Selamat Tahun Baru

I can't wait until 2009. Top my bad year.

And I can sincerely say that I am happy to see this year go.

Honestly, I know that many, many people can top my bad year of 2008. However, it just so happens to have been the worst year of my life so far and I want to feel sorry for myself for a few minutes...

Please?

But I've decided that those are better left as lessons learned in distant memories. Better to savor the highlights and look forward to a new year.

Bye-bye melancholy year!!!

I live a blessed life. For that knowledge, I thank you, Year 2008, and bid you a fond farewell! I’m not going to ruin my high spirit for 2009, Now, it’s that time again when I am supposed to get introspective and evaluate the past year and set goals and resolutions.

Sounds rather heavy, doesn’t it?

But I’m actually looking forward to this time of year as it’s a perfect time to reflect on all the lessons that I learned and the joy I had along the way. So while I’m reviewing and evaluating, I’m also celebrating all that is great in my life!

Wishing you all a wonderful New Year - filled with the promise of peace, prosperity, exciting jobs and adventures, laughter, LOVE (marriage?), and good health.

See ya in the new year!


Road tripping with the Mellowees... *yeay*

Packing Reflections

I hate packing. BUT I love traveling.

Yet it is something I have found myself doing a lot in my life. Especially lately. But its okay, each trip is a new shade to add to the tales of my life.

So to all my Mellowees girlfriends, thank you, thank you for the color of paint you add to my life, thank you for the understanding and acceptance of your open arms and minds. Thank you for being you, and please, Mes Amies, never change.

My love is always yours, and as I'm finding, love can bloom even in the heart of a storm. I'm a flower in bloom, unfurling my petals slowly and shyly. But even if one or two get torn away in the winds of adversity then the opening is still worth it.
Because I felt the sun of our friendship.


I’m always the heavy packer. Macam nak pindah je.. ha-ha

In The Mood Of : Commotion Out What’s Deep Inside through Music

It is the distance that makes life a little hard. But then again distance between two hearts is not an obstacle; I take it as a great reminder of just how strong true love can be. It is sometime, a beautiful pain.

yanna.mama



Yang Kutahu Cinta Itu Indah

[Nagita Slavina]
Tak pernah aku membayangkannya
Bila insan sedang patah hati
Kali ini ku rasakan sesungguhnya

[Afgan]
Siang hari ku bagaikan malam
Pelangi pun berwana kan gelap
Ini kah yang di namakan patah hati

[Duo]
Tak ingin ku jalani cInta yang begini
Yang kutahu cinta itu indah
Tak ingin ku rasakan jiwa yang tak tenang
Ku mau kau tetap disisiku

[Afgan]
Siang hariku bagaikan malam
Pelangi pun berwarnakan gelap
Ini kah yang dinamakan patah hati

[Duo]
Tak ingin ku jalani cInta yang begini
Yang kutahu cinta itu indah
Tak ingin ku rasakan jiwa yang tak tenang
Ku mau kau tetap disisiku

[Afgan]
dan tak ingin ku rasakan
jiwa yang tak tenang
ku mau kau tetap disisiku

[Nagita Slavina]
Siang hariku bagaikan malam

[Afgan]
Pelangi pun berwarnakan gelap


Smiling in the heartrending and throbbing passage.

Be Kind to the People You Meet in Your way Up....

because you may still meet them in your way down...

Salam Maal Hijrah to all Muslim friends!

To my non-Muslims friends who are reading this, Maal Hijrah is actually Muslim's New Year. It marks the first day of Muharram on every Muslim calendar year. It’s called Maal Hijrah meaning migration. As what I know, it is a remembrance of Nabi Muhammad S.A.W migrates from Makkah to Madinah on the year 622 A.D.

As for me, I take it as a change milestone from the bad to good and as a starting point to evaluate inner-self and our self achievement. Or as how we normally heeded to, it is when the new 'book' is opened, and the old one is being closed.

Oh well, it means a new beginning for me! YES. And i want to start it all FRESH.

• May this year brings us more Peace and increases our Iman and Taqwa.
• May things, (everything) get better this year.
• May Allah grant us a healthy life, prosperous and happy mind with full of Blessing in our life.
• May this coming year bring us something meaningful.

Insyallah.

We should always be thankful to Allah for His Kindness and Blessing upon our life.

2008 is leaving soon. *yeay* and I I'm totally looking forward for 2009!


"The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved".
"HAPPINESS KEEPS US SWEET, TRIALS KEEP US STRONG, SORROW KEEPS US HUMAN, FAILURE KEEPS US HUMBLE, SUCCESS KEEPS US GLOWING, BUT ONLY ALLAH KEEPS US GOING.."

Eight

Dear Dolly,

I can hardly believe eight years have gone by this quickly. I know it sounds cliche, but it’s true! And my life is nothing but a cliche, so it totally works. Anyways. Eight years. OMG!!! I’m starting to feel old now. And the clock is ticking. Which clock, you ask? Why, the SISTER CLOCK, that’s which one! :D

Love,
Ayong

Snapshot of Amanda Azman's birthday.

Date : 28th December 2008 (she turns 8th on 26th, so it's a belated birthday celebration)
Time : 2.30 pm
Venue : TTDI Jaya. (di rumah aja!)
Theme: Red & White (her very own request)

BIRTHDAY GIRL : Amanda Dolly, the precious, sweet young lady. She KNOWS how to get dirty, but I have never had to ask her twice to take a bath when needed. She loves her family and friends with all of her heart. She gives us honor through her dance, friendships and talents. She loves to sing, dance and move. I love her deep throated chuckle of a laugh. She is a great little sister and has always been. I am a better person for having her in my life. I love how God does that.

Happy Face and the birthday gifts.

The chef and the food! :D *seriously*


See the crowd?


Birthday girl and one big happy family.


Food bombing.


Totty O Totty..where is your red and white t-shirt?


Mambo Jumbo Limbo Rocking.


Sabrina, the catwalk princess. (Pretty aint her?)


Mamma Mia


Mista brother with his cute...sister. Eh! the cutey Kathy...

It was a tiring yet fun afternoon of love, laugh and excitement. I had a blast and i believe everybody does.

Selamat menyambut Awal Muharam Maal Hijrah 1430.

Sleepy Head

Shantok shantok...
Shantok nape tak shiwo?
Shiwo mu lan?
Lan tak tak wo...
Wo pun da syukkkk

ha-ha

in short, im sleepy la!
really? u guess...


twice?

Name

I received a letter last night from Bonus Link to return my card that I left in a Shell station (as stated in it) …almost 8 months ago! Ha-ha. I didn’t even noticed that it was left in the Shell station anyway as my Black Dagger drinks Petronas gas now (I’m now a full backer of Malaysia finished product, and anything made from Gombak... hehe)

I applied for the card way back in 2003 and what attracts me most when I looked at the card last night was the embossing name. Mademoiselle Yanna. My much loved moniker once upon a time ago. Well that captured my attention to realized that I have many names! So for that, I posted out this entry and it is all about my names or what people are addressing me with.

1. LA [Moi Full Name] - Given by my late Atok Ghani given the love that he had for the name Liyana and the meaning of it: KEHALUSAN DAN KELEMBUTAN. Haha. And for Azira, it actually came from my uncle, a combination of my parent’s name, ‘Azi’ (from my dad, Azmi) and ‘ra’ (from my mum, Shaharah)
2. Yanna - Seeing Liyana Azira is a bit too lengthy to be enunciate, that is what my parents decided to call me with.
3. Ayong - Being the eldest in the family, that is how my brothers and sisters address me. Ayong is actually a title given to the eldest daughter in a family for Northern people. (My mum is from Taiping)
4. Mama - It is the female version of Papa, as in paparazzi .fullstop.
5. Lulu - Gemini’s are well known for their split personality. We are the ‘twins’! So that is another revolution of me. Ha-ha.
6. Pink Dagger - My chatting name when NRIC was such a hit and to my surprised, i'm still being called by the name. (I was such a devoted aficionado of Point Blanc the Yellow dagger before! So to make it so ‘me’, I change it to Pink Dagger. It was once upon a time, about 10 years ago okay!)
7. Muffin - Kerana pipiku yang kembong! *ngeh*. The name that I will be hearing more often now? hee


Positive!

Free Massage Anyone?

I guess Cyberjaya Distributed Transportation Service should put an additional sign in all of their buses or maybe have a special dedicated sit for the BANANA.

And trust me, the sign should reads: Reserved for People who reclined Their Seatbacks the Entire 30 Minutes Bus Journey.

While we are trying to limit our reclining as we understand the discomfort of inflicting the poor people behind us there are selfish ‘inhabitants’. If everyone is leaning back together, in the manner of coordinated back swim routines, then it is fair and fine enough.

Unfortunately, it is not.

This morning I had a seatback diva in front of me. Practically, she was in my lap. Seriously. And the best part, pompously talking like “hey listen!-I have a boyfriend-and-we-are-going-out-for-a-nice-charismas-celebration-tonight!”

No, not at all that I felt invidious by the fact that she is meeting her Santa Clause tonight. Not that I care off anyway. But when it comes with continuous exasperating giggles and seat pumping sessions, it has pissing me off. I don’t need an ‘OSIM massager” to slim down my thigh at any point here. I tried hard to ignore it and in desperation, I took off my hand phone and turned the radio on.

Not long ago, I was ‘stimulated’ by another lap hit. This time, it is too much that I can take off.

“Excuse Me?” I nudged the chair not at all gently.

Ha-ha.

I felt so reprieved. And without even a word of apologetic from her, she tilt up the seat and the ride went by ‘peacefully”

THANK GOD.

And on my journey back to Shah Alam, the occupier of the next seat made his move upon the imaginary line of the seat and planted his elbow in my peninsula where it should be roamed free by only me. (Yes my joints are aching. But the elbow acupuncture wont hit the healing points okay!)
Pulak dah.

I surrender, Adoi. What a day!


HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY DOLLY!!!

Her Belly says: Acar Buah

One of the reasons why I'm so excited to attend my mum's best friend's son wedding tomorrow is because of the: Acar Buah

It is essentially a fruit chutney of preserved fruit slow cooked in spices to result in a sweetish, spicy mixture that’s really good, and it is even best when it is being cooked by:
yanna.lyana *heh*

Yes, I would say this is my ‘mega’ project as I’ve been asked to prepare the Acar Buah for 700 guess. Thanks to my late Opah. It is the most ‘valuable’ skills that I’ve learnt from her and to my surprised, none my aunties or cousins become heir to her undeniable lip smacking acar buah cooking skills.

And I believe none of you are made known off that I’ve sent my Acar Buah every Ramadhan (for consecutive 3 years now) as a consignment in a restaurant near to my house and a must thing in the hampers ordered from Ennesie Ideas (my mum’s design house) for all the corporate hampers. (Extra duit raya la!) But all of them were cooked in batches. For this so called ‘mega’ project of mine, for 700 pax, since it was quite a short notice, I’ve prepared it in 3 BIG batches!

Tiring. But as far as my depleted meter concerns, I never feel tired cooking. It is just my passion.

Just as some of you may know, Acar is commonly served as a condiment to be eaten with a main course such as Nasi Minyak and Beriyani. It’s called Acar Buah for a reason; imagine Dried Food dipped within massive curry taste gravy. It tastes Sweet, Sour and yet also Spicy. And the best part is, this type of Acar can be stored up to 3 months.

I still remember last month when i were asked to prepare the acar buah for 500 pax in Terengganu, it was supposed to be served to the guess as well on top of the acar rampai prepared by the caterer. But, since the ‘overwhelmed’ respond received to the acar, they decided to just keep it and distributed it among the family members as a ‘buah tangan’ from the wedding host. And none of them belief that it was actually being prepared by a 25 old me! (tak nak buat menantu ke? Ha-ha) And I received a request from a shop owner who attended the wedding for it to be sold at her shop! (To send it from Shah Alam to KT? I don’t think so, (for now la))

Hey! It’s not ‘masuk bakul angkat sendiri’ okay! Most of them complimented that they have never tasted such a nice acar like mine!

k.e.m.b.a.n.g

Tak kenal maka tak cinta right? Anyway, if you are interested, just simply request an order directly from me and rest assured, *chewah* satisfaction guaranteed. Ha-ha

Acar Buah

Love plumping the loved one(s) with my cooking. And it is with 99.9% successful rate!

Lucky Fashionistas

I have been invited by little.black.book as a “LUCKY fashionistas” for an exclusive Stila cosmetics workshop this morning at W3, Subang Parade. I just love makeup. That is indubitable. Though I’m not really the user of Stila makeup, but just grabbing the opportunity in view of the fact that, as per the email sent, “Door Gift and Refreshments provided”

haha

So this morning, I woke up early and drove myself to W3, seizing the chance to learn makeup tips and secrets from Stila's pro artist. It started at 10.30 but I reached there early just to grab the best sit for the workshop.

Well let’s talk about Stila makeup. To be frank, I really don’t know much about Stila as even until this is being posted, Benefit is still my preferred and favored makeup brand. (It is unassailable!)

Stila as how Benefit is for me is a modern and approachable makeup brand which celebrates our own unique beauty; to look and feel like the best version of us; and to have fun doing it. It creates a natural yet gorgeous and nice looking appearance which will definitely wonder others as we may look ‘colorless’ but yet glowing and radiantly presented.

For that two and a half hours workshop, we have been given the chance to make our self up with the help of the makeup artist in guiding and giving us tips and tricks on how to enhance our natural beauty and exploring Stila makeup products. And the best part, a step-by-step make up techniques on how to make ourselves ready with own make up at home in 20 minutes or so!

And I’m even luckier as I received a free complementary full makeover voucher worth of RM150 from Stila and RM10 little.black.book voucher as the door gifts. (Worth scarifying my weekend sleep for!)

I don’t know why, maybe I’m just used to Benefit makeup; the end effect of Stila makeup doesn’t impressed me enough though. But then, I really love their Lip Glaze. This lightly tinted lip gloss is the perfect compliment to any skin color. It glides on gently with the brush applicator making it super easy on the go. It is pretty long lasting as well. It may be a tad sticky and takes a bit in getting used to it (not the stuff you want to put on right before kissing. ha-ha) but for a clean finished look, this lip gloss is really nice and works awesomely. (FYI, this is the gloss J Lo twisted and wore in The Wedding Planner!)

By and large, I had so much fun and I really enjoyed the workshop. Thanks Stila and little.black.book for the goodies bag as well as the refreshment. (It’s a really nice fruits tarts, quiche, tuna sandwich and cookies from W3 cafe!)

Do loop me again little.black.book!

Stila

Tip and tricks by Stila makeup artist

My Apparatus

Fahmi from Pavilion counter, my makeup artist. Good Job!

The end product :D Yes, i did it myself. (But i think Benefit did the job better)

Every each of us is indeed beautiful in our very own way.

In The Mood Of: Blogging Again!

Yes, yes and yesssss friends… I’m doing just fine! :D

I’ve switch my hibernating mode OFF now, so I’m back blogging. Well I would not be calling it a real hibernating-hide away session as I have been hard-pressed and bunged, under duress for doing so. Or in short, my Mr. Lappie laptop rosakla! Ergh.

Another ‘best friend’ of mine was sent to the hospital.

Waiting for my Mr. Lappie and Ms. Lullaby out, is like waiting for a real friend out off the hospital. You are left with a big query mark and living in uncertainty on how serious they could be? Am I going to loose them forever? Is there a chance for them to survive? And the most crucial and has been haunting me deficiently for the past almost one month, (of course this is only for the two ok!) how much am I going to debit my account now?

So now they are back! Yes, they survived with just a minor operation and the debiting part does not affect my self decreed debt-management program. Ha-ha. Thank God.

And today, enthusiastically, Liyana Azira Mohammad Azmi will start blogging again.

More and more to come!

Rest assured.


i see lights at the end of the tunnel.