What is a Hari Malaysia?

To be honest, I have no idea what exactly Hari Malaysia is. We have our Merdeka Day ever since we got our independence 53 years ago. So what is a Malaysian Day? All I know is that 16th of September was the date Malaya changed its name to Malaysia and Sabah & Sarawak joined in..... If I'm not mistaken.....
HAHAHA.. I never really paid much attention in history classes back when I was in school. In Malaysian education, history was made boring. hahahahha...

Then I stumble upon this advertisement by DIGI. It's a really funny video/ad, everyone should watch this.
But being a Malaysian isn't just about eating sambal belacan and a funny video. It's about how different races liking the same thing, having the same thoughts/ideas or treasuring the same land we call home. And when we modify that one thing according to our preferences and traditions, it makes us unique. It makes us Malaysians. So,
Selamat Hari Merdeka to every Malaysian out there. Doesn't matter where you are, or whether you had become a citizen of another country, you're still a Malaysian deep inside. 

Syawal is here again

It's that time of the year again for us 'Muscovites'. Away from home and family, most of us feel a pang of sadness and wishing that we are at home in Malaysia with our loved ones. But just look at those smiling faces. We are glad to have each other on this joyous day of Eid Fitri. It makes Aidilfitri here in Moscow bearable.

Just a short update 

from a girl who's having Neurology and Topography anatomy cycle

bummer~

Eve Eid Fitri

Had takbeer tonight. It was very nice, followed with a little feast. Tomorrow's Eid Fitri. YEY!! Photography and eating sessions begins! 

First class

I started my class today with a neurology cycle. OH MY GOODNESS.. my temporary teacher was so scary! I wanted to hang myself due to fright, but she killed me before I could find any rope. HAHAHA..... but I did learn a whole lot of things today. Let's just say she's 'awesomely scary'

Then I had topography anatomy class. Had it with my previous semester's teacher, thank God. But I just arrived in Moscow yesterday, didn't prepare anything before class. So he was disappointed with everyone because we came to class unprepared... bummer

Uhh lots of things to prepare, assignments to do for next Wednesday class.... my brain is still a bit rusty from the long holiday.

*sigh*

Why Oh Why....

Despite my feeling of cheerlessness, I'm still forced to pack my luggage.

I'll be heading back to Moscow tomorrow night *sigh*

Midget poultry!!??

OK fine.... I'm sorry, I can't help but laugh at the size of these chickens. And I apologize for calling them poultry. hahahahaha...

These are called Ayam Serama and they are kept as pets.

At the height of 20cm, they look very vulnerable

These two couple is inseparable. Once I tried to catch one, the other will go :

"Bwaaaaaakkkkk!!!Bok bok bok begwaaaakkkkk!!!" nonstop

Weird looking pair hahaha...

OK that means I should leave, he's getting annoyed because I kept following them around the compound and took around 90 pictures. Hey I just wanted the best shot...

Bahulu time!!

My granny and Aunt Sue made kuih bahulu today and I went to help... errr sort of. hehehe... Tolong tengok and makan saje HAHAHA... They are actually baking this favorite kiuh raya early so I can bring back to Moscow. Will be leaving in 2 days time...which makes me sad every time I think about it. I'm SO NOT excited to go back to Moscow. I don't even feel like packing.

Oh well, let's just enjoy the bahulu in the making. Feast your eyes! OMG I'm so evil, I know ya all want some of these superduperdeliciousmalicious bahulu.

It's a crime to eat these kind of bahulu. My granny's bahulu recipe is extra sweet, extra fattening, but extra delicious.

Using the traditional way of making bahulu makes it more delicious in comparison to oven bake.

Yup. We used charcoal. It's a tedious job, but this traditional method makes this bahulu extraordinary.

Let's take a peek inside

All ready to be taken out from the.... err I don't know what that thing is called, but it's made from copper

Ohhhh yummy!!!!

A bite of warm bahulu made my day.

This traditional method of bahulu making will be coming to an end very soon. Younger generations, like me aren't willing to go through this tedious method. Most people now uses the oven instead. It is kinda sad to see how this tradition is fading through time.

5 minutes had pass and I'm still thinking of a title for this post. I wonder if I can leave it blank. Or shall I title it : Co Do sucks. HAHAHAHA....

OK I went to hang out with some friends in Midvalley. My goodness, today was a wrong day to go out. It took me more then 30minutes to find parking and I fought with some auntie for a parking space! And there were a sea of human in mid valley. I've never seen a shopping mall that packed.

Anyway, this post is actually about a Vietnamese restaurant in Mid Valley. We ate at Co Do restaurant. The price is fairly affordable. A set meal cost us RM22 each. But halfway through our food, we were all quiet until Nadiah broke the silent with a laugh.

Nadiah : hahahaha... kenape we all senyap je?

Me : I'm thinking of running down to the food court to buy some kuehtiaw goreng basah. And I'm also thinking about what I should buy to eat after this bland and DRY meal.

Nadiah : *LOL* I'm thinking of the same thing.

I had to force myself to finish my chargrilled chicken. I didn't really touch my rice. Nadiah didn't even finish anything. And Linda had to finish hers because she felt it's bad to throw food. Honestly, I think I can get better food at a much cheaper price in the food court.

Happy Merdeka!!!!

Happy 53rd Birthday!

i-City..... the city of lights? or weird looking trees?

Went to i-City in Shah Alam last Friday with my family. It was alright I guess. I mean the lights are pretty and colorful, but that was just it. I was expecting it to be like Tokyo. I saw my brother's Tokyo pictures, and the trees (real ones) decorated with lights were awesome. But in i-City, we were treated with weird looking plastic trees that emits light. The place was crowded with all walks of life though.

Weird looking cacti....

These rows of 'trees' are so bright, you can see it from the Federal Highway

Bokeh lights are a bit difficult coz I have to hold the camera REALLY still.

Orangie glowwwww....

Practicing on bokeh lights

See what I tell ya... I still can't get a pretty bokeh when it comes to lights... it's so difficult.. oh well, I need more practicing I guess. This is my first time trying anyway.

The moon, outshine by the bright errr.... tree

It's a dragonfly

It's a fly!

No! It's a dragon!

No!!! IT'S A DRAGONFLY!

While waiting for my cookies to bake today, I went out to my garden and I found a dragonfly resting on my mom's potted plant or what's left of it after being eaten by a caterpillar : here

After taking a few pictures, I lost my balance and fell on my butt and the little dragonfly flew away :(

Cookies! Raya is coming~~

My mom and I made cookies today. I almost felt like I'll be celebrating Aidilfitri here in Malaysia. Unfortunately I'm not because I'm forced to go back in 5 days... I feel like crying now. How I wish I could stay for another 2 weeks to celebrate Raya with my family....

I really miss preparing for Raya. I used to grumble every time Raya is approaching because I had to help with all the cleaning and cooking. We can't let the maid do everything can we?

And I'll always end up tired. But to be honest, I miss being dead tired on 'hari bantai' because it makes Aidilfitri a lot more meaningful than just a celebration.

FYI, 'hari bantai' is when everybody would be cooking and cleaning for Raya celebration on the next day. I don't know why it's called 'hari bantai' but that's what my family calls it.

Night-time photography with bro

Had fun playing with the camera with my bro yesterday night. We tried long exposure and light tracing. Of course my brother became the model who had to spin and move around. After more than an hour, my brother got tired and dizzy because I asked him to twirl so many times HAHAHAHA!!

Oh mi gosh!! That looks so ghostly..!

Moving the torch light at faster speed

On lower ISO

Long exposure of the full moon.

I tried using a much slower shutter speed, but the picture became so bright it doesn't even look like the moon.

This is my first time trying night photography. I'm going to i-City tonight to try more stuff.

Sophie Kinsella's Twenties Girl : Simply addictive

A splendid read.

Managed to finish this book within a few days. It was so addictive, I couldn't make myself put this book down. Even Korean dramas wasn't as interesting anymore haha...

My new pet Catey

My dad found a caterpillar after it has feasted on my mom's potted plant.

This was how my mom's plant looked like before being feasted on by the caterpillar. I'm glad that I took this picture earlier.

And this is how the plant looks now. My mom is gonna flip when she sees what happened to her flowers HAHA!!

My little Catey looking all plump-up after eating the whole plant. And yes, the brown thingy is his poop. HAHAHA.... It was funny the way he discharge waste, unfortunately I didn't get pictures of the process. It was so brief. haha..

So I kept the caterpillar overnight. Thought of taking pictures of him in broad daylight.

And today when I went to check on him, the leaves that I left for him was all crumpled up. I thought it had died. But then I realized he was hiding within the leaves. And his color had change.

Yup... he's actually getting ready to turn into a pupa. I'm keeping him until he turns into a beautiful butterfly. This way I can save him from being eaten by birds.

*But seriously, I don't know Catey's gender. Let's just pretend its a 'he' with a girly name.

Cheesy and Malay movies goes well together

Tonight, out of the blue, I spent 2 hours watching TV3's Cerekarama with my mom. I haven't seen a Malay movie is a very long time. And by the end of the movie, all the cheesiness was overwhelming. HAHAHA!

Buka puasa with besties

I went to Damansara a little early to avoid the 5pm jam. So me and Dila went for a 'stroll' in OU. Went to this store selling all kinds of weird stuff. Interesting but unnecessary stuff.

Buka Puasa @ Penang Village TTDI

Syarifah, Pian, Arif & Pdas came late, so we got tired of waiting and ate first. Well you can't blame us for not waiting, fasting laaaa..... hahaha...

Hmmm... let's see...

I can't seem to find any pictures of us eating. Too hungry to care about anything else. HAHA!!

When they came, the three of us are almost finish with ours. So while they ate, we had dessert

and took pictures.....

Me love them so much...

It was a great night. We talked non-stop, and of course took loads of pictures. I only wish Dila had a longer holiday... sob sob...