Sherlock Holmes ~ Game of Shadows

taken from www.celebuzz.com

When everybody is goin' crazy and can't wait to watch Robert Downey Jr. to embody the Sherlock Holmes character,  I was very very very keen to watch my hero ~ Jude Law... Owh Dr. Watson, I'm crazy aboutcha!  hahahhaaaa... Over kaannn...

Frankly speaking, the movie needs someone with high intellectual to be able to understand the whole thing.  It's a bit boring though for someone yang as simple as me.  So Bimbo kaan... ;P  I like towards the ending part only when it really gave me hope to stay and intrigue of how this movie will end.  I also like the witty scripts, which I found quite funny.  Although I hardly remember the first one, but I remember that it was better and even more entertaining!.  My rate for this movie: 5/10.

However, Jude Law's still the hottie!!!

Al-Islam Januari 2012

I can't sleep tonight.  Dunno why.  So I decided to blog.  Tadi, the 1st time I read Al Islam magazine.  Before this, my favourite magazine is Aquila and sometimes Women's weekly.  Tapi bukan baca sgt pn, unless mmg betul2 ade free time to read, barulah nk flick thru.  

The other day I had Hot Choc at Starbucks with a good friend since school, my maid of honour during my wedding reception dulu.  If jumpa dia, biase la, we chat mostly about our current lives.  I told her how much I missed my late Grandma.  She told me she read at al-Islam about life after death, bila roh berada di Alam Barzakh.  And mcm2 info she told me, which she read from Al-Islam.

Siang tadi, lepas teman my other half shopping, I saw Al-Islam on the magazine rack at the Newsstand.  So I grabbed and read couple of articles out loud in the car to share the valuable ilmu with my other half.  There's a lot of interesting articles found in this mag. I love it! It's very affordable ~ ONLY RM5!  Not many ads printed in this mag. The articles I read just now:

1. Bersalam Cium Tangan - Sunnah atau Budaya?
   Jawapannya tiada dlm mana2 hadis bersalam perlu cium tangan.  However bersalam digalakkan dalam Islam utk menjalin persahabatan.
2. Kenapa basuh kaki sebelum tidur?
   Basuh kaki untuk menurunkan gelombang otak daripada beta kepada alpha, kemudian theta dan seterusnya delta. Tidur dalam gelombang delta adalah tidur yang paling berkualiti, nyenyak tiada mimpi.

Interesting right? Macam2 lagi articles that I can't wait  to read. And I'll definitely read it once I finished blogging.  

graceful violet now has violet hair...

taken from razorblade-cookies.blogspot.com

After 5 years of contemplating to change the color of my hair... (Well it has actually been 5 years since the last time I changed my hair colour kot, and I was blondie dulu... huhuhuhu... hehehe) Finally... I did it... I went to my favourite Salon, "Chinta" at Wangsa Link, Wanga Maju.  Inilah jadinya bile rase sangat tension OK.  Usually if I cried a river of tears, I would heal myself with just a facial mask or eye mask.  Then I would put more makeup and dress up the next morning, I would definitely feel great after that!  But this time around, I need to do something more...  At first I went to Guardian, I bought one box of Revlon Burgundy Brown hair colour.  Unfortunately my hair is too long that 1 box only wasn't enough to cover the whole hair.  So, I decided to just use the salon's colour since it's using the HALAL Loreal hair colour.  My hair now is brownish VIOLET... Wooohooo!!! Like what I wrote in my BB status "New year, new hair, new ME!!!"  Yang pentingnya, my sweetheart loves my new hair!  He said "You look like some Datin already"... Then I said "Owh pulleaassee, I don't want to look like a Datin but I think I look like Kristen Stewart the vampire version"... Simply wanted to annoy him... Hahahahaaa...

I'm wearing Hijab, I did it obviously for myself and my other half... *grin...  Before I did it, I did some research on "Hukum mewarnakan Rambut dalam Islam".  I found this,

Sabda nabi SAW yang bermaksud : “Sesungguhnya Allah itu cantik dan sukakan kecantikan dan ia bersih dan sukakan kebersihan“."

More...

Perbuatan mewarnakan rambut selain daripada warna hitam adalah harus dengan syarat pewarna tersebut tidak mengandungi bahan-bahan najis dan telap air serta tidak bertujuan untuk menunjukkan kecantikan kepada orang lain. Ulama telah bersepakat mengharuskan mencelup warna rambut dari warna hitam ke warna lain seperti merah dan lain-lain, samada dengan inai dan apa jua pewarna yang dibenarkan syarak. Mereka semua berdalilkan dengan hadith-hadith riwayat An-Nasaie, At-Tirmidzi, Ahmad, dan Muslim.~ ohislam.com

Read more here.

Here are some tips.  A change would definitely make yourself feel much better...  And when you feel good, you'll end up be nice.  And when you're nice, your other half will love you more! ;)

Time has changed...

I used to be your medicine when you were sick
I used to be your extra energy when you played games
I used to be someone that you need to be by your side always
You used to stay all night to help me went through my tough times
You used to take care of me when I was sick
You used to make coffee for me
You used to make breakfast in bed for me
You used to make mushroom soup for me
You used to fry chicken for me
You used to help me in the kitchen
You used to help me with the house chores

But that was quite a while ago...
Are you still the same person now?

Time has changed...
But that doesn't mean people have to change too...

Eyeglasses can be fashionable and functional at the same time

2011 is reaching the finishing line... My year end gift to myself and a strong reason to encourage myself to CHANGE.  A first step to change ~ wear eyeglasses to avoid eye infection.  Walaupun berat, tapi nak cuba jugak. So yesterday I collected my year end gift:

My sweetheart told me to pick this eyeglasses cos it matches my handbag.  Hahahaa... Like I said at the title, It can be fashionable  and functional at the same time. The frame is light and comfortable.  The best thing about this eye wear is its temples that curve over my ears properly and the frame rests on my nose comfortably. ~Big grin*

"It is possible to combine function and style when you choose the best fitting frame for your prescription glasses". ~ Dr. Paul Naftali, Pennsylvania optometrist.

the amazing Istanbul, Turkiye pt. 2

Where did I stop. Yeah at Spice Bazaar where we heard so many charming words came out from the local retailers.  I saw only men sell stuff at Spice Bazaar.  Then we went to Hagia Sofia, which has a very unique interior design.  Hagia Sofia was originally built as a Great Church then converted into a mosque in 1453.  Hagia Sofia was used as a church for 91 years while later it was used as a mosque for 481 years.  Although there were some Islamic elements added into the interior and the architecture of the building, the christian paintings are still remained.  After that, we went to Basilica Cistern.  It was quite dark and I felt a little bit eerie here. It was dug and built probably after 542. Water was brought to this underground cistern for water supplies for the city. We saw two Medusa heads to form bases for two columns in a far corner of the cistern, which was a bit creepy to me.  It is believed that gazing directly upon her would turn onlookers to stone. U can read more about her here.

taken from Shahidah Mohd Said's facebook.

3rd day~ we visited Suleymaniye Mosque.  Beautiful historical architecture that was built between 1550 - 1557.  It has a spacious courtyard surrounds the mosque.  Then we went to Pierri Lotti Hill to enjoy the Bosphorus view. Here I could see the graveyard that was probably exist many2 years ago.  I found a small cute bottle of Coke here, my all time favourite soda! I bought ONLY two.  I should've bought more, it will make good souvenirs! Damn!  After that, we went to Grand Bazaar.  We got to rush like hell, and there was no time to snap pics there as we were struggling with time! All of us didn't have enough time to shop... I managed to only buy some souvenirs and couple of shawls to bring home.  At Grand Bazaar most of the retailers were not nice, they were quite rude.  Most of them didn't like it when we tried to negotiate to get a cheaper price.

Some pics were taken by my camera, some are from Shahidah's fb album.

4th day~ free and easy! After we had done our business visit at TTNET, we took a tram ride along Istiklal Street heading to Taksim Square, it was awesome!  Then we walked back to the hotel.  On the way back, we had the best food during our stay, which was the roadside Taksim Doner Kebab.  I chose this shop because it was appeared on TV a while ago. Walaupun takde Chilli Sauce, tetap sedap gilerrrz!!!

The most memorable thing about Istanbul was, everywhere we go, mesti ada  FAT cats... I felt like hugging and squeezing the adorable fat cats... Here's one of them, such a handsome cat I found at Hagia Sofia!  I miss him very much!!!

taken from Faten Liyana fb.

Istanbul Turkiye ~ A place that all of us should go.  They have totally different culture and totally different lifestyle and rich with historical complexes.  

"If one had but a single glance to give the world, one should gaze on Istanbul." - Alphonse de Lamartin.

the amazing Istanbul, Turkiye...

One of my dreams came true!!! Seriously!!!  I had the chance to go to Istanbul, Turkiye, which was one of the places that I've been dreaming to go to...

taken from Apit Rani's facebook.

The breathtaking scenery was worth waiting for hours and hours of flight delayed from KLIA to Atartuk Airport although we were so exhausted.  We stayed at a very simple hotel, the Grand Hotel Halic. I love the view of the Bosphorus - wonderful blue of Istanbul Strait from our room.  What I hate the most was the same disappointed breakfast menu every morning everyday.

taken from Apit Rani's facebook.

We did almost every MUST-DO at Istanbul.  But how I wish we could have just few more days to stay there... 

1st day ~ Just couple of weeks ago, we visited Blue Mosque. It's called blue mosque because of the blue tiles.  But I don't see much blue though. :) We took the chance to pray at the mosque built by a young Sultan, 19 year old Sultan Ahmet 1 in 1609 and finished at 1616.  Then we walked to Topkapi Palace Museum.  A museum that keeps all the valuable things like gold and diamond old jeweleries, the most precious diamond is 86 carats, "drop-shaped".  We could also see the personal belongings of Prophet Muhammad e.g. the decorative sword, big footprint and very small amount of beard hair.  Later at night, we went for a walk at Sultanahmet Area and watched the Hippodrome.  It  was originally built in 203 by the Roman Emperor.

2nd day~ we took the Bosphorus Cruise in daytime. The boat we took was large with two levels that gave us a good opportunity to see the splendid views of both continents Europe and Asia, plenty of jelly fish swam in the bluest ocean.  Then we went to Spice Bazaar to buy some spices and turkish delights.  "Lady, you drop something", said a young local guy. I quickly looked for that thing. "You dropped my heart", he continued... Hahahaaa... There's a lot of so called "charming" guys in that bazaar. ;P

to be continued... 

Breaking Dawn Part 1 VS Ombak Rindu

Last few weeks, I organised a movie night out for the company.  We went to watch the Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn Part 1 at GSC Pavillion.  One of the movies I really couldn't wait to watch.  It started when my ex-colleague once told me that she was fully immersed herself in the story while reading the novel until she dreamed about it.  Then another colleague told me how amazing she felt after watching the first twilight. Since that I've been following all 3 series of the Twilight Saga, and now I have watched the 4th one.  Breaking Dawn Part 1, the best thing I found was the wedding.  Beautiful set, beautiful dress, beautiful bride and handsome groom! Like an all time wedding dream...

taken from weddinginspirasi.com

taken from vogue.co.uk

So beautiful kan?  Lg satu yg  best was their honeymoonie. Seriously romantic, with the ocean, the waterfall.  Argghh... Canteknya!!! But overall the story line was a bit slow.  Rating: 6/10. :)

Just now, me and Mr. Hubby took Mama to go watch the awaited "Ombak Rindu", another movie adaptation from a local novel. Sedih lah... Menitis jugak airmata especially when it touches about the love and sacrifices between a husband and a wife.  Yang ni memang bessstt... Tapi yg kelakarnya, tgh feeling2 sedey, Mr. Hubby boleh nguap berkali2.  Biaselah dia kalau bukan action movie, mulalah dia nantuk kaann... Nasib baik dia pun ala2 romantic jugak... But with his own sweet ways la kaaann... Hehehe... I haven't read its novel but I can totally understand the whole story.  May be it looks a bit chopped here and there but it was still good, perhaps not as good as the novel though.  I love the breathtaking scenery of the beach and paddy field.  While mama kept on saying that the house is beautiful.  It's totally Malaysian, totally "Malay Movie" with good quality.  The couple is as romantic as the twilight's couple.  Rating: 9/10. :)

taken from hansrollodepelicula.blogspot.com

Both are the adaptation movie of novels.  Both are also a romantic drama genre.  Both played at beautiful locations.  Both are also about husband and wife. But I think, Ombak Rindu has touched my heart deeper. :')

Valuable Moments at RACTAR Pt. 2

Our company's CSR continued the mission with presenting of 44 "Back to School Packs" to residents of the Rumah Amal Cahaya Tengku Ampuan Rahimah (RACTAR) in Subang Jaya last month.  I blogged about our first initiative here.

It was a good session which was simple, short and sweet.  Our chairman was the guest of honour who gave such a humble and good speech before presenting the gifts.  When I sat down while listening to his speech, rasenye macam jauh lagi my journey to reach to where he is now.  He reminds me a lot of my late grand dad, a very respectable man but still very down to earth.  He even called himself "Pakcik" when he did the speech in front of the RACTAR's residents. :)

The kids were still reserved and I'm pretty unsure whether they were happy to receive us and the gifts... Well I hope they were...

My dear grandma is deeply missed... :'(

I just came back from Istanbul, Turkiye.  But I'm not gonna blog about Istanbul, not just yet... I have more important thing that I've been thinking of lately.  I've been thinking about my late grandma... Our dear beloved grandma who had passed away recently at the age of 81.  She passed away last couple of weeks on Friday.  We call her "Tah".  May Allah grant her a place in Jannah. Ameen.

"The Muslim who passes away on the night or during the day of Friday, Allah Ta'ala saves him from the punishment of the grave." (Tirmidhi) - borrowed from http://www.deenislam.co.uk.

When she was young and so pretty (PYT)...

It was really sad. Tah went away so very peacefully on that Friday.  The Friday that I organised my office Movie-Night-Out.  We went to Pavi to watch the Breaking Dawn.  I know she had been sick for months after months.  I went to visit her the day before.  She didn't open her eyes. Her hands were swollen. I totally thought and wished she would not be leaving us at least until I come back from Istanbul, Turkiye.  I was counting the days to the much awaited trip, it was 2 days to go at that time.  

On that Friday, after we finished watching movie, we realized there was a missed call from my sister-in-law.  She told us that my grandma passed away at 4.30pm on that day, we didn't believe her.  Because no one told me anything! I felt so bad then I called my brother, apparently my mom sms-ed me but it didn't reach me.  

I was wrong! So I wept.  I cried like a little girl who had just lost her granny.  I couldn't hold my tears the moment I reached her house.  My mom hugged me really tight.  I felt so deeply guilty of all the bad things I had said to her when I was younger... I felt even worse that I hadn't had the chance to apologise to her.  She was very stern most of the times, but she was stern because she wanted the best for us... When I was much younger I thought she wasn't cool, she was totally old-fashioned and she would never understood me.  But now I know, she was who she was because she wanted us to go to the right path... :'(

It was not my intention to abandon her when she was ill, but I did not know how to show how much I care, deep down I loved her.  I miss her now.  I grew up in her house with both her and my dear late grandpa.  She taught me to appreciate beauty.  Because of her, I like to wear eyeliner now.  Because of her I like Henna.  Because I watched her putting on the eyeliner on her eyes so perfectly.  I watched her putting the inai around my fingers and on my palm.... Beautiful memories linger in my head again...

borrowed from mela2mela.blogspot.com.

My dear late grandpa was also passed away on Friday night at 9ish several years ago.  And... Praise be to Allah, she was safely buried right next to her beloved husband's grave at Islamic Bukit Kiara Cemetery.

May Allah grant my Arwah Tok and Tah a place in Jannah. Ameen

Al- Fatihah...

WeddingS of the year 2011

2011 is not only the year of handbags for me... but it's also a year of wedding celebrations... i'm grateful to be given a chance to be part of their special days, to witness blessings in their lives...  

Wajah wajah bahagia

wedding is just only the beginning... beginning of your journey... in this journey, it's not all about LOVE only... it's also about commitment, responsibility to make each other happy... most importantly to strive to achieve the lifetime of happiness together... it sounds really easy but it's damn hard... i'm not trying to scare anyone here. but it's 100% a true fact...

anyway... i wish all the brides and grooms a great happiness, and  may you live a beautiful lives together always like how beautiful you look on your special wedding days... 

Lagi wajah-wajah bahagia...

much love... violet : )

In Time

taken from happyfreebees.com

My sweetheart has not been feeling well for a week already.  Since things in the office are a bit slow, I decided to take Emergency Leave to accompany him at home at first.  But after we had lunch, we went to watch "In Time" instead... Unplanned!  Sometimes it turns out to be even more fun if it's unplanned!

Justin Timberlake and my favourite actress Amanda Seyfried being the lead actors is the reason why I picked "In time". It matches the current trend of our lives, when it is evolved with gadgets in this era of globalization.  It's a brilliant story that tells us about TIME is everything, it replaces money.  Who in the world would think that someday, somehow people will no more fight for money but people will fight for time ~ for living... Great twist right!!! Visit http://www.intimemovie.com/ for more info.

I found that this movie is the modern version of Robin Hood.  Time is stolen for a good cause.  It's all about what's happening around us, yang kaya - jadi kaya sangat tapi yang miskin terus tetap miskin... Tapi bukan miskin duit, in this movie, miskin masa...  The message ~ when we have plenty of time, the time should be distributed to those in need.  In reality, if we have a lot of money, we absolutely should share with those who are very less fortunate...

One more thing, when your life relies on time only, aging will not be an issue, tak payahlah makan jamu or collagen utk awet muda lagi, ;P  cos the lifetime is only up to 25 years old. Muka pun berseri2 macam muka org 25  tahun walaupun usia dah 85 tahun cos ade centuries of time to live...  Yg tak bestnya, you definitely know when you're going to die! : (

Bravo In time production team!!!  I'd give 9 big stars upon 10...

to bond with colleagues.. : )

The week goes by on a similar note. When you pause to think, you realize the amount of time you spend with your colleagues 365 days of the year. Maybe it is even more than what you spend with your group of friends or family. Gradually, they begin to do the role of a friend mentor, family member or even a lover. Is this a boom or a bane? Is it important to be friendly should this scenario be avoided should you keep your distance from your colleague? The answer is tricky.

It is a typical Monday morning. You have snoozed your alarm of those extra minutes of sleep, until you realize you are late for that important meeting at work. You reach work, the meeting is half way through, your boss is not happy the client is snappy as always he wants a detailed presentation by tomorrow which means late hours today. What a kick start to the week? It is nearing lunch and another client just demands your attention. His juggling act makes you want to scream loud. Your coworker in the next cubicle smiles, his smile reflects his understanding of your woes. No time for a meal you grab a quick bite for lunch sharing those loud laughs with your colleagues. Your evening cup of coffee with a close associate is rejuvenating. The work load seems to get lighter and you are glad that a few others are working as well more than willing to join them for dinner post work hours.

So what makes you bond with a colleague? Constant interaction, working for a common cause the amount of time spent with each other in a day; the reasons are innumerable. Similar likes and dislikes top the list. At work there may be people from the same background, course, age, or have similar personalities and opinions. Thus, automatically you tend to get close to them. She feels it is a matter of convenience. If your vibes get it becomes convenient to share your joys and sorrows with your workplace fellows since you are with them for a greater part of the day, you may catch a movie with them post work, since most of your other friends may be caught up with their work in different parts of the city.

Common enemy could bring people together at work. There are times when a bad boss can make you bond with your team members a result of sharing common grievances. Due to the long working hours you tend to look for a support system at work. It is natural to get friendly with co-workers. When you work as a team spirit also tends to bring you closer.

At some workplaces regular parties were arranged to ensure you know all your colleagues Most of the time, you get to know the real person only after 6.30pm.

Some relationship at work however, may not be as unconditional as they seem. You have to maintain cordial relations with everyone at work, be it your boss, who may not be your best friend, but is responsible for your promotion or with your colleagues who you need to coordinate with on a daily basis, whether you like it or not. Your personal preference has no space.

Sometimes people try to be overfriendly. This can happen either because you are at an influential position at work or the other needs to get some work out of you. When my team member who was a close friend started to date her boy friend she would frequently ask me to do her favors so that she could leave early. She assumed I would understand. However with time I started getting extremely annoyed which began to affect our relationships

Thus this interaction or bond is inevitable. It can do wonders but also prove to be a hazard if not handled in the right way.

Thus, relationships at work can add that zing to your day, push you to work harder and have the potential to develop into life long relationships. However you can be in a catch -22 situation if things go wrong.

Found this amazing article about the common causes makes bonding with colleagues stronger...  More at... www.citeman.com.

I totally agree to the lines I've highlighted. The team spirit plays a good role in making our bonding stronger... My team ~ we have crazy cool team spirit!  : )

Layan Cinta Elysa

Before I begin, I'm so in the mood of listening to this beautiful L O V E song.  Terasa mcm feeling2 semacam biler dengar lagu ni.  I hope it's not too much to be honest here, jarang2 berlaku untuk I suka lagu melayu.  Tapi kalau suka, mmg sukalah sgt2.  Tak boring pun dengar berkali-kali.  Spider memang rawks!!!

KITA SATU

Seringku bertanyakan
Dimanakah hatimu sayang
Kian lama ku simpan
Bersarang cinta dalam diam

Sampai bila harusku pendam
Layan cinta dan perasaan
Dengan lafaz ku bisikkan

Kita telah ditakdir bersama
Teman hidup di dunia
Malam siang kita jadi satu
Kerana engkau adalah milikku

Pegang tanganku seeratnya
Dunia ini berputar ligat
Mengapa harus ada sesal
Andainya tersungkur tetap bersama

Tersangatlah puitis liriknya kan... Layan habis... Teheheheee... Jarang2 berlaku Si Violet nak berjiwang2 ni...  Maklumlah, I like to stay on the low... : )

This is one of the songs I heard in the Cinta Elysa series.  I have never been a fan of Fasha Sandha.  To be honest, sangat2 lah tak suka dulu.  Tak suka lakonan dia, tak suka suara dia yang nyaring and so on...  Bila first time I watched Johan As’ari aka Botak acted in Juvana, (tak follow pun, tertengok je) xde pape pun yg menarik...  Until tertengok Johan As'ari berlakon as Aril in Cinta Elysa... then only nampak his WOW factor... Nampak kuat betul chemistry between Johan As'ari dengan Fasha Sanda.  Hate to admit, I am still not a  fan of Fasha Sanda though, but I puji kesungguhan dia dengan her salon.  I went to her salon twice, and I was pretty happy with overall service. Well that besides the point.

Anyway, yang best tu, character si Aril tu... Memang wujud orang macam tu dalam realiti.  Kalau dah suka cakap lah suka, tapi ego tak tentu masa... Boleh buat pantun 2 kerat... Satu je tak best banyak jugak si Aril ni menjerit... Character dia bawak would be even better if he stops screaming and stay cool...Tehehehe...   Hurmmm.... Layan je la synopsis ni:

Drama 13 episod terbitan Suhan Movies Trading ni diarahkan oleh sutradara Along Kamarudin dengan nukilan skrip oleh Sharifah Abu Salem. Di terajui barisan pelakon handalan seperti Dato’ Jalaluddin Hassan, Zila Bakarin, Addy Ashraf, Naim Daniel, Zaefrul Nordin dan Ika Nabila. Mengisahkan Aril (Johan As’ari)  seorang anak yatim piatu yang membesar tanpa kasih sayang telah menjadi seorang pemuda bermasalah yang terlibat dengan kegiatan samseng. Selepas disisihkan oleh keluarga sebelah ibu ekoran pelbagai masalah yang ditimbulkannya, akhirnya bapa saudara sebelah bapanya, Jasman (Dato’ Jalaluddin Hassan) telah membawanya pulang dan masih menaruh harapan kepada Aril untuk berubah.

Isteri Jasman, Yasmin (Zila Bakarin) sangat bencikan Aril dan sering melemparkan kata-kata nista kepadanya. Anak-anak lelakinya, Khairul dan Imran juga memusuhinya. Hanya anak sulungnya, Elysa (Fasha Sandha) yang masih menegur Aril. Namun sebenarnya, Elysa agak gugup berhadapan dengan Aril kerana sudah mendengar macam-macam perkara buruk tentang dirinya.

Aril telah didaftarkan di kolej yang sama dengan Elysa dan diberikan tanggungjawab untuk menjaganya. Aril sering melepaskan kemarahannya kepada Elysa lebih-lebih lagi selepas Elysa jatuh di kolej dan kakinya cedera. Aril menganggap Elysa sebagai beban dan suka menyusahkannya.

Aril berada dalam dilema apabila diamanahkan oleh Jasman untuk menjaga keluarga kerana anak-anaknya masih bersekolah. Jasman telah meninggal dunia kerana terlibat dengan kemalangan jalan raya. Aril cuba mengikut amanat tetapi kebencian Yasmin menjadikan tanggungjawabnya amat sukar dilaksanakan. Hanya cintanya pada sepupunya Elysa menjadi inspirasi dan memberi kekuatan kepadanya untuk tidak meninggalkan rumah itu. 

Apabila Aril dihalau keluar dari rumah oleh Yasmin, Aril nekad membawa Elysa yang masih cedera lari bersamanya. Aril kembali menjalani kehidupan sebagai samseng untuk mencari duit demi kehidupannya dan menyembuhkan Elysa. Elysa menyangka Aril melarikannya kerana mahu membalas dendam kepada ibunya. Selepas teguran Elysa, Aril mencari rezeki halal demi Elysa.

Aril dan Elysa menyamar sebagai pasangan suami isteri di sebuah kampung. Mereka mendapatkan pengamal perubatan tradisional, Mak Jah untuk mengubati Elysa. Namun perlakuan mereka menimbulkan syak wasangka Mak Jah dan rahsia mereka terbongkar. Mak Jah menasihatkan mereka untuk berkahwin. Hati Aril berbelah bagi tetapi Elysa akur untuk mengelakkan dosa. Aril berjanji bahawa akan menceraikan Elysa selepas Elysa boleh berjalan semula. Kekasih Yasmin, Rashid pula sibuk menjejaki Elysa untuk mengetahui kandungan wasiat Jasman. Apakah yang akan berlaku selepas ini? 
- Kredit malaysiandigest.com

Tak sabar nak tau apa jadi seterusnya... Lepas ni I will be vegging out in front of the TV every Tuesday night..  Alaaa... lagi 3 episod je kot...

International retailers VS Local retailers

This pic was borrowed from kaboodle.com.  I bought the 'special little boy tatty' instead.

Here's the thing, yesterday the moment my colleague WD (not her real name) came back to the office after a long break, she brought the things I asked her to buy at mothercare's sale last week.  I had her buy "Special Little Boy Tatty Teddy" at 70% discount and a cute "est.2011" bodysuit at 50% discount.  50%? By right, it's only 20% off but the retailer wrongly labelled as 50% off.  The great thing about mothercare being the worldwide no. 1 retailer for moms or moms-to-be has succeeded in practicing the "customer's always right" concept. WD only found the price should have been reduced by only 20% when she was already at the counter and about to pay.  But, the cashier told her, it's ok, she could pay 50% less as what has been labelled.  Yeah, obviously it's not her fault... Bravo!!!  Hurm... too bad these cute stuffs are not for me cos I'm not yet a mom-to-be... They're for my nephew's newborn baby. : )

Ok, now I wanna speak bahasa my mama tongue sebab malulah kalau nak cerita pasal ni just in case ade orang asing terjumpa blog ni... ;P

KAMDAR ~ yang kelakarnya, benda yang lebih kurang sama jadi kat Kamdar jugak.  Semalam, WD and I pegi beli baju2 sekolah untuk 44 anak2 yg tak berapa bernasib baik untuk our CSR event.  Sorang dapat 2 pasang.  Memang banyak2 pasang la kitorg beli semalam.  The thing is, tanda harga dah tertulis RM6.90 untuk sehelai tudung.  Cashier pun kiralah RM6.90 satu tudung.  pastu dahlah, mesin credit card/debit card tak boleh baca our credit and debit cards.  Katanya, tak ade line? Dhuh!  Terpaksalah menapak pegi bank, withdraw duit beribu.  Tak ke bahaya? Duit company plak tu!!! *&^%$#@!

Anyway, bila dah patah balik ke Kamdar,  tiba2 sales girls kat situ kata harga sebenar tudung dah naik sekarang. Tudung tu dah tiba2 jadi RM7.90 la plak dgn alasan mase kami order minggu lepas tu harganya masih RM6.90.  Sekarang dah naik RM1. Tapi, dah tentu2 label kat tudung tu masih tertulis RM6.90. Salah siapa?  In the end, diorang masih tekankan kami bayar RM7.90 sehelai.  Masetu jugak sales girls kat situ kelam kabut tukar tanda harga. Boley?  Kalau ikutkan hati, nak jugak-jugak stand up for our rights, tapi nasib baik WD baik orangnya.  Dia bertolak ansur. 

Itulah bezanya local retailer to compare with international retailer.

Valuable Moments at RACTAR

Rumah Amal Cahaya Tengku Ampuan Rahimah (RACTAR), is where we do our CSR mission. 

CSR = Corporate Social Responsibility. 

The goal of CSR is to embrace responsibility for the company's actions and encourage a positive impact through its activities on the environment, consumers, employees, communities, stakeholders, and all other members of the public sphere. Furthermore, CSR-focused businesses would proactively promote the public interest (PI) by encouraging community growth and development, and voluntarily eliminating practices that harm the public sphere, regardless of legality.  Click here for more info. The way I'm looking at it is aside from focusing on our nature of business, we could also help to make a better place for those in need. Then again, may be that's not right... ;P

This is my first CSR initiative with the current company I work with.  After several discussions among our Marketing team and PR team, we have decided to sponsor school uniforms for the less fortunate kids at RACTAR.  I'm not purely generous or even the most noble person but I am still learning... Learning to learn the less fortunate kids' lives.  When I learn, I learn to be thankful for who I am, where I at and what I have now...  I've been to a few shelters like this, most of the kids are so reserved, distance, quiet and timid.  But once I tried to speak to couple of them, they started to smile, then It was such a relief to see them smiling at me...

Our first mission was to measure and compile their respective uniform size. So, our first visit to RACTAR was on October 22, Saturday.  

Here's some pics taken from the professional photographer of the day : VHP

Measuring for kain, baju and tudung by using Kamdar's sample.

Ini bukan Titanic "I'm flyin" scene yeah.  Hahaha! It was quite fun! : )

Then, here comes the lunch! Pizza anyone?

My colleague Danii, siap catwalk lagi...Thank you babe for collecting heavy boxes of Pizza!

Food and drinks are served for the kids...

Group picture to record this valuable moment with them...

The next visit will be with the rest of the team and Senior Management team to present our humble gifts of school uniforms to RACTAR kids.  TUNGGUUU!!!

"If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded"
- Maya Angelou.

Really Maya Angelou?!! *grin*

TGIF Rocks our dull Thursday...

borrowed from www.facebook.com/mrs.janggut

Last Thursday felt like Monday Blues as it was a day after a public holiday.  Thank God we had a Group Luncheon at TGIF, Pavilion.  My office "Group Luncheon" is designed for all the staff to network while enjoying the lunch treat by the senior management.  The whole bunch of team will be there to chit-chatting, laughing, posing "poyohly", and snapping lotsa pics of foods and peeps.  Moreover, that day the luncheon was in conjunction with celebrating our CEO's birthday! He's quite sporting, walaupun muka jadi pink, he didn't mind standing on the chair and allowed the waiter to pour a lil bit of tomato sauce into his mouth. He even gave some touching speech although he had to use the sauce bottle as a mic. The waiter was totally making fun of the birthday boy. Fun-filled lunch hour!!

My food selection of the day:

borrowed from www.facebook.com/mrs.janggut

Tennesse Chicken & Shrimp.  It was so yummy until tak tengok kiri kanan dah. While giving the full concentration on the food I chewed, I suddenly realized after a few minutes, Ooops, I forgot to offer the rest, luckily my colleagues are NOT those who are in a shy group that would wait until they are offered.  Semua jadi the cute Octopus, panjang melingkar tangan masing2, nak try semua foods... I'm happy to see how happy they are when there's so many foods on the table... ; )

Crispy Cajun-spiced fried shrimp was superb!!! Nak-nak pulak cicah dengan its sauce.  Sedaaap gilerz!!!  But the chicken isn't as nice as its picture.  To me, it was a bit too dry.

borrowed from www.facebook.com/mrs.janggut

Afta I've stuffed my double-storey tummy, tak segan silu shared a dessert called Friday's Sundae with my collagues!

borrowed from www.facebook.com/mrs.janggut

I wasn't brave enough to eat the bottom layour of caramel sauce and nuts cos just by looking at it I could already feel super sweet.  Nanti sugar high susah plak...So I ate the Vanilla ice cream topped with hot fudge... Hurrmmm... Sedaaapnye...

It was totally fun!!! I wish everyday is Friday!!!

A fulfilling one day holiday!

Today we are on a public holiday o yeah! We're so lucky to be Malaysians, doesn't matter if we're Malay, Chinese, or even Orang Puteh, all of us got to enjoy the Deepavali holiday.  Weehoo!!!

It has been a while since the last time me and my dear sweetheart went for a romantic date.  Woohoo... Luckily my dear generous colleague gave me 2 vouchers of F&B at Pullman Putrajaya Lakeside that's worth RM50 per head.  So, we took the chance to spend time together and enjoy the food at B's restaurant over there.  For 2 "heads" my dear sweetheart just paid only RM30++ since the buffet lunch costs RM59++ per head.

Borrowed from eats.my

Unfortunately, the choices of foods and drinks were very limited.  But I love the dessert!!! They were so irresistible!!!

Yang paling yummylicious is the cream puff served with strawberries.

But what amazed me most at Pullman was the stunning architecture, the beautiful hotel and its surroundings.  It reminds me of Bali.  We don't have to go to Bali to rest, relax and recharge anymore when we already have the awesome Pullman.

On top of that, all of the staff there were very friendly, pleasant and helpful. When I asked  where The B's restaurant is, one of the staff walked with us to the lift, then guided us to its specific level.  Then everytime any of the staff ran into us, mesti tego and tanye "May I help you?"  When I was looking for a ladies room pun, they asked "What are you looking for, Miss? May I help you?" Sampai macam tu sekali! Takkan nak bawak I sampai ke toilet kot?

Also, Pullman is giving 50% off for Spa Happy Hours on every Tuesdays to Sundays.  OMGals, how I wish I can go back to Pullman for spa pulak... But I've got to save money for the Istanbul trip soon... ~Sigh...

After enjoying a great scenery, perut kenyang suka hati... (it rhymes! Haha)  We went to One Utama... Again I did a wild shopping.  Wild shopping to me means not really thinking wisely when I do shopping. Tehehehee... After spent some money then only I thot "hey, was I supposed to save up some money for Istanbul trip". Doink!!! Ketuk sendiri forehead yang berjendul ni!

I found a shop called "Live it Up" at LG, new wing that was about to lead me to shop unnecessarily! So many cute and pretty things that makes you wanna grab and run to the cashiers! Most of them were on sale!!!  I bought a cute princess tumbler - pressie for my niece, cool 5R photo frame for my fren (kalau dia taknak i NAAAK!), sporty tumbler for my sweetheart, tumbler's strap for me, one cute coaster for me and another one coaster for my colleague (like a token of appreciation for giving us the Pullman vouchers  :) ). Hurm... rasenye tu je kot...  Then we went to Body Shop, Aiyooo, big mistake!!! Although Body Shop now ade sale,  I already spent RM80+ for the things that I am not so sure of how necessary they can be. Muahahaha... *evil grin*

Lastly, we stopped by at Nara Seafood, Pantai Dalam for a simple dinner - ayam golek and kerabu mangga.  Kerabu Mangganya tersangatlah masam... But Ayam Golek's quite nice and juicy!

Lesson learned today ~ From now on, always remind myself not to shop wildly anymore!!! Save money for better things at Istanbul!!! Arggghhh!!!

Useful pretty little wallets

Three of my new favourite things in my large tote bag:

Card Wallet

Since I now have loads of privilege cards, membership cards, medic insurance cards and shopping cards, this card wallet is doing me a big favour to keep my cards organised and handy!  Before this, all these cards menggemokkan  my purse. And sometimes I tend to just throw it into my large tote, then it went missing whenever I tried to find it.  My friend bought it for me at Penang only for RM10! The best thing about this Card Wallet is, it has many compartments~ Happy weeee...

Wristlet wallet

It's my recent shopping therapy... Teheheee... Since my pink wristlet dah comot, I "HAVE" no choice but to buy the new wristlet ... (Alasan je kot, hahaha)...  Tapi yang best about this wristlet is its size... Juz check this out...

 

The size of this wristlet can fit my blackberry, E72 Nokia and iPOD, a few notes plus my important IDs! It's so pretty and handy! I love it so much!!! I bought this great handy stuff only at RM250.  Cheap for Coach huh?  Yeah, It's absolutely authentic US Coach. But I'm so lucky to have such a generous friend who sold it at a discounted price.  She bought it at US Coach sale.  Suke3!!!

My fav lilac purse

Mula-mula jumpa purse ni dekat Tangs, Pavillion.  OMGal... It drives me crazy! I love the design, it's simple and practical.  It has many compartments and the best thing is it has an additional checkbook wallet.  Although I'm not using a cheque book, I can now use the cheque book case to put my important cards.  Or else I can use it for traveling purpose.  If I go travel, I don't have to take my bulky purse with me anymore, I can use this slim case instead to put my money and important stuff that needs to be carried everywhere I go.  

Fossil is known of its vintage design.  But looking at this purse, it has a modern touch with the glam lilac leather. 

Unfortunately kat Tangs, the display item was the last stock.  So, cari la kat few malls, finally I found it at Parkson, Pavi.  I got it for RM169 only cos I used RM10 Parkson Voucher. The nett price was RM179  : ) 

That's all for shopping story now... Lastly, I'm happy to see the brilliant stuffs created by fabulous designers! Thank you for being brilliant!!!

the second google office?

I was so used to work at a big corporation where it emphasized the corporate identity.  But with the makcik2 inside the office at that time, most of the times, the office became the next M E L O D I.  Not only the entertainment gossips  but also the internal rumors spread widely and over sensationalized added with spices, rempah ratus!

When I first joined the company I worked at right now,  I had quite a major culture shock.  My day 1 of  perceptions:

• Small group.  There were only 30 + of us.  The place I worked before had hundreds or maybe thousands of staff... Who would want to count - that's HR's job! ;P Hurmmm...
• Small workstation, no office phone, all of them weren't very friendly.  (but I was the one who didn't know how to blend in :P)
• Small Pantry but foods and drinks are free! Tea Lady make coffee and wash all our cups, plates, tumbler, and cutleries all the time. My previous workplace, they had this small project of kedai runcit which encouraged staff to buy snacks from the pantry. :P  The tea lady only washed cups once in a day and that was all.
• Wow, I had to learn to use Window Vista since the new office only uses Window Vista cos my previous workplace was still using Window 2000 at that time.
• The new office has poor email system as they fail to have file sharing, calendar sharing, intranet, IM and etc like my previous workplace used to have.
• The new office doesn't have the checklist for newbies until I get my office phone fixed at my workstation only after couple of months.  Hahaha!
• Hey double standard ke, why all other staff but ME are given handphone?  Cos I came in as a contract staff at first... Hehehe... Tapi cool la, dapat handphone each person and bill is borne by the company!
• Finally, wow all staff are given a lappie and we can work from home once a week... Weeehooo!!! That's absolutely super cool!

OK... but I love where I work now! The first year I joined, I was only on one year contract basis.  But now, I am like the rest of the team. All of us are on 3 years contract basis, which means our contract is renewed in every 3 years. I'm not a HR person to talk about my contract anyway. But Alhamdulillah I managed to win a place here to be part of the team the result of my own effort.  I didn't cheat but I sweat a lot to get it.

Being a small company with now 40+ staff including the management team, we have been motivated with so many cool stuff.  We have been given a flexibility in terms of punctuality.  I mean when our official time starts at 8.30am, that doesn't mean we have to tag in at 8.30am. Some of us come as late as 10.30am.  The rule is we have to be at the office for 4 days in a week and 8 hrs in a day only.  I myself reach office usually quarter to 9am. One more day, we get to work from home... ~Again Weeee... And the most important thing, we need to deliver our task timely, efficiently and effectively! Voila ~ that's our company's culture!

To work effectively, each of us is given a lappie and blackberry.  Cool eh?

If we need to de-stress ourselves, we are allowed to sing walapun sumbang mambang cos we have a karaoke set and sound proof wall, we are allowed to play ping-pong cos we have ping pong table, we are allowed to play PS3 (but only guys conquer it all the time), we are allowed to do YOGA with our in house YOGA master, we can go jogging at KLCC park, and etc as long as it happens after working hours.  The only things that always happen on Friday noon are either we go shopping or having lunch with the bunch of ladies while watching OPRAH in our office lounge.

FOOD FOOD FOOD.  I have been gaining weight lately.  Why? We really enjoy food.  We enjoy pot luck and steam boat once in a while at our pantry.  The whole bunch of us explore fancy restaurants once in a month.  That's how we do internal networking.

We also do sports once in a week like badminton and futsal.  Sometimes, we go for great activities like paintball and stuff.

There's no firewall created at our internet system.  We are using the high speed Unifi WiFi connection.  WHY? Our senior management team encourage us to be creative endlessly.  So, we are allowed to explore what's the current trend through unlimited internet access.

See, how creative we can be? ;P

Ever since I stepped into this office,  I had the chance to go to the places that I have never thought I would reach.  First year, we went to Beijing, second year, we went to Hong Kong and this year Insya-Allah we'll be going to Istanbul.   It's like part of the reward for our efforts throughout the year.

Friday is a dress down day. Literally dress down ok.  We can wear jeans and tees or even track suit.  All up to us cos it's a happy FRIDAY! We can also wear jeans whenever we have casual events, manning the booth or attending courses. : )

Sounds like an MLM company? Nope... we're just a company that helps people to achieve their REALISTIC dreams...  And again...this company is a not-for-profit company.

Our CEO recently quoted: 

"We have always focused on the substance and the big picture, we have always put much attention into providing staff one of the best working environments that anyone can have and we don't usually sweat the small stuff".

Our CEO's expectation:

"I expect zero politics here and I expect that trend to continue.  If you're not focusing on the job - you're focusing on the wrong thing".

But... Our office is also NOT a bed of roses... Zero politics? It's quite impossible... I've been working in such a great place but somehow there's still office politics going on.  But nasib baik there's no more makcik2 issues here... Haha!  On top of that, this is not the place for you to look for big bucks.  Since it's not-for-profit company, we are trained to spend wisely... *big grin*

Check out the google office here, cool gilerz... How I wish...

Google's office

But... it's just my dream je kot... Our office is not as fabulous as google's but we hope it'll be the next coolest one in Malaysia!

S P A C E

I have just completed a 2-day in house training called Strategic Marketing Excellence by an experienced consultant, Kenth.  Unique right the spelling of his name? Kent is a common name but Kenth?

Once, there's this chap told me that Malaysian likes to have the space of his own, D'Space... For instance, you just get into a bus, you see there are 3 seats in a row, but you then see there are only 2 empty seats while the 1st seat was taken by a guy, you are likely to sit at the 3rd chair and leave the 2nd empty. I'll bet!!!  

*gambar hiasan*taken from http://candyliciouscat.wordpress.com

You know what I'm sayin'. So, back to the Marketing training just now, the training room has a classroom concept.  Since we're in such a small group, each of us sat on one chair but each of us had two tables.  Cos again - everybody wants the space of their own.  Duduk SORANG dapat 2 meja... Enough space for my cool Coca Cola water tumbler, workbook, lappie, and folder.  More than enough!

Through my own observation, Malaysians don't like to sit right in front in a class room since my old school days until at this very moment, if there is training session, at the office, most of us still avoid siting at the front row. WHY? S P A C E... Kata 1 Malaysia... Tak nampak pun? *grin*  Because I don't get it why you have to leave the front row empty.  I'll always be the first one to sit right in front.  Biarlah org kata I am such a geek ke or kiasu ke... Whatever~ 

I'm happy sitting at front row. 

Sorry for not having a clear vision
Sorry for not having a photographic memory
Sorry for having a short attention span

I was moved by this video.  It was played during the training just now.

and also this...

I'm sorry for being so busy today that I don't even have the time to smile at you...

My gloomy weekend

Falling sick on Friday was ruining my whole weekend plan! We had planned another exciting weekend ~ to go watch movie, to go shopping jeans at the ISETAN anniversary sale (which happens only this weekend la kan), attend nephew's wedding at Seremban and attend neighbour's wedding.  The only thing that might happen today is attending neighbour's wedding. One of my childhood friend.

I've been taking all sorts of medicines given by the doctor and nutritional remedies in addition as advised by the doctor.  Although I'm getting slightly better now, I feel sick, sick of not doing anything. Sick of not being able to eat whatever I can. Sick of looking at my puffy eyes and muka sembab.  
 
All I did yesterday were, had Nasi Lemak  for breakfast at Medan Selera AU5 cos my hubby missed having his Nasi Berlauk Kelantan style, then we went to Jusco to grab the Jusco Vouchers for my colleagues.  At our office, all staff will get a birthday voucher on his/her birthday.  Being the sports club secretary and living nearby Jusco have gotten me to be the best person to buy the birthday vouchers. What else did I do yesterday? Ermm... Had Steak Salmon at Sushi King for lunch, then browse some articles from the internet about my penyakit ni.  Lastly we had our favourite chicken at Nando's for dinner but this time around I had to take Lemon and Herb Peri Peri instead of my favourite Mild Peri Peri Chicken.  The only thing that cheered me up was Nando's! 

I so need ice cream right now... : (

Hey wait... There's one more thing that made me so happy yesterday... Happier than the happy Nando's food! Last week my hubby bought  a lovely chain for me, yesterday I bought a lovely pendant, which is a perfect match to the chain... ~weee... retail therapy...  and it's much worth it!

"FRAPPUCCINIC"

Hi, my name is Graceful Violet (bukan nama sebenar ;P) I'm Starbucks Green Tea FrappucciNIC... (I came out with my own vocab, pandai2 ajer!).  FrappucciNIC is an "addiction to Frappuccino". The moment I see Starbucks, I often stop by to get my GTF and of course with SOY.  I've been loyal to it for years and years now.  I began to like the taste of it rite afta my college days. Somehow this year, I'm getting even worse.  When I'm stressed out, I have the tendency to drink more. Tehehehe...