Icecream session w/ @d2z @maverickhornet @nikillas @uverXkuro

[Live blogged by julia a.k.a bubbles182 at 30 Aug '10, 9.39pm MYT PST]

Tadi buka puasa Kenny Rogers kat Jusco Perda dgn adik2 saya ni. Sekarang datang Sunway Carnivall sbb Hadi nak makan New Zealand Natural Ice Cream.
Seronoknya pegi sana sini dgr lagu raya berkumandang :D

P/s: Thanx Hadi 4 d icecream!

Life is short, so live it to the fullest

“Life is not the way it's supposed to be. It's the way it is. The way you deal with it is what makes the difference.”

- Virginia Satir

In a few months, I’m gonna turn 25 and I don’t think I’ve achieve much in life. I’m not working, yet. I haven’t been conferred with the Masters Degree. I am not even married. But, I do live my life to the fullest (or at least I think I am). I tried to do many thing in life that I think If I didn’t try to do it before I get older or die, it’ll be a loss for me.

1. I tried kayak.



I am afraid of the sea since the incident where I almost drown when I was small. But when a friend asked me to go to a kayak course with her during my 1^st year study in USM, I think I should at least give it a try. We went to kayak at Pantai Merdeka, Kedah and I found myself enjoying it. The last time I kayaked was during the holiday with family at the Rebak Island, Langkawi.

2. I went into a cave.

Source : Google.com

(I don’t know what term I should use for ‘going into a cave’ activity.) I went into Gua Tempurung, Perak with high-school friends in 2001. It was one of the greatest experiences ever – to crawl in the water that almost got into the mouth, to climb up the rock, to slide down a slippery rock which almost hurt my hands palm for trying to ‘control & break’ (stupid me!). Too bad my camera fall into the water, and so I don’t have any picts during the trip.I wanna go again… but… :(


3. I savour every bite of a meal.

  How can I resist this? :/

I love foods. Enuff said. Everyone who is close to me knows the fact that I enjoy eating variety of foods and enjoy trying new food. Malay, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Indian, Middle East, Western, Italian. Name it! :D


4. I danced traditional dance. 



Yes, you can go to the club and dance till you drop. But you can’t easily dance any Malay traditional dance. Try to dance to a Zapin – you’ll be lost in the middle of the dancers if you don’t stick to the beat. Try to dance to an Inang – you’ll find yourself like a wood in the middle of the leaves blowing in the wind.


5. I hiked.

Tweeting from 227m above sea level ;)

I did it, to the Muka Head Light House, Penang National Park! That was one of my biggest achievements due to the health problem I have. It was fun! And even funnier when I get to tweet from up above and sent mms to several ‘lucky’ people, to show how excited I was.

6. I keep old friends, I make new friends.

2003 @ SMK Aminuddin Baki

Thanks to the invention of Twitter, I made new friends each day. And I honestly glad I get to know most of them – the awesome twiends of mine.


7. I travel.

 

I wish to write it as ‘I go travel all around the world’ but sadly I haven’t really been out of Malaysia for holiday. But that doesn’t stop me for still go travel all around Malaysia. I’ve already been to 12 out of 13 states in Malaysia (not including Federal Territory), and still I find that I haven’t been to a lot of interesting places in the states. I need to go to Sabah to complete all 13 states. I even dedicated my travelling experience to the places of interest in my travel blog – Bubbles Goes Travel. I wish and pray one day I’ll get to really write it as ‘I go travel all around the world’. Aminnn~


8. I touched a snake.



Like, finally!!! I am so NOT gonna touch it again! Hahaha. See the obvious muka cuak of mine? And see my cousin Diba cheated, she held the snake with a shawl. Plus the snake head is with me, Diba only held the tail. Scaryyy!!Anyway I’ve always wanted to try to touch a snake and now that I had, it’s gonna be the once in a lifetime experience. Confession : the snake was heavy that i feel pain in my neck :/


9. I learned to cook and bake.

 

Cooking and baking is hard for those who are not born with the talent, like me. So far I’ve learned to prepare simple Malay dishes such as curry, sambal, asam pedas, Indian famous Rasam and Chinese cuisine like Chicken Stew.  I tried to prepare chicken chop and mushroom soup, which I learned in a cooking class (yes, I’m not ashamed to admit that I went to several cooking and baking classes). I baked cakes and pastries. And well, I’ve tried to prepare sushi too. :D Either it taste good or not, never mind. At least I have the courage to try, right? :)


10. I got myself a Degree in Polymer Engineering.

USM 38th Convocation ceremony, 2008

And to get my Masters Degree, soon. InsyaAllah. :)


11. I blog.

www.bubbles182.com

www.live.bubbles182.com

www.bubblesgoestravel.com

Besides blogging to share what I know or done with all of the blog readers, I also blog as my life journal to keep record of every single thing I accomplished every day. Once in a while, I’ll spend my time to re-read my previous post to see how have I lived my life.

There are still a lot of things I want to do and I wish I get the chance to do it, InsyaAllah.
Join me in living life to the fullest. Start your list today! :)

"Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring."

-Marilyn Monroe

"A room without books...

[Live blogged by julia a.k.a bubbles182 at 28 Aug '10, 6.27pm MYT PST]

...is like a body without a soul." - Marcus Tullius Cicero

Am currently at Jusco (AEON) Perda for an iftar with a friend, Zydah. While waiting i kill my time at the Popular book store. Yes, killing time at a bookstore is much worth it than window shopping. Anyway a few books catched my eyes but I obviously won't let myself buy them cause I still haven't finish A. Samad Said's Salina (currently reading) and Tilly Bagshawe's Sidney Sheldon - Mistress of the Game. I was stuck with thesis writing & couldn't find the time to finish both.

Pasar Ramadhan Bayan Baru, Pulau Pinang

 

[Live blogged by julia a.k.a bubbles182 at 26 Aug '10, 7.12pm MYT PST]

Hari ni merantau cari juadah berbuka puasa kat Bayan Baru, Pulau Pinang. Ni kali pertama dtg sini. Param kat sini boleh tahan besar dan byk pilihan makanan juga. This is one of the famous param in Penang.
Kat sini ada nasi lemuni yg terkenal kat Pulau Pinang tp ssh jugak nak carik. Hari tu cuba nasi lemuni pun kat Taman Tun Sardon. Lain2 makanan kat sini sama mcm kebanyakan param jugak - murtabak, kuih muih, kebab, ayam percik dan air yg pelbagai jenis.

Am I addicted to Twitter?

I registered my Twitter account on 22nd May 2009. At first I don’t tweet much because I don’t really know how to interact with strangers online, after leaving the mIRC world years ago. Some of my earliest twitter friends were Baiti the bestie, Syazaliyana & Miasuraya the juniors, Ekha Shana & An the cousins and some strangers.

As time flies, I come to realize that I’ve been tweeting with the new strangers i met online more than the friends I have in the real world. It seems like they, the Tweeps / Tweeples / Twiends are always there for me whenever I need them.

Some of the earliest Twitter friends I met offline during the Foursquare Day

When I was writing my thesis, when I was in the boring-7-hours train journey, when I was waiting for some friends at the coffee shop - they are always there. When I wanted to share my happiness, sadness, good news, bad news, when I was being all emotional, and stressed up because I was tired of reading and writing – they’ve never failed me. Yes, even though I never met most of them in real life.

The other bunch of Twitter friends I met during the Youth10

A few weeks ago, I was home and I don’t really tweet much and the laziness to tweet prolonged until a few days after I came back to campus. Then, there were some of my Twitter friends asking where have I been and why don’t I tweet. At first I don’t think it was THAT obvious until I tweet “Is it so obvious that I tweet less lately?” and i received lots of mentions saying yes, it is! How sweet of them to actually realize that I’ve been MIA from the Twitterland. :’)

Picture courtesy of ShamHardy from his Facebook album - “Hari @bubbles182 turun padang bertemu rakyat” (Ada ker patut??)

 ShamHardy’s Qik video during the ‘hari bertemu rakyat’

The thing is – why is it so obvious when I tweet less than usual? Am I that addicted to twitter that I tweet a lot that when I suddenly went MIA everyone notice?

I remember B made a joke of me being a Twitter addict. She said that I need to go to a rehab and should go by “Hi, my name is Julia. I’m a Twitter addict.” Haishh. See, girlfriend also made fun of me being addicted to Twitter.

B also never failed to be there in Twitter when I needed her, and always accompany me if I’m meeting my tweeps. Thanks, sunshine!

Lemme think. After I woke up everyday, the first thing I do is check my phone for sms, then twitter (if my laptop is off), then switch on the laptop, and open TweetDeck. Everywhere I go, I’ll check my Twitter at least once every hour - even though I’m not tweeting or replying - I’ll check the timeline. And the last thing before I go to bed, I’ll shutdown my laptop, but continue checking Twitter on the phone. Hmmm…

Me checking out Twitter while the super-delicious Sup Hameed is waiting right before my eyes! (Photo taken by Sharmi during her visit to Penang)

…I guess I AM addicted to Twitter. :/

So…

Hello everyone. My name is Julia, and I’m a Twitter addict.

Come follow me, @bubbles182 on twitter if you haven’t.

p/s: I love you guys, tweeps!!

The moon phase is 100% tonight

[Live blogged by julia a.k.a bubbles182 at 25 Aug '10, 12.28am MYT PST]

Malam ni bulan penuh. Subhanallah,cantik sangat. Langit cerah kat Nibong Tebal, tak banyak awan so nampak bulan penuh yg sangat cantik. Usually kalau bulan nampak penuh pun, the phase selalu sampai 99.8% je. Bulan 100% selalunya jadi waktu siang je. Last time tunggu bulan 100% pukul 9pagi. Mana la nak nampak kan. Huhu.

After-Iftar session: Starbucking

[Live blogged by julia a.k.a bubbles182 at 22 Aug '10, 8.55pm MYT PST]

Am starbucking at Starbucks, Pavilion with the girlfriends - Sha, Baiti, Hanie, Fadilah, Sharmi, Eda & Naddy. We just had our iftar at the Food Republic and i had my favourite Salmon Tepanyaki. It's the gossiping time and later i'm off to KL Sentral to go back to Penang :(

Kuala Lumpur again!

[Live blogged by julia a.k.a bubbles182 at 21 Aug '10, 7.35am MYT PST]

Yes i'm back in my lovely hometown again, Kuala Lumpur. Last weekend I was home to have my first break-fasting with my family and was back in campus on Monday. Today I am home again as per request by the girlfriend for our annual iftar get-together as there is no other available date for us to gather. So I'm meeting them tomorrow. Can't wait! It's been a while since we hang out together.

Pasar Ramadhan Jawi, Pulau Pinang

[Live blogged by julia a.k.a bubbles182 at 20 Aug '10, 6.38pm MYT PST]

Episod mencari pasar ramadhan bersambung lagi. Hari ni cari param sampai ke Sg.Bakap tapi xjumpa. So patah balik ke Jawi. Param sini kecik je, xbesar mana pun. Tapi ada akok! Dah carik kat 3 param sebelum ni xjumpa. Jumpa kat Jawi, dah la dia masak on the spot lak tu. Hopefully rasa akok tu x menghampakan.
Hari ni berbuka dgn akok, air jagung dgn mee sup daging.

P/s: malam ni balik KL!

Pasar Ramadhan Nibong Tebal, Pulau Pinang

[Live blogged by julia a.k.a bubbles182 at 19 Aug '10, 6.36pm MYT PST]

Genap dah pasar Ramadhan kat 3 buah negeri yg bersempadan mengelilingi Kampus Kejuruteraan USM. So today, the destination for food hunting is at Nibong Tebal. The pasar here is not really as big and happening as the one in Parit Buntar or Bandar baru. Tapi kat sini ada karipap gergasi. Rugi x amek gambar. Kat kedai kuih ni jugak ada kuih serabai. So juadah hari ni agar2, nasi tomato, paru berlada dah air tebu.

Happy break-fasting!

Pak Mat Kerang Rebus, Parit Buntar

[Live blogged by julia a.k.a bubbles182 at 19 Aug '10, 12.29am MYT PST]

Tiap2 tahun bila bulan puasa mesti banyak kedai kerang bakar kat area sini. Salah satunya yang famous kat sini kedai kerang rebus Pak Mat. Macam dah perkara wajib bila bulan puasa carik kerang rebus kat area sini. Dulu kedai Pak Mat kat tepi Hospital Parit Buntar, sekarang kedai ni pindah kat Pekan Lama Parit Buntar.

Upacara Jejak Tanah – Keturunan Rawa

Hari tu, buat pertama kalinya melihat bagaimana upacara jejak tanah bagi bayi mengikut keturunan Rawa iaitu semasa majlis jejak tanah Hadief Zayed. Majlis ni di buat untuk Hadief (dan juga Harris dulu) sebab mengikut keturunan Umi Hadief, my cousin Along.

Mungkin majlis yang dijalankan ini agak simple, tidak se-complete adat yang sebenar seperti zaman dulu-dulu. So sekadar berkongsi dengan mereka-mereka yang juga seperti saya, tak tahu pasal adat ni. Majlis ini dijalankan di rumah nenek saudara Along (Nek Lang) di Kampung Baru.

Bayi keturunan Rawa yang berusia lingkungan 11 – 12 bulan dan sudah pandai berjalan tidak dibenarkan berpijak di atas tanah selagi belum diadakan majlis jejak tanah ni. Dan daripada bacaan, ada juga yang kata bayi2 ni tak boleh memegang bunga, memakai barang kemas dan pelbagai antang-larang lain.

Antara barang2 yang diperlukan untuk majlis jejak tanah ni – bertih, 7 jenis bunga (tak menjalar), daun gelengang, pulut kuning, sepersalinan pakaian kuning utk bayi, ibu kunyit, tepung beras, limau purut, kain kuning, ayam betina yang hidup (untuk bayi lelaki; ayam jantan untuk bayi perempuan), tanah etc.


  

7 jenis bunga berwarna dan daun gelenggang atas hamparan kain kuning

Majlis dimulakan dengan bacaan doa untuk Hadief dari kepala hingga ke kaki. Dah habis tu, Hadief dipimpin dan berjalan diatas kain kuning dgn bunga dan daun tu dan disambut oleh Ayah yang tunggu di hujung lagi satu, dan kemudian berpatah balik dan disambut oleh Umi pula. Bacaan doa diulang lagi dan Hadief dipimpin berjalan sekali lagi, langkah ni dibuat 3 kali semuanya. Dan selepas pusingan ke3, Hadief di pimpin berjalan ulang-alik lagi 4 kali, untuk genapkan 7 kali semuanya.









Selesai 7 kali Hadief jalan ulang alik atas kain kuning tu, Hadief dicalitkan dengan ibu kunyit dan tanah – kat dahi, dada, tangan dan tapak kaki.



Dan akhirnya, kedua-dua belah kaki Hadief di jejakkan di atas tanah.



Upacara terakhir dan kemuncak ialah bayi akan disuakan beberapa benda untuk dipilih, dan mengikut kepercayaan, benda-benda ini mewakili beberapa perkara. Terdapat 4 benda yang diletakkan di atas pinggan untuk dipilih iaitu bertih, pulut kuning, bunga hidup dan cincin emas.

Dikatakan, bertih membawa maksud bayi akan petah berkata-kata, pulut kuning membawa rezeki, manakala bunga dan cincin membawa sakit. So selalunya bayi memang cuba tidak disuakan bunga atau cincin.

Pulut kuning pilihan Hadief

Dah habis upacara, Hadief dimandikan dengan dimandikan dengan air limau dan tepung beras. Kemudian berpantang tidak boleh jejak atau terkena tanah selama 7 hari, lepas tu baru boleh main tanah.
Untuk lebih senang paham, jom tengok video ni pula.

p/s: Kalau ada sesiapa keturunan Rawa yang masih mengamalkan adat ni dan nak berkongsi mana-mana yang tertinggal, sila lah berkongsi ye. Masa majlis tu teruja tengok Hadief dan tak berapa tumpukan perhatian :P

Berbuka Puasa di Crown Plaza

[Live blogged by julia a.k.a bubbles182 at 15 Aug '10, 7.49pm MYT PST]

Berbuka puasa di Crown Plaza ikut mak. Ofis mak buat buka puasa di sini. Hari ni hari makan puas2 sebelum pulang ke kampus :P ada macam2 kat buffet sini termasuk Japanese food and Arabic food. kuih2 Melayu pun mcm2 jenis termasuk wajik, onde-onde dan cek mek molek.

Tarawikh pertama Ramadhan ni dengan keluarga

[Live blogged by julia a.k.a bubbles182 at 13 Aug '10, 10.34pm MYT PST]

Setelah 3 hari bertarawikh sendiri di kampus, akhirnya dapat bertarawikh dgn keluarga - mak, makcik & sepupu di Masjid Nurul Hidayah, Kampung Pandan. Teringat masa kecik2 berjalan ke masjid dgn atuk, tp atuk dah xlarat nak jalan ke masjid dah sekarang.
Seronoknya dapat berbuka & beribadah dgn keluarga. Alhamdulillah :)

Pasar Ramadhan Bandar Baru, Kedah

[Live blogged by juLia d buBbles at 12 Aug '10, 6.43pm MYT PST]

Hari kedua puasa keluar cari juadah di pasar ramadhan lagi. Kali ni ke Bandar Baru, Kedah pula. Bunyi mcm jauh je kan carik makanan berbuka. :D
Hari ni beli kueh dan ayam percik dan air jambu je. Kueh tu kueh serabai. Akhirnya dapat jugak serabai tanpa perlu pegi ke Taman Tun Sardon, Penang. Sedap tak sedap lepas berbuka baru tau ye. :P

Annual break-fasting gathering with girlfriends dilemma

Every year (or at least the last 2-3 years), my girlfriends and I always had at least an Iftar get-together during Ramadhan. It has been like an annual thing for us to do. And every year, I’ve never failed to made it to the Iftar gathering. In fact, I was one of the very excited ones to call/text the others and make plans.

(2008 and 2009 Iftar blog posts)

Little Penang Cafe (KLCC), 2008

After-Iftar session, A&W (KLCC), 2008

This year, Naddy took the initiative to message us on FB to set the date sooner, since everyone’s going to be busy with works, planning iftar with family members and some with wedding arrangements. And since I am busy struggling with the thesis writing, I can only be back on certain weekends.

Food Republic (Pavilion), 2009

After-Iftar session, Ministry of Food, MOF (Pavilion), 2009

So after the discussion, they agreed to meet up on the 21st/22nd August, which I most probably won’t be able to make it since I’m going back this weekend (and I bought the return tickets already).

But then Sharmi started making sad face emoticon in the message - then on my FB wall – and followed by some others. I didn’t know what to say, just that I really can’t make it due to some reasons like work stuffs and cost, for sure.

Then Eda started to say thing that made me awed.

(altogether now) Awwwwwwwwwwww~

But B my dear, “the cause of Bringing Julia Home for Ramadhan”?! LOL. Dah macam kempen ape je nih.

But hey, aren’t they the sweetest thing that ever happen to me? :’)