Challenge Accepted

A few weeks back, one of dear SRB's colleagues who's staying at the Shangri La Hotel invited a bunch of us for a dinner at the hotel's restaurant that was hosting a Malaysian Festival - Malaysian food, Malaysian traditional dances, basically that whole 'Malaysia Truly Asia' showcase lah. We're thrilled of course, dalam kepala dah terbayang sate, laksa, bubur kacang merah, etc but to be honest, the food turned out to be a bit of a disappointment even though they were prepared by Malaysian chefs flown from Shangri La Malaysia, but oh well, better than nothing kan.

One of SRB's American colleagues who used to work and live in Malaysia for quite some time back in the early 90's was also very happy and excited to be eating Malaysian food again that night - "Makan timeeee", he said. Rupanya his wife later told me that he's been a big fan of beef rendang ever since he first had it in Malaysia almost a decade ago and not only that, she also asked me to teach her how to cook rendang so she could sort of surprise her husband. Say whattt? Me teach you cook rendang, like, manually? Not from Brahims packet or something like that? Ngaaaaa...

I have never in my life masak rendang from scratch, it has always been one of those complicated dishes that I categorized as 'tau-makan-je', so really, wrong person to ask m'am! But I thought it was beyond sweet of her, an elderly American, to want to learn how to cook a dish from a totally different culture just to make her husband happy that I didn't have the heart to completely say no. So as Barney in HIMYM would say it - CHALLENGE ACCEPTED! Hehe.

Asked my mom for the recipe, decided to try and cook it myself first before ada hati nak ajar orang plak kan, and tadaaa...

First attempt berjaya yeehaaa! Tasted just like my mom's, if not better (ewahhh takkan nak lawan tokey plak kan hihi). Hopefully the next time around it will turn out as good, if not, aduiii malu lah daku sebagai tenaga pengajar hehe =p

The Lover's Dictionary

My favourite words:

only, adj.

That's the dilemma, isn't it? When you're single, there's the sadness and joy of only me. And when you're paired, there's the sadness and joy of only you.

ubiquitous, adj.

When it's going well, the fact of it is everywhere. It's there in the song that shuffles into your ears. It's there in the book you're reading. It's there on the shelves of the store as you reach for a towel and forget about the towel. It's there as you open the door. As you stare off on the subway, it's what you're looking at. You wear it on the inside of your hat. It lines your pockets. It's the temperature.

The hitch, of course, is that when it's going badly, it's in all the same places.

And saving the best for last...

woo, v.

I told you that it was ridiculous to pay thirty dollars for a dozen roses on Valentine's Day. I forbade you to do it.

So that day, when I went to pay for lunch, what did I find? In my wallet, thirty singles, each with roses printed on it. I imagined you feeding them through your color printer. Oh, the smile that must have played across your face. I had to ask the woman behind the counter to take a quick picture of my own smile, to send it right back to you.

Say it with me people, awwwwwwww... =p

Check This Out...

Saw this in the 'Outsourced' sitcom the other day and I sooo want it!!! It'll be cool and at the same time hilarious to drink out of this toilet bowl mug hahah! A bit disgusting maybe, especially if you're drinking brown-colored liquid, but definitely HILARIOUSSS!!!

And check out this Halloween costume worn by one of the characters in the series - can you guess it? A magnet and some chickens attached to it - chick magnet! LOL lawak gilerrrr!

Too bad NBC is cancelling the show after only one season, alaaa. I was really looking forward to see what other ridiculous novelty items they gonna come up with tapi now dah kena cancel plak cisss~

Berjaya!

Mee bandung Muar - BERJAYAAA yappediduuu~

Boooo!

BOOOOHOOOOO!!! The finale's gonna be a real snoozefest boooo!!!

Entering My Last Year of 20's

*** Warning: Corniness ahead ***

Last Sunday, 2 days before my birthday, while dear SRB was taking a shower after returning home from work, as usual, I set up the table for dinner and went to the kitchen to reheat the lauk-pauk. Then, as usual, I brought out the reheated lauk from the kitchen, saw that SRB's already seated, arranged the food on the table, pulled out my chair ready to sit down when ehhhh, apakah iniii??? A box and a card with my name on it on my seat??? I looked up and there he was, tersengih2 kambing, proud that he somehow still managed to surprise me. "Happy birthday in advance, dear!" he said, before urging me to quickly unwrap the gift.

And then the next day, swoooshhh he flew off to Iraq, leaving me all alone on this very day cissss! So yeah, that explained the in-advance gift.

But since today is not only the day I turn a year older, but also the day I start living the last year of my 20's, I'm gonna try to stop whining and be totally mature about having to spend this special day by myself and be 'zen' about this whole business of 'getting old' nyaaarrgghk! So today, I'm gonna shake off this feeling of doom & gloom and make myself feel better & hopefully healthier by sweating it out at the gym and maybe after that, treat myself to the delicious CPK's thin crust pizza (healthy laa sangat kan haha).

And oh, a very special shout out to dearest husband yang kini berada nun jauh di padang pasir - THANK YOU for the gift, dear (you know I love it), THANK YOU for the thoughtful sayings in the card and THANK YOU for everything else that you've given me, which sometimes, kinda makes me feel like every other day IS my birthday hehe.

Me love you long time, babe =)

The Ruins of Gerasa

Jerash (north of Amman) or known in Greco-Roman times as Gerasa was founded by the Greeks during the time of Alexander the Great. It was one of the ten Roman commercial cities that became collectively known as Decapolis.

The best part here for me was the Roman Army and Chariot Experience - kelakar tengok Pak2 Arab berlakon jadi askar Roman and gladiators ahah! But gotta applaud lah their efforts in re-creating the Roman scene coz with the soundtrack semua, it kinda DID make me feel macam dalam movie 'Gladiator' hehe.

Dear SRB said, since we already saw all these Roman stuff here in Jordan, then tak payah dahlah pegi Rome or anywhere in Italy coz they basically have the same things there. Alaaaaaaa..... (Bimbo much, Rina? =p)

I was thinking, kat Jordan re-create scenes from 'Gladiator', kat Italy kena re-create scenes from 'The Tourist' plak wakakaka! Berangan je lebih =p

The Dead Sea

Never thought that we'd ever get the chance to come here, but here we are - at the Dead Sea, the lowest elevation on Earth's surface on dry land. While driving down below the sea level tu, telinga ada rase tersumbat gaklaa, just like when riding up escalator in tall buildings.

There are public facilities; showers, changing rooms, swimming pool, etc, in a place called Amman Beach (but gotta pay an entrance fee lah) which makes it easier for people to have dip in the water without checking into the expensive resorts along the Dead Sea. It's best to have a shower right after bermandi-manda di Dead Sea coz once you got out you'd be coated with salt encrustation and it'd be uncomfortable if you don't immediately wash it off.

I didn't fully believe it at first, but yeap, apparently it's true. You CAN float in the Dead Sea, effortlessly. Once you're in the water, just lift your feet up and tadaa...the water will somehow automatically push your whole body up to float.

The salinity of Dead Sea water is 9 times that of the ocean, very lah the masin which prevents any kinds of life forms to flourish in it, hence the name lah kan. I did try tasting the water and urkksss...memang masin tahap naga beb!

Being in the Dead Sea made me miss the white sandy beaches in M'sian east coast even more. Mahu balik and pegi Pulau Perhentiannnn!

Ashabul Kahfi

"(Remember) when the young men fled for refuge (from their disbelieving folk) to the Cave, they said: 'Our Lord! Bestow on us mercy from Yourself, and facilitate for us our affair in the right way!' Therefore We covered up their (sense of) hearing (causing them to go into deep sleep) in the Cave for a number of years."

:Surah Al-Kahf, 10-11

Mentioned in Al-Quran in surah Al-Kahf (The Cave), this is believed to be the cave where a group of young, religious men who fled persecution took refuge in and were protected and put to sleep by Allah for 300 years (they thought they were asleep for a day or two). This is one of the several locations that claim to be that cave, the most famous one being Ephesus in Turkey.

Inside the cave are some tombs and remains of clay jars believed to be used by the People of the Cave (Ashabul Kahfi).

On one of the tombs, there's a hole covered by glass and if you press up your camera against the glass and take a picture using flash, you'd capture an image of the tomb's contents. I was hesitant at first (sebab takut to find out what's inside the tomb hehe), but the cavekeeper kept on insisting me to take a picture through the hole. Since I didn't want to offend him, amek gaklaa gambar. And the image I got - some brownish bones and skulls. Ngaaaa...iskk!

The Red Rose City of Petra

Are we there yet? ...NO.

*Walking with a spring in our steps, sambil bergelak ketawa penuh excited*

Are we there yet? ...NO.

*Less talking, walking at a slower pace, ketiak dah start berpeluh*

Are we there yet? ...NO.

*No talking at all, tercungap-cungap, adoiii mengah dah niii!*

Are we there yet? ...Still NO.
*Arrkkk...lutut dah nak tercabut, mata dah start berpinar-pinar*



Are we there yet? ...YESSS, FINALLY!!!
*Melonjak kegembiraan wooohooo*

This, my friends, is the spectacular Monastery - the most legendary monument of Petra (also known as the Red Rose City for the rose-colored mountain walls in which Petra is carved). It was originally built as a Nabataean tomb for their king and was later used as a church during Byzantine times and as the backdrop of a number of movies during recent times.

Looking at this majestic facade from the opposite cave-turned-drinks-stall, I was reminded again of that saying by Karl Pilkington in 'An Idiot Abroad'; "It's much better to look out of a hole at a palace, than live in a palace overlooking a hole." This time, yesss...literally true indeed!

It was a truly magnificent sight! I was spellbound, I could not take my eyes off it even for a second the whole time I was there. And then someone had to ruin the moment by saying how awesome it was to come to the place where Transformers pernah lawan2 and how this place was probably built by those highly-advanced robots as well. Urrksss dearrrr...please laaahhh! Bikin spoil laa orang tengah nak menghayati sejarah ni! =p

The Citadel

Citadel is a historical complex that sits on the highest hill in Amman, Jebel Al-Qala'a (just like Rome, Amman is built on seven major hills or 'jebels' in Arabic). This place is like a big, open-air museum that contains artifacts from the Bronze & Iron Age, and some outstanding ruins from the Roman, Byzantine and Umayyad periods.

From the Roman period - the remaining pillars of the Temple of Hercules. The temple was built during the reign of Marcus Aurelius - yup, the very same Roman Emperor whom Russell Crowe used to serve as General to in the 'Gladiator' movie hehe, as mentioned before.

From the Byzantine period - the remains of a Byzantine Church from 6th or 7th century AD. Most of the structure has been destroyed by an earthquake.

From the Umayyad period - the remains of the Umayyad Palace and mosque. Umayyad is the second of four major Arab caliphates established after the death of Prophet Muhammad S.A.W.

My favorite spot in this whole complex? This cute little bench, under this cute little tree. Hihi~

Somehow it reminds me of the tree in that Korean tear-jerker movie, My Sassy Girl, where they buried the time capsule tu - yup I know, memang takde kena mengena langsung dengan history di Citadel ini hehe.

Amman's Roman Theatre

The Roman Theatre is the most impressive remnants of Roman Philadelphia in the city of Amman. It was built on the northern side of a hill (to keep the sun off the spectators) with three tiers: the rulers, of course, sat closest to the action, the military had the middle section, and the general public sat perched, squinting, way up the top - kata Encik Lonely Planet.

I tried to video myself while climbing down the steep stairs from the highest section, ala2 James Franco in 127 Hours (barulaa adventure sikit beb hahaks!), but had to stop after only 4 steps coz 'Mr. Gayat' kat belakang dah bising2 suruh simpan camera sebab dia yang seriau hehe.

Cuti-cuti Middle East

In an effort to stalk Prince William and the gorgeous Kate Middleton, I have persuaded dear husband to take some time off work so we could fly over to one of the countries rumored to be the newlyweds honeymoon destination and try to track their every move there hehe.

So here we are, bebeh! Ahlan wasahlan! Welcome to the Kingdom of Jordan!

But Will & Kate then decided to totally ruin my plan of becoming among the first people to capture the Royal Honeymoon pictures and pegi postpone their honeymoon pulak, ciiiissss!

Anyway, since we're already here, might as well take the chance to, bak kata SRB, 'cuti-cuti Middle East' eheh!

P/S: Of course I was kidding about coming to Jordan to stalk the royal couple. Mu gilo ke? It's nothing but just a huge almost-coincidence =p.