I'm so bingit. Someone just spoilt my Monday night.

I mean, can't that thing wait till tomorrow? Tomorrow is less than 12 hours away.

I feel like ranting it all off but what good would it do? I can gain alliance with people who equally dislike her, but she's there to stay. It'll just be sinful.

Actually much as I'd love to tell everyone how much I dislike her and much as I'd like to harbour really ill-feelings towards her, I am somewhat fearful that she'll be my best friend one day. I think there's this saying that advises mere mortals not to hate yr enemy too much, coz that person might one day become your best bud. And never trust yr best bud too much, coz that person might one day become yr enemy.

When she drives me up the wall, I'll tell myself repeatedly that I shouldn't dislike her; it's her behaviour I don't like. It's always the behaviour, never the person.

God, this is such a test of patience for me.

Strictly for tech junkies, or tech junkies wanna-be (like me)



Hours later, someone walked out with a nice brand new smelling laptop & someone's wife bought not 1 but 2 mp3 players :p It was clearly more a want than a need (No lah, I wasn't that greedy, sampai nak dengar 2 mp3 players at 1 time...1 was for Nana).

Mine is the creative zen neeon (old model lah) & Nana's one was an even older model (but shhh she doesn't know). She was thrilled, although she asked me why I bought her a present when she didn't do well enough for the PSLE. I don't know if I'm promoting the wrong values here, but I've been wanting to get her an mp3 player for quite some time, so kebetulan pulak semalam results keluar, so....it was just her luck.

I also bought a bluetooth dongle, so now I can transfer photos taken from my phone at home *beams*

Without a doubt, I've severely exceeded my spending capacity this month. Oh well, a girl's gotta spend sometimes. Btw, I've also bought a pair of shoes! Yey, no more holes or smells coming from my "nyek" brown pasar shoes.

He's still not back from his D & D. Kebetulan, the place i work also got D & D today. Tapi biasa lah, anti social me would rather be home, clear the laundry & fiddle with her new gadget.

My zits are back. There are at least 4 new ones on my face.... thanks to the amount of nuts I've devoured for the past 2 weeks - kacang tanah, kacang gajus, kacang badam, kacang parang, kacang hijau, kacang pistachio. Is dhal a form of kacang?

Actually I've stayed away from nuts for a while till raya...For the sake of vanity, I *must* go far far away from kacang.

I mean, ladies are supposed to be at their prime in their 20s (in terms of looks & figure). Once you're over that, you sorta develop white spots & double chins are there to stay. So one shouldn't have bad skin in their 20s. I don't think I'll eat another piece of nut at all, no, not even a piece.

Btw, just now's boxercise was good. I wished I had the real sports gear on. HaiyakkK!

Now I really feel like going shopping. Right here, right now.

Sometimes I think I look better in a mask, so I decided to wear one for last Sunday's perjumpaan hari raya with AH's family. Like my new look / identity? I'm irris the batgal.

Sometimes I wished I could just run away & hide from everything; colleagues, deadlines, angry clients, annoyed family members. If I wore this often, maybe they wouldn't notice me that much. But of course, I foresee it getting a bit difficult if I do want to see who I'm talking to. Oh well, that's the opportunity cost I guess.

The next time I meet up with you guys, pls don't be shocked when you see me in this state k? There's only so much I can take.

....

Hehehe, no lah, actually that was me in some game I took part in on Sunday. I had to guess what kuih I was holding while being blindfolded. Aiseh, mana lah aku tau tu kuih semangka? To begin with, it didn't even taste like semangka! Oh well.

I'm glad I've got a break today. That's 2 days in a row now!

All this food is responsible for the expansion in my waistline.

On Saturday, someone I worked with but hasn't seen for 2 months or so said that I lost weight! I wondered if she has been seeing the world in rose-tinted glasses :p

The weekend was quite tiring lah. Yesterday, I landed in bed after Isyak & slept all the way till AH woke me up for subuh. The headache I went to bed with miraculously disappeared, alhamdulillah. In fact, I think the 9 hour sleep I had is the reason why I am still up at this hour even after 1/2 day of work & jalan2 & jalan raya! Tapi mana lah married women macam I ni, boleh tido sampai 9 hours daily? Nanti kena "chap" pemalas pulak (although memang ada banyak ciri2 orang malas).

Anyway Friday was spent with Dayat & UWA gang at BB, Saturday was work, then visiting with Beatty gang, Sunday was the gathering with AH's side & today was 2 houses at Hougang. Fuyoohh, beraya sakan si irris ni eh? I'm really amazed I could do this 4 days in a row. Really. Besok? Seriously, don't push it.

But I'm quite glad I took time off this afternoon. Coz I got to spend at least 2 hours with AH, roaming around Funan Centre. And now, I have not only 1, or 2 stylus pens but 3!! I figured that if they sold the stylus one by one, mana nak untung kan? So does that mean I can now carelessly throw my stylus pens anywhere I want? :p

Weather has been cool lately. Nasib baik tak pasang aircon (chey, like real).

Good night, turning in soon :)

2 Saturdays ago when we were topping up fuel at Shell, I saw Cleo & contemplated getting it, but I didn't in the end. Today, I walked into MPH & emerged with a copy. That, was my reading material on this lovely Thursday night (bukannya nak baca Yassin, baca Cleo pulak).

Flip flip flip. Almost all the girls featured were 18 to 22 years of age. The 22 year old teacher, the 20 year old ex-prisoner, the 19 year old who wrote in the Q & A section. All the youngsters!! The slim, pretty youngsters! Warrrghhhh!!!

Actually I've never thought 25 was old until I turned 25. Now I know why my ex-boss said what she said (Nani, you'll know when you hit 30) when I told her not to whine about being old at 30 yrs old.

The process of aging has kicked in quite a bit. In fact, I learnt in uni that you start to age when you're 22 - that's when you start to lose a bit of hearing. So you pple better be more self-aware. If you're 22, and you keep going, "Ah?? AH??? AHHHH???" Watch out, you're ageing.

When you're 25, you'll find it harder to lose weight, but much easier to pile it all on. I stepped gingerly onto the communal weighing scale 30 minutes ago and found myself 2 kgs heavier than in Ramadhan. Warrrggghhhh!!!

Mana kan tak, orang snack makan baby carrots, makan salad...aku snack makan kuih raya. Tsk, my tummy's full of saturated fats. Urgh.

Talking about tummy... last Saturday, his BIL's aunt actually touched my tummy & asked the question, "Dah ada?". I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't believe although I've insisted that I belum ada coz by touching the flab on my tummy, one would think I was pregnant. Spare tyre rabaks.

To make it worse (actually ni aku yang perasan sorang), I almost couldn't recognise this girl from another dept when she smiled at me yesterday. Aiseh, member dah kurus seh! So slim. So pretty. Macam CT Nurhaliza sikit pon ada (gee, never did I imagine I'd ever mention her name in my blog). Wow, she dah kurus seh!! And what a difference it makes! I felt ashamed of myself, getting fatter by the day. She sat beside me briefly this afternoon, and she even had a nice scent on her. She's not just slim, she smells nice too! I wonder if her hair's nice too. Then she'll be perfect. Slim, nice smelling, with nice hair.

Maybe for a start, I could put on that facial mask - I've not done that since the wedding. Before that, maybe I could throw that copy of Cleo away. Maybe I should start reading Women's Weekly...or Dare. 25 is the new 40.

I'm jaded.

Is my backache here to stay? Or is the muscle pull coming from my bum? It hurts and jolts me into slight pain when I'm going down the stairs, or turn in bed. Maybe it's my bad posture taking a toll on me. Or was it that muscle pull I felt when I sneezed too hard 3 weeks ago the one that caused me this pain?

Baru sikit dah complain eh? Can't imagine pple experiencing worse pain than this.

AH has a strain in his neck too; it has been 2 days. On Sunday night, I got him to paste 2 koyoks on his neck...panas sangat pulak. So yesterday, I happily smothered that yoko-yoko thing on him....cian...well I didn't expect it to be that hot.

It's going to be another ridiculously busy week - to work today then to a 3 day seminar. Argh, I hate to be out of office at this time of the year...what more with the short notice deadlines. The endless paperwork. Somehow I know I'm going to make it...after all everyone in the branch seems to be able to get through it all the time. What doesn't kill us, makes us stronger.

Now I just hope I can find time to go visiting, to the relatives' places. The situation has changed now, coz you've suddenly inherited extra relatives, just by being married. We'll find time, we'll try to.

Such a wonderful feeling, being able to taste & enjoy food.

Especially during hari raya, where yummy food is so abundant...makan sampai tak boleh masuk lagi! Kuih raya, lauk raya, air raya....ketupat, nasi briyani, kueh koswe,kek lapis prune, kuih london almond....all such yummy things.

Just now I tucked into Md Yusoff's nasi briyani & felt so grateful I was able to taste its rich flavour, such nikmat. I thought about Tok from dad's side who's not able to find joy in eating anymore & really counted my blessings. Syukur.

I've heard people complain about food not being yummy before, wasting food, not eating food when it's more than a day old, not eating food when it's not warm enough. I'm guilty of comparing taste of food - like, I swear that hassan rabit's nasi briyani is the yummiest briyani I've ever tasted and when I eat other nasi briyani, I tend to compare (hey that's normal, isn't it?) But AH is always quick to remind me to be grateful, and I'll go all red, quite embarrased for being so critical of rezki that has been granted.

Penat tau bawak korang gi sana, gi sini...gimme a breaaakkkk!


And a break was what Honda got yesterday night, right after we left AH's friend's place at Bt Panjang.



It got really hot in the car, to the point that I had to stroll around the carpark to cool off. Thank goodness the AA man came by at 11-ish pm, plugged into new batteries, and Honda functioned well enough again to take us home.

Honda was well enough to take me to work & AH to school this morning too. So now I'm at work too, and I've just eaten 4 more pieces of kuih sarang semut. Terok eh? I can feel my waistline expanding already.

Anyway I think we ladies (or is it just me) tend to have bad thoughts about other girls who may have been connected to your beaus in one way or another. Then when you actually meet the person and you realise that you've wasted a worry or some tinge of jealousy on them, you feel really really bad. I'm always like that. Tsk.

I need some otot fast.

I want to go shopping. I want to get a nice cool looking bag and stroll along shopping malls on my own. I want to go for that facial, the one I've put off going for 3 months now. I need to repair my computer, I need to get that replacement stylus. I need to trim some hairy parts of myself, I need I need...I need some otot fast.

The otot will also include mopping the floor, wiping the dust in our room amongst other things.

It's impossible to turn the hands of time & it's scary how fast time flies these days. And when I think about it, sometimes it's scarier how we're all not doing much about filling the time with fruitful stuff, instead of blogging it all away.

I'm so looking forward to Monday, where I hope to get some otot. I think I deserve it.

It's only Tuesday?!

But I think despite the immense amount of work I've got to do, I'm coping quite well. So I'm quite happy with myself.

Actually I've been wanting to go for that massage spa again but haven't been able to find the time. And something needs trimming too, no time again. So when the dept called in some pple for a free massage, I counted my blessings and made serious efforts to make sure I didn't miss it. The cramp in my bum and back was still very much present, and I desperately wanted them eased. I even bought koyok and that yoko yoko thing okay, but my cramp was still there.

The kakak urut betul2 urut seh today. She applied pressure and wow, for a moment I felt like my digestive system was working up. She said my body was keras (as in firm, hahahhahahahaha, bukan ada "benda"). She suspected that I've never gone for urut sessions & said that the body would ease itself of aches if I went for frequent urut sessions. OK, noted with thanks.

But for now I'll get out of here, get home & take a warm shower.

I placed some kuih raya in a container that I used to keep chopped spring onions. Now the suji & london almond taste a bit like the spring onions. I'd better not offer those to my colleagues, nanti dorang terkejut pulak at my taste of kuihs.
Dah lah 2 weeks ago, JLo terkejut that I was offering kuih sarang semut (which another Malay colleague happily translated it into English) to people. He was horrified that I thought ants nests tasted good enough to be served.

Anyway, AH sprung a surprise at me yesterday. He said we were going to Yishun with Mama & Kakak. I assumed we were going to lepak at Mama's place with Kakak. Sekali tu we actually went out jalan raya! In office clothes, again! Lucky I was wearing quite a nice blouse. If I was wearing a shirt, I'd be so embarrased. I hate wearing shirts and pants to go to the elderly's place. I insist on at least covering my butt.

But the jalan raya was nice lah. I ate more than 3 kuih tarts & I think the cookies at the Woodland's house were really delicious. I must have devoured more than 4 cornflakes cookies + about 3 more cornflakes covered in white chocolate. Greedy kan? What to do, I *must* eat kuih raya. I believe that I must eat them coz people have made efforts in making them. One shouldn't expect to be served food during raya coz there's kuih raya to me eaten. But if one's served food, then just eat lah, but no matter how much you eat, u still must eat kuih raya. Which was exactly what I did yesterday, which explained why I returned home feeling bloated.

I don't have a report to submit today. Good. I wouldn't be in the mood to churn one out anyway. Actually during raya I thought about the boys I was working with. I wondered what they were doing, whether they had kuih raya to eat, whether they had new clothes to wear, had relatives to visit. I wondered how they behaved in front of their relatives amongst many other things. Then I told myself to stop thinking about them and snapped out of it almost instantly.

It's irris' first eid together as a married couple, and...

I am officially "orang rumah Yan". That term gave me a strange feeling...not quite sure how to describe it. Oh well I shouldn't read too much into it, coz it simply means I'm Ian's wife :)

Ian & his orang rumah pakai baju hitam for first day of raya.
Ian so nice one, he let me wear black & he wore his old baju raya. Which made his orang rumah quite happy, coz she could wear her nikah shoes, which had only been worn once!

In a while, we're going out with the orang rumah's family this time. Selamat hari raya to everyone, enjoy the weekend while it lasts. Maaf zahir batin from irris, may you have a blessed Eid with yr loved ones.

I was walking towards the Bugis MRT station after getting off the Parco escalator just now when I heard a hissing sound ....Psssttt Psssttt Psssst... Then I felt a finger tapping on my left shoulder.

I thought it was a persistent flyer distributor so I didn't bother at first. But when the hisses eventually sounded like Excuse me, I turned around slowly to find a woman in her early 50s pointing at my shopping bag & asking if I wanted the receipt in my bag.

I was...so stumped, I just stared at her momentarily & walked on.

The store I had shopped at just now was having this promotion - redeem some stuff with receipts or something. I didn't bother to claim it coz I wanted to get home fast & didn't want to go all the way to the 3rd floor. And this woman, who appeared out of nowhere actually peeked into my shopping bag & noticed my unclaimed receipt?

I mean, if I was at the cashier & was moving off & she asked me nicely if I wanted the receipt, I might have given it to her. But the receipt was *in* my bag, it wasn't as if I had it clipped to my shirt or something & she spotted it?

Singaporean shoppers baffle me more & more these days.