Smile with the Simpsons

It makes me want to laugh everytime I think of The Simpsons Movie. Watched it at the cinema a few days ago and it was a good 80-minute laugh!! As usual, it has a moral behind each story kinda thing.

I would watch it again. If you havent, do go and watch it!

Dubai in the Summer

We thought it would be an excellent idea to stop over at Dubai before heading home. Early august weather was scorching hot! Tip: best to go there NOT in the summer. Temperature: 42 deg C. Desert safari?? Out of the window! The intention was to relax and not shop. We stayed at the One and Only Royal Mirage at Jumeirah...absolutely loved it! Beautiful. Serene. Relaxing. Highly recommend it, for more and more honeymoons or merely for r+r purpose.

Jumeirah is 30 minutes away west of Dubai City Centre. Jumeirah is a strip of coastline lined by resort hotels, amongst them the Burj-Al-Arab, Madinat-El-Jumeirah and Jumeirah Beach Resort Hotel. Nearby is the world's largest mall; the Emirates Mall which has an artificial ski slope in it! Hard Rock Cafe is around the corner and so's the Water Park.

We bumped to an ex-classmate in town then. He was in Dubai on transit as he's a pilot with RBA. He took us out for lunch at a chinese restaurant poplular amongst the RBA crew. Like any other city, Dubai has its chain of malls filled in with British shops like Tie Rack, Next, M+S and even Woolies!! Oh and you get to have your halal Burger King Mushroom Burger!! Yay!! (Hubs' fave!). We went to Naim Street which is a fabric bazaar....went a bit mad coz they were just loads of gorgeous abayahs, head scarves and materials for making hariraya dresses!!

.F.O.O.D.

I must write a separate entry for FOOD...food that we had in NY. (Btw, most pictures posted here were taken by Jus as she, unlike me, dares to take photos in shops hehe). Being the food lover Jus is we researched into the best places to eat in the Big Apple. Undeniably, Serendipity's on Upper 63rd East is a must (Bloomingdales is only round the corner!). I think we went there 3x to indulge the scrumptious desserts they serve. Frrrrozen Hot Chocolate is a MUST. (N.B.Serendipity the movie!)




Another frequent visit was Dylans' Candy Shop on 3rd Ave (as E! have taught me is owned by Ralph Lauren's daughter!) Oh my, I had a sudden sugar rush as I stepped into the shop. Candies everywhereeeeee!! The child in you just comes out and you become one like every other child in the shop......sugar high!!


Our 1st dinner was at Todai's Sushi Bar in Midtown, nearby 5th Ave/ Empire State Building. It was so good yet moderately priced! We loved it so much we came back again 2 days later.


After our Downtown Loop Bus Tour we walked by Saks and towards Rockefeller Center and an authentic Japanese Bakery shop caught our eye. Bought a few delicacies....of course!


We also managed to hop the subway train to Brooklyn to get some One Girl cookies! As Chandler from Friends said...Brooklyn is so far! But the journey was worth it when we had freshly made cookies served at this dainty cute shop and we bought a bag-full to take back home!


Our last touristic destination was the Grand Central Station. I remember seeing it on 'My Bestfriend's Wedding' when Julia Roberts was frantically chasing Cameron Diaz....and honestly I didnt expect the station was so grand looking! Grand Central Station indeed! Such a contrast from London's Paddington or Euston. Lined with marbled floors and walls, it was beautiful. Not to mention they had restaurants from cafes to proper dine-in michelin starred restaurants. There we had mexican...umm nyum!!


And oh u must have a pretzel when u're in NY!!

New York!! New York!!

U see it on telly, weekly if not everyday. Dreamt of going to NY since goodness knows when. Planned and planned but it never happened. Procrastination at its best. Reason may be financial or just the lack of time. By May 06, I realised I should at least squeeze the remaining few days of my annual leave (not that we have that many anyway....Bruneians in Brunei are sooo lucky) to go to the Big Apple. So Jus n I decided we should go. Broke or no broke - just GO! Otherwise we wouldnt at all. (Lina still hasnt forgiven me for going to NY without her!)

So we did! And did we enjoy it...hell yea!! We managed to save a bit of dosh coz we stayed at my cousin's flat at the Upper East Side. Unfortunately, they've already planned to take the girls to Florida's Disneyland so we missed them whilst we were there. Bibi their maid made us feel at home and made sure we left home with a full tummy everyday. All in all, we shopped lots and toured lots and ate lots toooo!! (of course...i'm on holiday with Jus...whats new?!)....we even managed to see a Broadway show!!....it was a packed well-worth 4.5 days in the Big Apple.

Where did we go and what did we do?







Will I come back again? Of course!!!

Wales: 2005-2006: part 2

Living in Wales was like trying to strike a social balance between the Cardiff Bruneians and workmates/ friends. But the scale was more tipped to the latter. I can only remember attending 2 BDSSW meets and held a Hari Raya Open house as part of my contribution. Lame, i know. Partly because I spend most of my time either at work or at home, and there weren't as many people of my age. I only related to the Bruneian medics and bro's friends. Anyhow, here are some pictures of me/ us in Wales and my dainty city flat...

Wales: 2005-2006: part 1

Getting that opportunity to stay for another year in the UK was a relief for me (then) partly because I wasnt ready to go home yet, and I was enjoying the perks of being a well paid doctor in the UK...haha...must admit you can do so much more when there is more dosh...weeheeeee. March' 05 Bro and I were driving in my 9 year old 5th hand maroon Vauxhall Vectra from London to Cardiff for my interview when on the M4 between J17 and 18 (pre Bristol) the car started to slow down for no apparent reason and the yellow light showing some part of the engine blinked on the dashboard. We were lucky I was driving on the slow lane so managed to get on to the hard shoulder. All inall, the timing belt broke, and we had to be towed to Cardiff! Thank god the interview was the next day! Blessing in disguise, I got the job! So another year in the UK, albeit in Abergavenny Wales! (I bought my 2nd hand Polo soon after that....!)

London-sick initially, but the Welsh are very welcoming and friendly I found my 'new family' in no time. Mala, Beth, Saira and oh Kian were mad! Kian...I miss his gayness (pre + post lasik). Malaysian Kian is an awesome-awesome friend, one who makes me miss home and makes me cook homefood so he doesnt get home sick. Silly Kian. Mala - my twin - was also my best gurly gurly where somehow somewhat we would turn up to work wearing almost the same coloured top and pants...and we also own the same pair of skirt from Mango...bought separately from different places before we knew each other! How freaky was that! Mala is my sister I never had...miss u babes! We went on our road (+ shopping) trips to London, our drive to work together daily and our mad thurs nite outs dancing in Cardiff town (u're trully Caerdydd if u've been to the Philly!). Oh I have to mention Tom (Bampy), Abbas (50p), Aled and Jamie and Ian - my night duty mates, and Rob n Amanda. My 1st HO - Paul (who pulls all the girls) and then James (truly english) and Aby....

A truly good year to end my decade stay in the UK!

p/s Im glad Facebook was created because this is the only way I can keep track with what my Abers are up to!

The purpose

Why I created this blog initially was to make a momento, a sort of memoir of what I have done over the last decade when I was away from home. Since I owned a digital camera only 2 years back, I will try to scan pictures from way back then...

Rain rain go away

It's 2300hrs and it has been raining non stopped since 1630hrs. Im sure there are few places that are heavily affected from this. The weather has been temperamental lately. Started a week ago when there was the mini typhoon. A few nights ago there were strong gustly winds that brought down all the fancy multi-coloured lit up adverts for the birthday celebrations. That was scaryyy. Never seen things like that happen in Brunei. Im sure this year's birthday celebrations and all outdoors' cafes and restaurants arent as merry as it has always been. No one wants to be trapped out there...no one wants to drive where there are trees along the road...just in case one may land in front of your car...or on your car! And when you're driving where there are no trees you can see the lightning....noooo! Staying indoors is way way safer!

So i did. Then the 4 hour electricity cut happened. Rang the 144 hotline....and they are soooo helpful! NOT! I was all hot and sweaty. Yuck. So glad when bro came and we went out to buy some wrapping cellophane for the wedding gifts. While we were out Mom and Dad popped by. So that was lovely. Lights, TV, internet and aircon returned just a mere 1.5 hours ago.....relief!!

almost 1 year

i want a holiday. i just wanna be off work.

This is where i wanna be...

pix adapted from www.shangri-la.com

instead i'm here 5 days a week in here...





my first year is almost up working in RIPAS. I cannot wait for my entitled 2 week mandatory leave! Yay! I have so many plans but I know I should not plan. Enjoy the holiday as it goes, i keep telling myself. Oh what the heck, i will do some planning. Some is the key word here. I wanna go to a nice beach resort, not that we dont have one here. I just wanna be somewhere not in the country. I thought I should venture and explore more of Asia, closer to home. Perhaps Borneo. C'mon, even my 'orang putih' friends know Borneo in and out...I find myself all quiet when they all babble about how fascinating this island we live in. So after much dwelling and thinking, hubs and i have decided to go to KK for a bit of R+R. Yes, Borneo -tick, Beach - tick, Resort - tick. We may even go diving or snorkeling...that is if we have the guts to. We'll see. Yay yay...

It will be a lovely break after bro's wedding. I cant wait....for both.