A new beginning

It has been ages since I last penned (read: typed) anything in this blog. In my defense I have been super-duper busy. A quick recap:

1. Became Vice President of the Malaysian Integrated Medical Professionals Association (MIMPA)
2. Became Chief Editor of the Malaysian Medical Gazette www.mmgazette.com
3. So many committees & workshops in IIUM 
4. PhD preparations!

Oh yes...

I also got married last Saturday. To a wonderful guy named Azizul. Why do I say wonderful? Because he was willing to accept me for who I am & every piece of baggage that I carry with me, and of course because the kids adore him.

Initially the wedding was supposed to be a simple affair in Kuantan but then suddenly on Wednesday 4/12/13 80% of Kuantan was submerged under water. So we decided to move the nikah to Gombak. Sounds easy? It was not. In the space of 1.5 days my family managed to pull off a almost miraculous ceremony. We only got the approval from JAIS 4pm on Friday (the day before). Alhamdulillah, I am truly blessed with friends and family who rallied together to make this a reality. 

We are also fortunate to have wonderful friends to help us clean up the destruction of a house flooded in knee-deep waters. Thank you so much. Honeymoon hutang ye? hehe

Big Bad Wolf in Kuantan

As soon as I found out that this was happening, I was like a kid waiting to go to Disneyland. I had missed out on the BBW sales in KL because of bad timing (I was always in Kuantan during those dates). Now, I did not have to go to the BBW but the BBW was coming to me! *Cue slightly deranged laughter 

A few of us stopped by on the very first day during our lunch break. As I walked into that hall, I think my jaw was basically scraping the ground. There were so many books, as far as my eyes could see. The prices were ridiculously low (this coming from someone who only buys books at BookXcess!). Anyway, for that very short visit, my strategy was to just grab titles by authors that I knew and liked. I planned to return later to actually browse through the books more closely and buy based on catchy titles or interesting blurbs.

On Friday, once again I tried to visit my furry friend but for some reason it just didn't happen. Time just simply was not on my side (neither were any parking spaces). I ended up doing a couple of drive-bys while looking longingly at the huge building, envious of all the people walking out with their hauls.

Thankfully, I managed to drag my book loving parents and kids there on Saturday. My mum watched over the kids as they had free reign of the children's section, my dad had a great time in the history/politics/travel/design section and I finally got my wish to pick up any book that caught my eye. We spent almost 3 hours just browsing and adding books to our box (next time I'm definitely bringing a bag with wheels). It was a great experience. Our final haul (excluding my parents catch) was 45 books! When will we read them all? That is actually the least of my worries, my policy on books has always been "buy now, read whenever". A lecturer once told me we should never wait until we have time to read before buying a book, we should just make sure we have books to read whenever we are ready to read. 

Thank you Big Bad Wolf for coming to Kuantan. Please come again!

Fly! DB ..Fly!

Today the TLC (Trainee Lecturers Clubhouse hehe) held a potluck/farewell for our friend Fadhilah (a.k.a. DB) who will be flying off to Reading University to pursue her PhD after Election Day. 

I could sit here and tell you about the amazing food that everybody brought ...but I won't.

Or tell you all the stuff that we talked about ...but I won't.

What I will do instead is say.. some friendships last forever and this, Insya Allah, is one of those. 

TLC ladies (from left Kak Aniza, Kak Jula, May, Kak Raihan, Huda, DB, me, Shikin, Baiyah & Karimah)

Alhamdulillah

Happy!

Amazing Nasi Briyani & Ayam Kak Ros(mah)  erk! By DB

Peace!

Bocor!

Watching the presentation

No LCD so our farewell presentation was only on my laptop hehe

Our little yellow birdie present hehe

Funny!

DB giving her speech in tears ..everyone was also crying

Sob sob sob

My personal farewell message to DB (on the presentation)


We will miss you DB but Insya Allah we will always stay in touch, who knows.. we might just come and visit you over there :)