SELCA!!

SelCa means Self Camera. It's a Korean phrase actually, meaning you take your pictures of yourself.. Over the past few years more people are becoming addicted to Selca. I'm not exactly addicted because I only do it when I'm extremely bored or stuck in a jam or when friends ask for my pictures. Husna, Huda and Zaid, however can be a bit obsessed with SelCa. If all of us go on trips, you can almost guarantee that the three will be in at least 80% of the pictures.Husna can sit for hours in front of a mirror and be happily snapping away.

At Qamah's house, waiting for her to get ready.

Somewhere in UIA waiting for my turn to meet a lecturer.

In my first office, waiting for the light to come back on. (There was a black out, which explains the lack of work done that day)

In my car, gathering up the courage for my interview in LGM.

It was batik day and someone MMS'ed me his picture so I replied with this.

I just love green and thought I should take a picture.

In my new office, feeling a bit sad.

As you can see, I'm not terribly good at it. Plus I usually use my phone to take the pictures which means the quality's a bit bleh. I don't usually take photographs, preferring to be in front of the lens than behind it. That's why you almost never see me with a camera in my hands. It does however, make me a bit dependent on any camera bearing person. It's a good thing that I'm surrounded by camera freaks. Hee..

To sign off, a SelCa of Yunho..

MAKAN MAKAN LEO

I feel a bit sad that Kak Maya won't be able to come to KL until next year. Maya Unnie!! Pogoshipoyo!! Until then....

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Kak Maya, Kak Hawe and me (sometimes it's just Kak Maya and me) will have these eating sessions every time Kak Maya is in KL . There was even one night where we hit 3 places in the space of a few hours. And mind you we didn't just order drinks. There's almost always something filling that we just couldn't resist ordering. We will have this ritual of waiting until all the food and drinks have arrived and take pictures (for illustration purposes only)..

Kak Maya with a bowl of Soba noodle at Secret Recipe

We call it MAKAN MAKAN LEO because all three of us are August babies (ergo all of us are Leos). It kinda started by accident because if I remember correctly, we were just having cakes at Secret Recipe and were planning to have a heavier meal at Johnys. But then after Johnys Kak Hawe suggested that we go for some extra desserts at Old Town.

In fact it is becoming a habit for me to take picture of the food I'm about to eat when I eat out.. How dorky is that? Among our usual haunts include (pictures taken at different eating sessions):

Old Town

(I just love the kaya toast and hor fun..YUM!)

Secret Recipe

(Obviously the cakes are double YUM!!)

Johnys

(We always leave Johnys with our tummies almost bursting! That deserves tiple YUM!!)

It seems DBSK wants a piece and are racing to our table with chairs.. Hurry before the food disappears!!!...

KAK MAYA JIBAM

That's her name in my phone. What happened was she bought a weird looking key chain while we were queing at TGV KLCC and named it Jibam. Somehow, she lost the thing and ever since she had been "Kak Maya Jibam" in my contact list.

I met Kak Maya on 2nd April 2008 unaware of the fate that both of us would share. She was also appointed as a research assistant in IIUM and we worked under the same supervisor. Her real name is Maria but prefers people to call her Maya or Mayat (joke!!). At first we grew close because we were the only ladies in the group at the time.

Happy times in IIUM...

But as we spent more time together I discovered that Kak Maya was also into Japanese and Korean dramas and music. So I introduced her to DBSK. She had heard of them and even has "Kotoba Wa Iranai" on her playlist. Slowly (with my help), she becomes more addicted to DBSK. I would always let her watch recent videos of them and we would listen to their new songs. If I'm not mistaken she was totally hooked with Lovin' You.

We even made TVFXQ Forever T-shirts!!

Aside from DBSK we would also discuss our favourite Korean dramas. Kak Maya was more into Jdramas but I really prefer Kdramas. Since I had quite a collection of Kdramas of my own, I also let her enjoy some of it. We would also go to movies together and at one point it even became a weekly activity.

Me, Kak Maya and Kak Hawe on movie night...

Both of us have since found new jobs which made it difficult to hang out together, especially now that she's working in Perak. She used to come down to KL just so we could hang out, go shopping and eating. It's been a while since we saw a movie together.

We still contact and SMS each other everyday. I burn her DVD's of recent Korean dramas and videos of DBSK or other Korean artists. Recently I got a long email from her saying that we might not be able to hang out as often now because she has a course that takes up all her weekends. That makes me quite sad as I often look forward to our monthly excursions together.

Kak Maya with her big round eyes...

You can say that Kak Maya is like the older sister I never had. It was fun hanging out with her and just be a bit crazy and impulsive. She is the only one who understands my craze for DBSK or any other artist for that matter. So it's easier to spazz and be a total fangirl when I'm with her.

I'm always thankful everytime she makes her way to KL. It kind of makes me feel guilty because I'm troubling her just so I could have some fun. But in the end, I hope her every trip was worthed.

Maya Unnie!! Saranghae!!!

Special gifs for Kak Maya...

NEW FRIENDS, OLD FRIENDS

If my best roommate in IIUM main campus was Qamah, then my other two best roommates was in IIUM Matriculation Center, WanJu and Farha. They were actually the first friends I made in my earlier days in IIUM. It's a shame that we rarely keep in contact now. I think the last time we hung out together was in 2006. Farha has since obtained a Masters while WanJu is now happily married. I'm happy for them and wish for the best and for them to be the best persons they can be.

Left:Farha, me and WanJu at the Engineering Appreciation Night Dinner

Right: WanJu and me at PizzaHutSection 14

Being at home for the first 17 years of my life, it was a HUUUGE thing for me to be away from my my family for a long period of time. I remember one time I was in Summer Camp for 10 days and I cried buckets of tears everyday!! So it was hard to adjust at the first few weeks when I was in Matrics (even though it was only in PJ). Plus, my parents weren't even there on my first day there because they were away. Thanks to them, I managed to get myself together, grit my teeth and stop my tears. They made me feel comfortable and with time, I opened up and shared many a problems with them. WanJu was a great source of comfort for me. From the beginning till the very end. Sadly, we had to separate because I had to go to main camp one semester earler than her. Farha is like the mother of our little group. She's very sensible and grounded. I can tell her everything, that's how much I trust her. And her opinions are very valuable for me. The three of us had drifted apart for a bit. Hmm... I miss them sometimes...

The three of us in our room(at my study table to be exact)

It was also at the Matriculation Centre that I found my footing for the main camp. It was a really good place for transition between the syllabus in secondary school to university. We had to practically master about four to five different subjects every semester and classes can start from 8 in the morning till late hours of night. Thank God I managed to pass through it, with plenty of help from my new friends, of course.

IIUM Matriculation was definitely where some (if not all) of my friendships in IIUM were forged. It was there that we first met each other and the relationship continued to be stronger when we were at the main campus. I've had some preconceived perceptions of some when I was in Matric only to be proved wrong when I got to know the person better in main camp. Which goes to show that the old saying "Never judge a book by its cover".

I've lost contact with most of them now, each of us busy with our own challenges in our new life. The only time we'll see each other is only when they are weddings, or reunions or open houses. Even then the encounter is quite brief and can sometime only be in passing. I hope they'll look back and remember how much fun we had together. Those memories will stay with me (and hopefully with them too) forever.

Let's share the fun!!

BYE ILLI!! SAYONARA!!

Illi is gone again.(T_T).

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I got off work at about 6.00 pm and headed straight to Ama's. We washed up and were out by 7.30 pm. First we went to TESCO to buy some cakes. Ama wanted to buy a cake for a colleague. We decided to buy Illi a slice of Choc Mud cake since she was craving for some the day she got here. We also bought a little present for her as a going away present. We stopped by Ama's again to drop off the cakes, had some McDonald (drive-thru, of course) and continued our way to KLIA.

So, we reached KLIA at about 9.45 pm and (surprise, surprise!!) Illi's at KFC with her family. But when we got there she was in the washroom so Ama and me decided to go to the musolla. When Ama was just finished, Illi popped in and the three of us had a hard time keeping ourselves quiet. It turned out Illi just had a mega eating session earlier that day, so she was less than excited when we gave her the cake ( I ended up finishing it..). Then Ama and me joined her family. We sat at a different table, though coz we were feeling slightly out of place (Aaah, the things we do for friendship)...

Finally it was time for her to board. We gave her some room to say goodbye to her family and by the time it was our turn, she had tears in her eyes. (T_T). She looks so alone when she was going down the escalator, and it seems like she was the only one boarding at the time. All of us just looked on as she disappears from sight then we slowly turned and headed home. All of us seem reluctant to let her go. But that's how life is. You can't expect everything to be at the same place doing the same thing everytime. Ama and me will most definitely miss her. Buhbye Illi!! Best of luck!! Love you lots babe!! Hope we'll meet again soon!!