BabB|e|iCiOUs

A message to myself..that's exactly what this is.. My own little niche in life..

Monday, October 27, 2003

Another Ramadan has began

Once again the long awaited Ramadan has finally arrived. Here's something sent to me from Malaysia, informational with an entertaining twist at the end..

Umar al-Khattab r. a berkata, terdapat 9 jenis anak syaitan:

1. Zalituun
Duduk di pasar/kedai supaya manusia hilang sifat jimat cermat. Menggoda supaya manusia berbelanja lebih dan membeli barang-barang yang tidak perlu.

2. Wathiin
Pergi kepada orang yang mendapat musibah supaya bersangka buruk terhadap Allah.

3. A'awan
Menghasut sultan/raja/pemerintah supaya tidak mendekati rakyat. Seronok dengan kedudukan/kekayaan
hingga terabai kebajikan rakyat dan tidak mahu mendengar nasihat para ulama.

4. Haffaf
Berkawan baik dengan kaki botol. Suka menghampiri orang yang berada di tempat-tempat maksiat (cth: disko,
kelab mlm & tempat yg ada minuman keras).

5. Murrah
Merosakkan dan melalaikan ahli dan orang yg sukakan muzik sehingga lupa kepada Allah. Mereka ini tenggelam
dalam keseronokan dan glamour etc.

6. Masuud
Duduk di bibir mulut manusia supaya melahirkan fitnah, gosip, umpatan dan apa sahaja penyakit yg mula dari
kata-kata mulut.

7. Daasim (BERILAH SALAM SEBELUM MASUK KE RUMAH...)
Duduk di pintu rumah kita. Jika tidak memberi salam ketika masuk ke rumah, Daasim akan bertindak agar berlaku
keruntuhan rumahtangga (suami isteri bercerai-berai, suami bertindak ganas, memukul isteri, isteri hilang
pertimbangan menuntut cerai, anak-anak didera dan pelbagai bentuk kemusnahan rumah tangga lagi).

8. Walahaan
Menimbulkan rasa was-was dalam diri manusia khususnya ketika berwuduk dan solat dan menjejaskan
ibadat-ibadat kita yg lain.

9. Lakhuus
Merupakan sahabat orang Majusi yang menyembah api/matahari.

10. Isetan. ( YANG PALING BAHAYA DAN DITAKUTI )
Sebuah pasaraya yg terkemuka di seluruh duniawi. terdapat di sekitar Lembah klang, singapore, Beijing &.....
Kebaikan: Memberi potongan harga pada Karnival jualan
Keburukan: Melalaikan manusia bershopping sehingga lupa waktu sembahyang dan lupe yg lakinya dah tunggu kat kereta.

Pesanan ;
shopping tu agak2 sikit, jangan sampai berlebih2an pulak. Membazir itulah sebenarnya amalan Syaitan.



Anyway Selamat berpuasa, semoga Ramadhan kali ini dipenuhi dengan mempertingkatkan amal ibadat. Semoga kita digolongkan dalam golongan muslimah dan muslimin yang mukmin, amin.

Thursday, October 23, 2003

A common problem with Muslims who are travelling or living in a foreign country is the ability of obtaining halal food. In general, I feel that it is safe to say that us students in Minnesota are fortunate enough to be able to go to Holyland or some other store to purchase halal meat. In addition, there has been an increase in meat-less products out there which uses soy bean and other beans to substitute meat. Recently, Cub Foods is stocking up on halal meat and meat-less products which they purchased from Holyland, so that if you are too lazy to go to Central Ave, you can do all your groceries in one place for a little extra pay. In short, there's really no problem in obtaining halal meat.

Now why am I talking about this now?
Well recently, I've been seeing quite a lot of Muslims both Malaysians and non-Malaysian Muslims who are being very lenient on their eating habits, some are making it seem as if they are proud that they are going against the words of God and making it known that they 'katok'.. Sure it's up to you what you eat cause at the end of the day you'll be in your own grave and whatever happens next will all be weight on you, sure you wanna try that new t-bone steak in the menu of your favourite restaurant.. but no matter what excuse you give you should also remember that life here in this world is just a temporary journey towards the eternal life there beyond. My parents reminded me once that I should make sure that I'd eat halal food cause later in the akhirat the meat that is formed from the haram meat that you eat will leave dark spots on your body for the rest of your life then. Of course there's a lot more religious reasons not to disobey Allah the All Mighty..

Menurut riwayat yang dikeluarkan oleh at-Thabarani daripada Ibnu al-'Abbas katanya : " Pernah aku membaca di hadapan Rasulullah sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam ayat ini iaitu ;

Tafsrirnya : " Hai sekalian manusia ! Makanlah barang yang halal yang baik dari apa yang ada di bumi ". Maka Sa'ad bin Waqqas pun berdiri seraya berkata : " Ya Rasulullah ! Aku bermohon kepada Allah supaya aku dijadikan sebagai orang yang diperkenankan doanya, Lalu Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam bersabda :

Maksudnya : " Hai Sa'ad ! Baguskanlah makanan engkau nescaya adalah (orang yang ) diperkenankan permintaan, dan demi ( Allah ) yang diri Muhammad ditanganNya, sesungguhnya seorang hamba yang memasukkan sesuap makanan haram keperutnya, tiada diterima Allah amal darinya empat puluh hari. Dan seseorang hamba yang tumbuh dagingnya dari yang haram, maka api neraka lebih layak dengannya".


What's in the past is in the past and you can stop and start afresh.. I'm not writing this cause I thought that I'm good and tries to change everyone else so that we're all like me.. but I'm writing this as a reminder to myself and to those who needs reminding. Yang Haram tu tetap haram, we have no right to oppose this law and 'mengharamkan yang halal or menghalalkan yang haram.' My intentions are pure, I hope this reminder would benefit you as much as possible. Even if my life ends today, in the context of afterlife 'tomorrow never dies'.

Monday, October 20, 2003

I actually thought that I wanted to make a new layout but then I realised what's due tomorrow..

Thursday, October 16, 2003

Me

So I've been absent (minded) lately. Yes?

I wish I could say that it's because I've been working my butt of on schoolwork, but that's not the case. I'm not falling behind, but I'm not exactly little-miss-two-weeks-ahead, either. One thing I really want to get rid though is this lingering guilt of not completing the IDL class yet... Must get that done!

Motivation, o motivation. Wherefore art thou, motivation?

Anyway, I think I need to get my hair trimmed again. It's strange cause I've just had my haircut about 2 months ago and I'm already seeing signs of spit-end formations.. heck why do I care, it's not like anyone can see it anyway..

This morning while skimming through my schedule I realized that my one and only brother's birthday is coming up this weekend.. I completely forgot, out of guilt I got Qiyam [who is one of Zaki's old friend who I've known since freshman but have never met in real life] in Malaysia to buy him a present.. I transfered some money to him through western union and discussed with him what we should get for my brother. He was really helpful giving me some ideas of what I should get but in the end I've decided to get him a men's fragrant gift set from Bodyshop.. He suggested that I should get Bodyshop's HAVOC cause it smells nice, unfortunately I already know that my brother has that already cause last time I went back home my dad was complaining of how Abang kept using Dad's and later he just stole the whole bottle from Abah.. hehhe.. later I think his gf bought him a bottle for their anniversary or something.. so I told Qiyam to get something else.. I gave him the address and directions to get to my place in Malaysia.. Thank you so much, I really appreciate it.. when we get back to Malaysia, I'm going to make it a point for me and Zack to go out with him.. kay Zack?

After class today, I went to Boynton to get that health insurance thing sorted out, I was told that I'd have to fill out a petition form or something but then the guy there just made a copy of my insurance card and told me that he's fill the form out for me tos ave time .. so I left him my Student ID number and he's gonna fill it out for me by getting all my personal information from the registra or something..

Anyway, to further emphasize on my boredom I shall fill out a little Q&A thing I found on a site somewhere.. so now you'll know more about me...

The singular most boring question: what is your name? Nor Isnaini
Are you happy with it? Yes, I love my name.. wouldn't change it for the world :)
Are you named after anyone? Nope, my parents didn't have a name for me when I was born so they named me after my birth order number.. in Arabic, which fits quite well cause it also sounds like teh day I was born in.. in Malay.
Your screen name: noeast
What does your best friend(s) call you? Noris
Any nick names? No'Is, Loony Chickenhiney
If you were born a member of the opposite sex, what would your name be? Iskandar probably.
If you could switch names with a friend, who would that be? Nastaim, regardless of what gender my first born child will be I'll name him/her Nastaim, I just like the sound of it.
Are there any mispronounciations/typos that people do with your name constantly? Yup
Would you drop your last name if you became famous? No, cause I love my dad just as much as I love myself [possibly more], and if I'm famous I want the world to know I'm his baby girl..

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
BASICS
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Your sex: female
Single? Not really
Want to be? Lots of fun and little responsibility sounds tempting but I like the security.
Who would you match up with? A few realistic possibilities and several unrealistic ones.
Your birthdate: January 28
Your sign: Aquarious
Age you act: 12 going on 45
Age you wish you were: Forever 21
Your height: 5’2”
The color of your eyes: Brown, naturally..
Happy with it? It works
The color of your hair: Dark brown/Black
Happy with it? Very
Left/right/ambidextrous? right
Your living arrangement? Rent
Your family: 1 mother, 1 father, 1 grandmother, 1 brother, and 3 sisters.
Have any pets? Yes, fishes.
What's your job: Just studying for now..
Piercings? Yes, since I was 4.. you've guessed it.. my ears..
Tattoos? Nope
Obsessions? Not at the moment.
Addictions? Starbuck's iced cafe mocha
Do you speak another language? Yes, fluent in Bahasa Melayu, English and a bit of L'francais und Deutsch.
Have a favourite quote? Nope

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
DEEP THOUGHTS about life and you in it
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Do you live in the moment? Momentarily
Do you consider yourself tolerant of others? Always.
Do you have any secrets? Don't you?
Do you hate yourself? Not at all.
Do you like your handwriting? Suffices to communicate decently.
Do you have any bad habits? Biting nails, lack of studying, and lack of awareness.
What is the compliment you get most from people? You are so smart!
What's your biggest fear? Blindness and other health inabilities.
Can you sing? Yes and I love doing it too, only when I feel like it..
Do you ever pretend to be someone else just to look cool? Sadly yes, thankfully that phase has passed.
Are you a loner? Not really, though I do enjoy some private moments by myself.
What are your no. 1 priorities in life? Finish what I have started, make friends.
If you were another person, would you be friends with you? Sure... I like me, infact I'll be bestfriends with this person.
Are you a daredevil? On rare occasions
Is there anything you fear or hate about yourself? Not at all.
Are you passive or aggressive? Aggressively passive.
Have you got a journal? Quite a few: locked diaries, and online ones.
What is your greatest strength and weakness? Str: Persistence at things that interest me. Weak: Easily distracted by other tasks.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? I'd get rid of my bunions.
How do you vent? Write it down, or just walk it off..
Do you think you are emotionally strong? Like a mountain, will not budge [though this does not work into effect during those once a month times..]
Is there anything you regret doing/not doing in life? Lots of things in the Coulda/Woulda/Shoulda list.
Do you think life has been good so far? Yes, I'm thankful for moment of it.
What is the most important lesson you've learned from life? There's not always a right answer to every question
What do you like the most about your body? My waist
And least? My feet
Do you think you are good looking? Eh...
Are you confident? "Be confident, and you're beautiful without a doubt"
What is the fictional character you're most like? Gimme more time to think about this one, kay?
Do people know how you feel? Not always, or maybe they pretend not to care.
Are you perceived wrongly? All the time...

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
DO YOU...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Smoke? Nope
Drugs? Nope
Read the newspaper? Sometimes.
pray? Yeah.
Go to church? Nope, but I do go to Mosques.. though not as often as I should unfortunately
Talk to strangers who IM you? Only if I'm in a good mood
Sleep with stuffed animals? Used to
Take walks in the rain? Only if I have to.
Talk to people even though you hate them? Yeah.
Drive? I can but I don't
Like to drive fast? Nope

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
WOULD OR HAVE YOU EVER...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Liked your voice? I realise I sound different when I try to listen to my own voice
Hurt yourself? Unintentionally
Been out of the country? Since I was 2
Eaten something that made other people sick? Well not physically sick.. once I cooked maggi with bits of KFC chicken strips in some leftover kuah Dhal from Amir Ali.
Had sex? Not yet.
Been unfaithful? Nope.
Been in love? Yes
Done drugs? Nope.
Gone skinny dipping? As a baby
Had a medical emergency? Yeah.
Had a surgery? Nope.
Ran away from home? Nope.
Played strip poker? Yes, but the most I took off was my earrings and shoes.
Gotten beaten up? Nope.
Beaten someone up? Nope.
Been picked on? Yep.
Been on stage? Yes.. for a lot of different reasons.
Slept outdoors? Yep.
Pulled an all-nighter? Too many times.
If yes, what is your record? I can't remember
Gone one day without food? Yep, no big deal.
Talked on the phone all night? Always during those teenage-hormone-filled-crazy days..
Slept together with the opposite sex without actually having sex first (moms and daddys don't count)? On a plane, yeah.. I don't think that counts though.. so no, not that I remember off
Slept all day? When I'm jetlagged
Killed someone? No.
Made out with a stranger? No.
Had sex with a stranger? No.
Thought you're going crazy? Once or twice.
Been betrayed? Yes.
Had a dream that came true? Yes, it's a miracle!
Have you ever killed an animal by accident? Nope.
On purpose? That frog in the biology class.
Told a secret you swore you wouldn't tell? Not often.
Stolen anything? MP3s counts? Seriously, some small things when younger.
Been on radio/tv? Yes a couple of times actually
Been in a mosh-pit? No.
Had a nervous breakdown? No.
Considered religious vocation? Sorta.
Been criticized about your sexual performance?Obviously Never
NoBungee jumped? No.
Had a dream that kept coming back? Yes

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
CLOTHES and other fashion stuff
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Cologne/perfume? Yes, a few
What are you normally wearing to school/work? Casual stuff
How about parties? Depends on the occasion
Wear hats? No.
Judge other people by their clothing? Not really.
Wear make-up? Yes

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
BELIEFS
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Believe in life on other planets? A possibility.
Miracles? Really strange stuff happens
Astrology? No, though it's an interesting idea.
Magic? Not really.
God? Of course, without a doubt.
Satan? One of God's creation
Santa? No.
Ghosts? Yeah.
Luck? Sometimes
Love at first sight? Yes.
Yin and Yang (that good can't exist without the bad)? Yes.
Witches? Which kind? Wicked Witch of the West style? No.
Easter bunny? No.
Believe it's possible to remain faithful forever? Yeah.
Believe there's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? No.
Do you wish on stars? Never.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
DEEP THEOLOGICAL QUESTIONS
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Do you believe in the traditional view of Heaven and Hell? Do elaborate, please.. I believe it's existence
Do you think God has a gender? No.
Do you think that science counteracts religion? Not at all.
Do you believe in organized religion? Yeah.
Where do you think we go when we die? Back to our creator


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
AMIGOS
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Do you have any gay/lesbian friends? One or 2. Not exactly any close friends, merely acquantences.
Who is your best friend? Vacant... want to interview?
Who's the one person that knows most about you? No one really
What's the best advice that anyone has ever given to you? “College is not about a piece of paper. It is proving that you can enter a bureaucracy and stick through all the B.S. to get that piece of paper.”
Thing you're picked on most about? My hair.
Who's your longest known friend? Ezwan, since kindergarten.
Newest? I didn't meet anyone new today..


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
LOVE, and all that
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Did you get frightened or uncomfortable seeing that as a section title? Not at all.
Do you consider love a mistake? With a certain so and so guy, 'he who shall not be named.'
Turn-on? Smiles, Intelligence, Attitute, Kindness and Compatability.
Turn-off? Smoking, Mind games, Digging, Possessiveness.
If someone you had no interest in dating expressed interest in dating you, how would you feel? Weird.
Do you prefer knowing someone before dating them or going "blind"? know someone.
Have you ever wished it was more "socially acceptable" for a girl to ask a guy out? Sure.
Have you ever been romantically attracted to someone physically unattractive? No, don’t think I have.
Do you think the opposite sex finds you good looking? Sorta. They say they do.
What is best about the opposite sex? Sense of Responsibility
What is the worst thing about the opposite sex? Never sure where they stand.
Do you read porn? No
Read the articles? Articles?
Just the pics? I'm actually disgusted of them
What's the last present someone gave you? A beautiful plum colored baju kebaya from my brother for my graduation.
What would you do if you were walking down the street and saw some hot guy/girl standing on the sidewalk?In reality, I would try not to stare and keep going.. but in some fantasy-make-believe world I would cast a charm spell on him and make him fall completely in love with me, then add some more of the Mr. Right qualities into him and live happily ever after.. together, of course

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
THE BATTLE OF THE SEXES
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Have you ever wished you could experience being the other gender? Not really.
If you did experience that for one day, what would you do? Be so confused

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

That haunted you? This weird ghost in MARA DC hostel
You wanted to kill? Never wanted to kill anyone.
That you laughed at? Sarah's husband, Shaun
That laughed at you? Sarah
That turned you on? Let me keep that to myself.
You went shopping with? Nad, Dya, Weilin and Zam
That broke your heart? Hezir, damn you Mr. Heartbreaker!
To disappoint you? Hmmm...
To ask you out? Some guy at the bus stop from Quiznos, last Friday.
To make you cry? Cry?
To brighten up your day? Norman
That you thought about? My brother
You saw a movie with? Nad, Dya, Weilin
You talked to on the phone? Dya
You talked to through IM/ICQ? Norman
You saw? Katie
You wanted to be? Whoever got the top score in the last Inorganic midterm.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A LAST TIME for everything...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Last book you read: The Nanny Diaries
Last movie you saw: Shaolin Soccer
Last thing you had to drink: Pepsi
Last time you showered: This morning
Last thing you ate: Bagel

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
NUMBERS
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Do you laugh when you hear the number 69? No
Were you lying about your answer to the previous question? Nope.
Do you actually know your social security number? Of course.
Do you actually know your IP address? Nope
Do you know what an IP address is? Yes
Do you know the four-character extension on your zip-code? Nope
Have you ever thought there were too many numbers floating around in our lives? Once or twice
Does your head hurt when you think of infinity, imaginary numbers, irrational numbers, etc? Not really.
What do you think of pi? Wish they would get to the end of it to prove that it does have an end or eventually repeats.
Have you got a fave number? Yes
How many rings before you take the phone? 2 or 3.
Do you type with your fingers on the right keys? I know I don't use my toe.
How many CD's do you have? Not much



Tuesday, October 14, 2003

Pabila ku dengar suaramu nun dikalbu
Inginku menanti senyuman manismu
Ku pasti dirimu terkenangkan suaraku
Usahlah kau menafikan cinta yang terpendam sesama kita

Ku mendoakan demi keikhlasanmu
Bersyukur pada yang Maha Esa
Hilanglah kesepian kita

~Selamanya by Innuendo

EVERYDAY CAN'T BE SUNDAY!
Years ago I remembered doing a survey and one of the questions was about how you'd classify your studying efforts on the weekend.. one of the choices was to say that the weekend is the time that you'd use to catch up on your studies [ie., reading assignments and what not] however, I remembered answering that survey question by saying that the weekend is the time that I'd use to take a break from the books and indulge myself in other social activities.. Come to think of it, the only time that I was ever able to spend the weekend away from the pressures of assignments and studies was back then when I'm living with my parents.. back then the weekend would be filled with family bonding activities such as visiting my cousins or hanging out at home helping out my dad on one of his D.I.Y (Do It Yourself) projects, gardening, staying in or just hanging out with my pals.. Mama would be refrained from cooking on Sundays, Abah had declared Sunday her day off and he'd always treat her [and us kids] to eat out either at one of his local favourite restaurants or at some relatives' house. Suddenly I feel so homesick, I miss those good times..

Nowadays, the weekend are used to catch up on academic deadlines.. well, I should say 'try to..' That didn't really happen all that well this past weekend.. Saturday, we had the Salam Aidilfitri Photo session.. along with some meetings with Kak Rus [MARA officer].. we had a one on one talk about our grades and future plans.. then, I had my Joget dance practice which ate up most of the night.. Then on Sunday, I woke up and helped the girls cook nasi lemak all morning.. just after lunchtime, I went back to my room read Gilgamesh [the play] for my mythology class and then went back out to En. Mokhtar's farewell party thing.. later, we went to the gym to drop off some lunch for Dya, who is now working in my office.. and ran all the way to Dinkytown to catch the next bus to get to St. Paul to see the boy's intramural soccer match [which we won victoriously 7-0, congratulations boys!!].. later that night, I had dinner with the other 67 MARA students [and a few not-so-MARA-students] in KakRus' farewell dinner. She made a couple of announcements and we had a little Q&A session with her.. felt completely knackered after all that, so I returned home, did my laundry and collapsed on my bed..

Treston is back in the house :( I'm starting to get annoyed at the fact that Kristine is disguistingly irresponsible.. I don't think I can live with messy people! It's not like I'd walk around with white gloves to inspect every desktop or anything but I expect you to atleast clean up after yourself, and put away your dirty dishes in the dishwasher if you're too lazy to wash it manually..

Today, I was really mad, cause I came home and Treston was watching football in our living room while Kristine is gone to her daily class [isn't it enough that he's here when his gf is around at night but now he's here when she's not], he was eating something and he just left it in the kitchen desktop.. I prayed in my room and later I went to cook some lunch in our kitchen, and it was a complete mess.. by this time Treston was already in Kristine's room, I was really annoyed at this point cause I had to clean up in order to use the kitchen.. so I cleaned up with as little effort as possible of letting Treston know that I am so furious at him.. I have decided to have the whole house to myself and completely ignore the fact that he's here in the house.. as I ate I turned the air conditioner off and set the temperature as warm as I like it, knowing very well that Kristin's room is warmer than any other room in the apartment. I sat in the living room watching tv and waited for Kristin to come back.. When Kristin came back home, I told her to clean up after herself and her not-so-welcomed guest.. This is not the first time that I have had to clean up after her, even our shared restroom has Treston's shaved hairs in the sink.. she apologized repeatedly and thanked me for cleaning.. I'm so glad I don't have to share a room with her.. [don't get me started on her so-called room/dumpsite]

Wednesday, October 08, 2003

I woke up this morning to the most sweetest message on my phone. You see I'd usually set my alarm on my cell phone pass experience have shown that I'd usually wake up if I hear my phone ring. So I set it at 5 this morning, and when it woke me up I noticed that I have one message waiting for meand it read:

Your tag says: Made in Heaven - cause you're an angel.
Only handwash - cause you're fragile.
Cold Iron - we don't wanna burn your wings.
& Handle with Care - cause you're a LIMITED EDITION.


That is sure to make any girl melt, talk about sugar-coated sweetness.

Anyway, here I am at work as usual. Yesterday I spent over 4 hours in my research lab, Phil had a new graduate doing some experiments with him. This guy is from Japan and though I knew that Phil could speak Japanese (his wife is Japanese), it just felt weird to see this Dutch guy converse with this guy in Japanese so fluently. I'm impressed. Once in a while I could hear them say some standard IUPAC chemical name, which in a way sums up all that I could understand from their discussion. But of course they weren't talking to me, so inevitably I'm not suppose to understand. Wouldn't it be cool if he could also speak Malay and I'd be talking to him in my mother tongue. He once told me that he has gone to Malaysia about 20 years ago, on one of his pre-marrital escapades with his wife. Anyway, I still need to move in to the next step in my synthesis of this tetra(fluoro-alkyl) molecule. I was doing some extraction yesterday and after about an hour I only realised that the product is in the aqueous phase not the organic phase. Stupid me, should have realised that dimethylchloride's density is less than water's, duhh! Well, atleast I figured it out finally.. this is what experiments are all about right?

My housemates and I did pilates last night, I liked the mermaid position the best.. Katie says that we should do it every day so that we look like one of the girls in the video but I'm sure that's not going to happen.. everybody's turning into health freaks, they said that they haven't had exercise all through last year. They used to be dancers when they were little so it's not surprising that they felt a little conscious now and again. Kristin actually hired some personal trainers to help her get back into shape earlier this sem. Since last week Molly has started to jog and going to the gym. I'm just too lazy for all that, so I join them with the tri-weekly aerobic sessions at home. Katie's like me... Out of these lot, I'm closest to Molly and Katie, Kristin is always with her bf, Treston. Apparently I'm not the only person who's starting to feel annoyed at the fact that Treston is practically living with us, last week he's here almost every night. So yesterday, Katie said [rather sarcastically] to Treston that he should just move in and pay part of the rent to each one of us.. so now he's not around as much.. I'm happy again :)

Tuesday, October 07, 2003

My every thought is of us being true
It's getting harder not to think of you
Girl I'm exactly where I want to be
The only thing's I need you hear with me..oh

If it's true don't leave me all alone out here
wondering if you're ever gonna take me there
Tell me what you're feeling 'cuz I need to know
Girl you gotta let me know which way to go

~'I Need to Know' by Marc Anthony

It's so beautiful outside, colorful leaves and sunny weather.. it can't get any better. But I'm sure this is the 'calm before the storm'.. so I bought some new leather mittens today, just to satisfy my shoppaholic cravings. But that's not all.. I finally bought an iPod!!! Hooray... Can't wait til it arrives at home..

Anyway, Aisyah is starting her PMR exam today. Good luck baby girl, I pray for your success.