I think I am actually exhausted from the heat and the mental activities more than the physical activities. I didn’t participate in the major physical activity as it would be ‘inconvenient’ for me as my faciltator had said. Haha.

I left the house about 715am and came back at 7ishpm as well. I wish I could write about the activities but they swore us to secrecy. In 2 weeks, when everyone has had their turn, I can share with everyone. It would actually be good if you’re looking for team games with messages

Oh, Ellez, one of the games did involve us being blindfolded. Hehe.

I forgot to mention that yesterday I had a breakthrough. I shared something with a friend of what I did few years ago, which I have never shared with a single soul. She did call me stupid after that but at the end, ‘what didn’t kill us, would only make us stronger’- literally.

I’m a bag blogger this week, am i not? Not so much lack of inspiration, more of being tired and sick.

Yes, are we having our usual Saturday Lunch?

I think I have written few posts and then deleted them.

I wrote about why I’ve been sick and deleted them because I thought it was too personal. I then wrote about my trip to the local supermarket, which I also deleted. No, not because it was too personal silly (how personal can grocery shopping- even the Indian cashier at my local store knows when my period is. heh) but because half way through, I couldn’t think of the right words to use nor could I think of what else to write.

Somewhere in between, I thought that maybe I’d write about the affair (when does an event become an affair?) I’m going tomorrow but then I thought, I can’t possible write a whole post about it, especially since I have no idea what to expect. Apparently, its tiring, hot, a little bit extreme and a lot of fun. Oh, the co-ordinator also said and i quote, ’bring extra clothes- inside and outside’.

We have to be at the meeting point by 7.30am. I wanted to walk there since its just across the road but my colleague said she’ll pick me up. Heh. We will then be blindfolded and tied up for about an hour. Okay, I exaggerated there for a bit. We will actually go on the bus together to a place in Seria, apparently. My colleagues have been sworn to secrecy and have refused to say a single word. I did, however, saw one of them saying things like ‘tehabab’ and ’tergugur’.

I’m on a certain tv series marathon. Its probably too embarassing to write which tv series but I’m enjoying it better than The Simpsons marathon. One can only stand Homer’s butt-crack for so long.

And oh, I just asked my husband if I could jama’ my prayers tomorrow since we’re going to Seria and he said no, because its inda cukup. Hehe. Inda mau rugi bah.

Will write a proper post when I’m much better.

Spent the whole of yesterday in bed, literally, and only got out of bed at 7ish in the evening.

Am still feeling a bit drowsy today, leftover from yesterday’s headache plus trying not to throw up doesn’t help as well.

Soon. Soon.

…and I came home with a splitting headache. A quick nap turned into an hour long sleep. Argh.

There’s no way I can take the tomorrow off as we’re short of staff and officers. Friday I have to work in Belait, and again on 11th. Psft.

I had a good time clearing my email this morning although most was deleted even without reading. Sibukku. I dont think I need to know the exchange rates the past 3 weeks or how the market was. I did, however, saved the what would happen to India after the Mumbai Blast. Apparently, there shouldn’t be much fall as Indian Market has survived quite a few bombings and India’s Finance Minister mentioned in his speech that the economy will not be affected. I was mostly interested because I lost over $200 in the Indian Market over the past 2 months and am kicking myself for not diversifying. I should invest in the China Market soon. The Indian Market has recovered though but analysts don’t expect it to fully recover until early next year. Sigh.

See what work has done to me.

And oh, I was surprised with a new staff this morning. A new male staff. No offence but I don’t really have good histroy with male staff. No, not that kind silly. They always end up not liking me after awhile. They didn’t tell me that I was getting one and neither myself nor my boss was invited for the interview. Maybe they are really serious about transferring me to the other department. Only if its a promotion but I bet it will only be a lateral movement.

I’m going to go brush my teeth and sleep now.

And oh, Congratulations to my brother for getting his first Hole-in-One at the Empire Golf Course today. May there be many more to come! Oh, sorry kaka said, ‘Apaeh?’ when you first told me earlier. Hehehe. Next time you get a Hole-in-One, make sure its during a tournament, so then you can give the car to kaka. Maybe during the Asian Tour, if you make the cut. Kereta kah hadiahnya?

Well, before we went to bed last night, the husband said, ‘me set alarm 7.30 tu. jangantah bangun akhir eh. rugi, hilang setangah hari.’

We woke up at 10 this morning and this was how our conversation went

Him: You dangar kah my alarm bunyi tadi pagi?

Me: Awu

Him: Kenapa you inda bangun and mandi?

Me: Bukan my alarm. You punya. You pun inda bangun.

Him: *grunts*

Hehe. Banar jua tu kan? I was just enjoying my sleep-in before I go back to the real world tomorrow.

Later in the afternoon, we decided to go out to Bandar to just ‘take a look around’ and maybe have coffee. We only left Bandar at 10ish after watching the BIT Parade. It was seriously a long night! We met David of davidcheok.com and Jason of digitalworld.com.bn. Oh, we also met 2 photographers from Brunei Times and they had this huge @$$ lens with them. It was seriously huge- they had to use a monopod (which was as tall as the photographer. the lens was as big as the photographer, I kid you not.). Whilst they went around taking photos during the parade, my sister-in-law and I sat in the middle of the bandar road (by the island, of course!) looking after BT’s lens, which apparently cost $12k – $13k. We had to put a plastic chair over it, to avoid it being kicked at. Inda cali mun tertandang, diurang mengganti. Haha.

I told my husband that when we go to Bandar for the Tanglong in 2 weeks time, I’m leaving my car at my usual parking space for work and we’ll get someone to drop us. I also told him that I would bring a book to read while he goes around taking more photos. David did suggest that I should start taking up photography too. Aaaah. I would rather spend the $2k for the camera on an Chanel Bag and the other $5k-$10k for lens, flash, tripod, monopod, memory cards, external hard disks, etc. on more bags.

But saying that, I might end up doing photography and everyone would laugh at me as I would be carrying camera bags instead of handbags *knocks on wood*. Haha.

I’m off to bed now. I am going back to the real world tomorrow and I have been trying to remember my passwords to my computer, my work email and the system in the past hour but unsuccessful. I know who I will be looking for, first thing tomorrow morning- the IT Department!

The flu that I had before, I don’t really think its a flu. Its either an allergic reaction or my husband & I kept on passing it back & forth each other.

Last night, he complained that he was sneezing at home because of the ‘bawang bergoreng/ bertumis’ scent. Then, when we went to my grandparents in Bunut, they have just started cooking and apparently he was sneezing too. I don’t remember if he went to bed last night with the sniffles but this morning, I’ve been sneezing and now have the sniffles. Kenapa ia kami cmani ani.

Anyways, my hits yesterday went unusually up! Waseh. Was it my previous post? Was it controversial? I also noticed that many of you actually went on to read the comments. So I’m thinking, were you there trying to comment but decided not to (macam my kawan seorang atu, you know who you are dude. hehehe.) or were you just being keypoh, wanting to read what others have commented. As Ellez have suggested an alternative working hour, what do you suggest? I’m sure many of you have a strong opinion about the working hours.

I am happy with my current working hours though. Speaking of working, my leave is almost over. I can already imagine my inbox will be flooded with emails and it might just take the whole day to clear it. Argh. Then few more days to get back in the groove.

Okay, this is a crappy and random post. I actually wrote something last night but decided to delete it after having it online for a couple of minutes. I saw a movement in my counter, so I’m assuming some might have read it and today, hilang tia. Heh.

Anyways, before I continue to ramble on, I’m just going to go and memburuk some more. Afterall, not long before I go back to the real world.

No more flu. Hehe. I think its because I had the company of my girls for lunch and then Yaneh for the rest of the afternoon. The other girls had to be sent back to their offices. Hehe.

Its been awhile since all of us met up- tadi pun 4 of us saja as the rest of the girls had other commitments.

Later in the afternoon, after sending the girls back to their office, we did a mandatory pit stop- at a shoe shop. This time its Vincci as I had to run some errands around Kiulap. On the way back from the bank, we stopped at Mothercare and ooh-ahh-ed the little clothes and shoes they have there. I think if I have a baby girl- I’ll dress her up like a doll. Hehe. When I was in Singapore, I couldn’t stop buying cute little dresses for my niece. We tried to do the same at Bebeland, I think its called but the shop was too crowded, macam YMRM or Soon Lee rasanya- diurang asak bah semua barang atu.

We then decided to do what many other Bruneians are doing today- visit the new Hua Ho at Tanjung Bunut. INDA KAMU KRAJAAAAAA KAH? Siriusly, there were many ladies (more than men, I can assure you!) in baju kurung and tudung, who looked like they went out to have coffee around 3ish and decided to do it at the new Hua Ho since it was about 3.30 i think. To all bosses- there were no coffee shop there, only DQ but then again, they might have bought the Iced Coffee, or coffee ice cream of some sort and hence, they’re not really lying. But siriusly, gaji kana naikkan sudah, so please lah, do some work. I’m not saying that all Government workers are slacks.

You know what I think- I propose that working hours for government offices should be as below (justified, of course)

8.00am – 12.15pm     Morning Working Hours

some schools start at 7.45am so it gives parents plenty of time to get to work. hey, most schools start at 7.15am, so they should be at school by 7.10am, which gives parents PLENTY of time to ‘minum’ di CAM or Awg Metali or Muthi’ah or Aneka Rasa and be at work by 8am. PLUS most of these places ada buffet, so it shouldn’t take long for your makanan to arrive.

yang alum ada anak- bangun at 7am, leave the house by 7.30am, you should be arriving at the office by 8am.

anyway, when I leave for work at 7.45am, there is still traffic. so might as well start at 8 kan?

12.15pm – 2.15pm     Lunch Break

easy peasy. Anak keluar 12.30pm. By the time sampai ke sekolah diurang, its 12.30pm sudahkan? So ngam-ngam lah. Then you don’t have to double park by the road and cause MASSIVE traffic jams. Bahapa tah diurang awal keluar office and menalur tunggu dalam kereta lama2 atukan? Main Sudoku? Or did they bring work to do in the car?  Are they worried if they’re a minute late., their kids might run off with someone else or nauzubillah- kena kidnap? Actually, most kids tend to enjoy balik akhir sikit so they can play with their friends.

They can then balik rumah, makan, and some kids have to ugama school, which starts at 1.30pm. So when they have sent their kids to ugama, they have plenty of time to get to their office kan? And again, at 2pm, the road to airport lama pun masih traffic.

For those yang start or balik at 3.30pm, just send them to ugama school awal or pick them when you get back from work. If you have someone to pick them up, then you’re lucky or maybe do a quick trip then balik ke office as soon as you can (I’m saying this because the other day I was at Hua Ho Manggis at 4pm-there were many parents with their kids in ugama school attire, which made me to believe that they picked up their kids at 3.30pm and thought ‘eh, kul 4 jua sudah, malas ku balik ke opis eh’.

2.15pm – 5.30pm       Afternoon Working Hours

First, the extra hour to make up for the extra 15 minutes you have in the morning and extra 45 mins you have for lunch. And, most schools finish at 5.30pm anyways. Okay fine, by the time you reach their schools, it would be 5.45pm- its the end of the day, your kids will thank you for giving them the extra 15 mins to play with their friends. All work and no play makes Ali a dull boy. Huhuhuhu. Malam lagi kana hantar tuition!

Anyways, kraja habis pukul 4.30pm, even if you leave on time, you still have to wait in your car whilst waiting for your kids to get out at 5.30pm. Seriously, you guys enjoy it kah? Main Sudoku kali niiii. Okay, maybe its catch-up time with your anak punya parents who always parked next to you.

With NO OUT OF OFFICE (including KANTIN DI BAWAH OPIS) TEA BREAKS. Have your coffee or tea tarik at your desk. Plus when you have meetings, there’s usually a spread of food, which might include, nasi lemak, mee goreng, pulut panggang, kelupis, kari ayam or daging… the works. I know this because 1) I’ve had meetings with few government departments and 2) the husband sometimes take me out for lunch, where he would just drink as he had ‘nasi lemak lapas meeting tadi’.

Anyways, ini adalah my opinion semata-mata. Please do not take any offence, terasa or tersindir if you’re a government worker but me, you and everyone knows that this is a common practice. You might not be one of them but hey, Seekor kerbau membawa lumpur (i feel something is missing here. haha.), semuanya terpalit (or something like that, my malay peribahasa is a bit rusty. huhu.).

Macam where I work, I always get, ‘kamuuuu orang bankkk semua samaa… kan menipu kami saja.. kan ngambil duit kami saja…’.

Anyways, now that most of you will be getting a raise, it would be nice if you appreciate HM’s government gift to you, even many of you think its long overdue, by working harder. Perhaps start by adhering to the working hours for a start?

Jangan marah

I’m still sick and somehow today my flu is not getting any better. To make matter worse, I left my meds and supplements at my in-laws so I haven’t taken any of them today. Argh.

Woke up at 8.30am, showered and breakfast but found myself going back to sleep at 10.30am. This is not good. The husband is also sick but he said he’s not really sick, he just doesn’t have enough sleep, which is why he’s been sneezing all morning.

I’ve been on widgets downloading frenzy. Yes, I only found out about it last night and this is what my husband said to me, ‘ada jua me bagitau you hari atu’- just shows that I don’t listen much. Heh. Also, thanks to Jats, my husband now knows my trick when I pretend to understand things. Haha. Jats knows then when she tells me something and I go, ‘aah’ and nothing else, it means I don’t understand at all. Haha. Thanks Jats :p

I’m going to go and get some more rest. My brother has lent us Annapolis or something. Apparently its good. I say, 15 minutes into the movie before I fall asleep. Hahaha.

Am not feeling so well. Will write when I feel much better.

Oh, I password protected my ranting post. Its a bit too late but yeah. I will write why I was pissed soon. Heh.

See you soon.

As every 15th July, there are fireworks and gerais in Bandar. My husband would not want to miss the fireworks, particularly with the new accessories he bought when we were in Singapore. So he set a date with his buddy and I asked to be dropped off at Excapade to meet up with a couple of friends.

My friends & I then braved through the traffic to go to Bandar. Yes, it was bad but not as bad as we thought it would be. Parking was easy, well that was because we had a seasonal pass to PGGMB. If you’re thinking of going to Bandar, I would suggest that you take a 4WD or something so you can do what most people did and go up the sidewalk.

I’m bad with the name of the streets but if you’re looking for free parking and want to join the crowd by parking by the side of the roads, you could try the street past Chunghwa and along the street opposite Jubilee Hotel. You could also try to park along the street in front of the SOAS mosque and Yayasan. I didn’t see the other streets with parking, so that’s all I can suggest.

Also, wear something comfortable. I saw girls in fishnets and heavy makeup. Its hot, its humid and it might rain. Make sure at least your mascara is waterproof. Sweaters will make you uncomfortable too and ski hats. Singlets should be alright if you don’t mind being ‘psst psst-ed’ at. Plus they might confuse you with the drags in skimpy clothes we saw tonight. Couple of us were using flip flops but my friend was complaining that her footwear was uncomfortable, which was replied with ‘but you’re wearing flatssssss’. She was wearing flats from Charles & Keith but it had hard soles. So those havaianas, ipanemas or the $2 selipar jepun might actually come in handy. And ooh, you will also be stepping on a lot of unidentified items and a LOT of kulit longan and langsat.

I bet most of you have a system on how to do the gerais- row by row. What I don’t understand (and maybe someone can enlighten me on it) is why the 2nd row is divided into 2 halfway through. Because we have a system, the first half of the 2nd row was done twice. Tiap tahun tu. It just ruins the whole thing.

There weren’t much to see at the gerais but there were a few that caught our interest. There were few booths that were making the yellow signs for cars. They even had a ’STPRI GALZ ON BOARD’ sign. Another booth had a photo studio, where they would photoshopped or superimpose your photos on magazine covers. Another product that had our interests was Kintop. If you don’t know what it is, its actually a diet pill which increase your metabolic rate and suppresses your appetite. It says approved by the Ministry of Health, Malaysia or something so I’m guessing, its safe.

We also visited the gerais along Jalan Sultan- yes D’ Royalle had like the whole sidewalk of Maya Puri except in front of Coffee Bean as well as the sidewalk in front and beside them. They also rented two booths, which I am sure by pure conicidence happened to be infront of their cafe. Besides that, we weren’t really interested in the other gerais. There was also a mini dangdut concert going on and you know what that means- tons of Indonesians ‘gelek-ing’ macam orang inda ingat dunia (or akhirat. huhu.).

On our walk back to the car, we passed the street between the Taman and the BIBD building, there were more gerais there and ironically, there were few signs along the street that says, ‘Dilarang berjaja di sepanjang kawasan ini’.

However, I did enjoy the environment. I was basically excited by the brightly lit and colourful streets and the many people there- the young, the old, locals, foreigners. I didn’t take any pictures tonight but my husband just told me that we might go tomorrow as he wants to take pictures. I will let you know when the pictures are up on his site.

And oh, do cross the roads carefully. A smile will usually help plus a wave of thanks after that