are still untouched in her room though she left us 6 years ago.

I only have a piece of voile which I bought from Arab Street Singapore and this is one good piece of material.

I love cladding myself with viscose, a very soft and comfy material. My wardrobe is filled with viscose of all colours and sorts.

Cotton Voile aka Kasa Rubia

The SB line is another range of cotton that I like.

Cotton SB Line

Cotton Viscose

This Italian Viscose feels soft. I have made this into a Baju Kurung but I havent got a chance to wear this yet. Well, there are plenty other cotton Kurungs which are awaiting to be worn.

Italian Viscose

Another version of Viscose

This is my first piece of lawn cotton. I don't know what lawn cotton is, but after googling I learned that it came from India. However, i doubt that this piece of cotton came from India. I like the material though. Soft to the skin. But, it's a little light in weight.

Lawn Cotton

I bought this piece of embroidered cotton from Bandung, but this is a slight costly version compared to the pink one I have here. Overall, I don't like wearing embroidered cotton. Quite warm for me.

Embroidered cotton

This red piece came all the way from Bandung. I was informed that it's a rare viscose, unlike the ones I bought from Jakel. The material is quite heavy, but not too bad. Not too warm for me.

Cotton Viscose

Another embroidered cotton that I bought from the internet. This is a cheap version compared to the lilac one. Why cheap? The thread gave away easily. That's why i think it's a cheaper version.

Embroidered cotton

Another piece of SB line. This is more expensive than the brown one but, my husband didn't like it. He claimed that it's too warm for him. When I bought this material, it cost me RM25 a metre, and I had to buy 15 metres in total for my hubby & my boys. Like me, hubby only wears the traditional outfits made of cotton fabric.

SB Line Cotton

This piece of cotton was bought from Arab Street in Singapore. When I bought this, I was told that it's Japanese cotton. But I don't like the feel of wearing Japanese Cotton.

Japanese Cotton

This one Swiss Cotton is silky like. Great feel on my body and I love this material.

Swiss Cotton

Cotton Viscose

Singapore Arab Street is a heaven for cotton fabric. There are loads of designs and types of cotton. Of course, the more expensive, the more comfort you get. In many years to come, I'll never get tired of wearing cotton...If you take a sneak peek in my wardrobe, you will be amazed that I only stock up cotton fabrics for my own pleasure.

The Final Touch

We bought this house in 1999 but rented it out. When our economy was stable, I proposed that we buy a bigger house in a gated area, but hubby did not like the idea. With 100% UTM students staying in the campus area, it would be difficult to find tenants so he suggested that we live in this house. Before moving in, I decided to re-do the whole house and spent almost 100k in renovation works. That was 2006. After the house was finally done, we made a decision to leave the country for my PhD studies, so we left our home. We only stayed for about 4months in this very house before leaving Msia.

We left the porch untouched and decided to re-do our porch after we returned from New Zealand for good. When hubby and the kids returned in April 2011, we wanted to do some saving before completing with this renovation. But our porch was such an eyesore (for me) that I told hubby I wanted to get it done after Syawal. Our initial plan was to spend around 10k-12k, but upon completion, we realized that we have overspent....opps :(

All completed now, but I have not added in any water feature yet, no garden furniture yet....We have to wait for a little while, I think....

This is the original porch. We took down all the original stone pillars and changed into new ones. At this stage, I wasn't sure what Din was going to do.

Hubby and I went to kangkar pulai to get the bali stones.

When I left for NZ, this was ready.

I was in NZ when Din and his men did the tiling. Design of the tiling was my idea.

I told hubby I wanted this wood work. I had to add another RM2k for this.

Almost done, with lighting effects

Choice for the wall lights...we bought 4 of this.

Hubby's idea to cover the ceiling with woodwork. Because it was his idea, I didn't have a clue how much it cost.

Hubby's idea for these lights on the stone pillars

This fan is from our Bilik Solat which we moved to the car porch.

Floor work made of Shanghai pebbles

The gate...my idea for Bunga Padi, since it was a rare design here in JB

View of the porch during the day

View of the porch at night

Crashed Laptop

My laptop crashed last Saturday. It was so frustrating. All downloaded programs, data, were gone and could not be saved. The laptop had to be reboot...what a big pain!

Coffee Talk

When did I ever start drinking coffee? I think it was when we had breakfast at Quality Hotel, KL..and we were served with roasted coffee. Then, I started having this craze for good coffee. I always remind myself to make a distinction between coffee, kopi, Nescafe. To some people Nescafe is coffee. Not for me though. Nescafe tastes yucky (cheh…berlagak..tu la yang hang minum dulu). & when I am making reference to “kopi” that’s kopi Malay style…that black, sweet coffee.

My vanilla latte at the Chocolate Lounge

I have to start my day with a mug of coffee. I normally have Moccona coffee which I brought home from New Zealand. Or the most “chaukia” coffee, I would make myself Nescafe GOLD. No Nescafe Classic, please. I just hate the taste! At around 10, I’ll make myself another mug of coffee (if I am at home). At the uni, Mazura is my coffee companion. We’ll slip into the staff pantry (of course postgraduates are invited) around 11 and make our favourite coffee from the dispenser. I would normally have either the Latte or the Mocha. Mazura on the one hand will have hot chocolate…And around 2pm, I have my next cup of coffee. My coffee craze ends till maybe 6 or 7pm? Now tell me. I am so immuned that coffee has no effect at all on me!

Flavour? I love caramel latte. I tasted chilli coffee at the Station, but it wasn’t quite to my liking. Mochachino is ok with me.

I go out for coffee once in a while. It’s the lifestyle actually that attracts me into going out for good coffees. Having coffee conversations is great. You can have a one hour conversation over a small cup of coffee! I remembered spending 2 hours at Urge, Hamilton having coffee with my hubby and Fid with Noorwan. We had a talle one each, and later before we left ordered another talle coffee.

Caramel latte & Mochachino at Esquires

My mocha with strawberry shot at Esquires Downtown

My caramel latte with carrot cake at esquires Manukau Chartwell

How I wish we have more cafes like those in NZ back home. This craze for coffee suddenly inspires me to open a coffee café one day…

Mocha & latte at Momentos by the Uni Lake

Chocolate Vienna & Caramel Latte at the Gardens

Mochachino at the Rouge, Cambridge

My beautiful mocha at Pumice Terapa

My beautiful mocha at Pumice Frankton

My mocha at Mc Cafe 5 Cross Road

My mocha at Mc Cafe Frankton

My mocha at Jack's Coffee Lounge

Another favourite mocha at Hazel Eyes

Coffee & Chocolate treat at the Chocolate Lounge