Her story : Life so far

Decided to compile some of the selected pictures and turn it into a video clip.. Enjoy :D

So that you wont be bored waching all 100+ pictures.. sbb diiringi dengan lagu hehehe

Well hey

Well hey I changed the templates of my blog, again. Going for the simpler, not-so- girly-er kinda look. It's been a cold winter this year. And we experienced so far the lowest of -9°C recently. But now its a bearable 0°C. However, there is no sun today. I am thinking of heading down to town and just check out some stuff. Last week I went to the Christmas market with my friend from Americana, Lisa. She bought some stuff for her family back in the states and was telling me how they celebrate Christmas. I told her we have something like this before our Muslim celebration, Hari Raya. We have the Pasar Ramadhan for one month. In Germany, they have a one month Christmas market. They call it, Weihnachtsmarkt. I also saw a bunch of Polizei walking around and riding horses (that's the first). Seems that there was a terrorist threat in Germany and the police are just standing by.

Planning to go there again with my husband, probably today. He wants to get some boots because sneakers are not good for winter time. I got mine already :) Also, I got a Roti Phrata from the Asean shop as a substitute for Roti Canai. It has a Halal chop from Singapore and it tasted good. But we only get 5 pieces for 1.80€. Shade. Makan sekali round dah habis :(

Well hey, probably will update some pictures soon. I was not in a blogging mood for awhile but now I'm back. Shout out to Zoey Jane (my car) who turns 5 today!

Singing in the rain

You can compare with this..

Wetter wetter and Harry Potter

From one Freitag (Friday) to another Freitag to another Freitag. Can you see how drastically the weather changes ? Check it out. Today the weater is gonna be a nice 6/9°C. Meaning. The highest would be 9 and lowest is 6°C. And check out next week -7/0°C. And the next two weeks is gonna be  -17/6°C. Gila kan range dia ? From a very low negative to a 6. I cannot imagine how it's gonna be. -17°C is gonna be the coldest weather I will be experiencing. Actually, the coldest that I have experienced was -5°C during last Winter. Even when it snowed it was only -5°C. There is gonna be a light snowfall next Thursday (25/11/2010). Seronok pulak. I hope its gonna be as fun as I always watch in the movies though :p

Speaking of movies, yesterday, me n my husband and some other friends went to the kino (cinema) to watch Harry Potter. And get this, it was my first time in a cinema here and it was our first movie after we got married. Haha! I realized this after YY asked me, 'Hast du schon ins Kino gehen?' Have you been to the Kino yet?  And I thought and replied, 'Nein, this (tercakap english pulak) ist meine erste mal'. And I thought further and said, 'Eh, this is our first movie after we got married kan ?' And my husband said, Haah laah.. I added to YY about that fact and she laughed and said to my husband, 'Really aa? And it's Harry Potter some more :p' Hehehe.

We are not much of a Harry Potter fan. I think my husband never watched the movie and I watched only the first one and ended up sleeping at the 2nd CD: Maaf². I don't really fancy fantasy movies. Like Harry Potter, Narnia, LOTR etc. etc. I slept after watching 30 mins of LOTR. But Merlin I like. Dunno y. It's like a series that me n my family can sit n watch together. Maybe because it shows on a Sunday nights at TV3 (dulu la, now im not sure) and after dinner time. So macam chilling out time kot. But we like it a lot.

So anyway, when we got back yesterday, my husband and I took the train back up to Meeräckerplatz and walked home. Cewah, macam romantic la cause it was cold and everything. We were konon² speaking like Englishmen with very thick UK slang :p 'Whot you need to due is..' , 'That is mad!' .. 'Oh , it's bloody cold hierrr' Saje nak mengusik Harry Potter. I find UK slang are very difficult to comprehend. Because it sounds very thick and melodic. The melody sounds like more of a statement rather than a question. So sometimes I wonder, is he asking or making a statement? Memang bengong la.. Tergelak gelak. It was fun! And I realised, it doesn't take much to make me happy. Cause yesterday macam demotivated, probably the hormones and the you-know-it-girls time of the month, URGH.

Anyways, this weekend our highschool friend, Kurik and David, will be hanging out here. So kena kemas rumah! And buy food and cook! It's nice kot to have some company. And it's good for our relationship. My husband needs some guy time and I need to do my girl things too. Hehe. If Carie is not bz, I might ajak her to hang out skali la. Do some girl stuff.

Okla, have a great Friday and weekend y'all! Schönes Wochenende!

mulut berasap

This morning, around 620am, I opened the windows to get a breath of fresh air. Bila hembus, mulut saya berasap. Translation : It's cold outside (2°C). You never really comprehend the weather here. Last night it was warm, probably because we switched on the main heater and the electric heater. I had to switch on the kipas. Kelakar kan ? Because when it's cold, opening the windows would be killing yourself to death. But you still need some air. And sometimes bila dah terperuk je dalam bilik, udara dia feels stagnant. So dengan bantuan kipas, might make the air bergerak sket.

Also bila cuaca sejuk, rase malas nak buat semua bende. Paling tak productive. Termasuklah, susah nak bangun. Dan susah juga nak kejutkan anak dara di bilik sebelah ni (our houseowner's 14 y/o daughter). 2 days ago I woke her up kol 615 dia bukak pintu and said she will wake up at 630 so tak payah kejutkan dia. At 7am I ketuk lagi nak soh dia bgn tapi dia ckp ok ok. So fine. 8am mak dia call tanya anak nya dah bgn ker sbb dah kol 8am. So I ketuk lagi and she kelam kabut siap gi skolah. Now its 715am here and ayah dia dah panggil tadi soh bgn and I dah kejutkan skali dia bebel² something I didnt hear.. and it has been 1 hour. Dia masih lagi berhibernate :p I tak kisah nak kejutkan tapi saya yang cemas sbb awak tu masih in high school. Kalu uni ke takpe la gak nak gi lambat².. So what should I do now? Kalau anak sendiri ataupun anak sedara, I dah simbah dengan air sejuk.. :p

When German teenagers celebrate birthdays. 

Her 14th Birthday party celebrated with style at her mommy's restaurant at 
http://www.restaurant-lindbergh.de/.

boots, heidelberg, winter and experience

I think sueannajoe was my junior back in SriAman. That statement was totally irrelevant but I just wanted to write that. I have been reading her blogs (she has a number of blogs, in BM, in English, about her business and photography) and she is pretty good.

We are planning to go to Ireland during the Christmas holidays. My husband's younger brother is expecting their 2nd baby. Yup, 2nd baby. So we are gonna visit them. I thought of going backpacking (am I capable of backpacking?) around DE abit before going to Ireland for the Christmas Hols. But it all depends on my husband. Nak la jugak jalan - jalan here. However, some friends are coming to DE for Christmas so maybe I might bring them jalan - jalan around Heidelberg. It's very near to Mannheim. My husband works in Heidelberg. But not the tourist area. Dia dekat tempat² office. Heidelberg is eine altstadt (an old town) and its beautiful. From Mannheim, it takes about 30 minutes or so to get there. Depending on which train you are taking. I have been there more than 3 times and I don't mind going there again and again and again..

Anyway, I wanted to share with you guys how I felt about this upcoming winter and what are my preparations. In the magazines and websites stated that this year's winter is gonna be the worst winter and I am so not looking forward for it. I bought a few jackets though and a few pair of boots and gloves. A long black trenchcoat from H & M and a cute white one from The NewYorker. Kelakar when I say The NewYorker because they actually have a shop that sells NewYork fashion. And they are not bad too. Not so pricey and it has that young vibe going on. I did blog once about buying a red jacket with a hood so that I have that little red riding hood kinda thing going on.. But I saw Baby Spice wearing a white jacket and a pair of white boots in the video Stop Right Now and she looked so cute! (Takde pic, so I had to PRINTSCREEN on the youtube video. Pathetic ay? Click on photo to see clearer) I know my husband would raise an eyebrow if I said to him, awwww cute kan boots putih tuu? kan ? kan? kan ? But.. I won't request for those from him.. Hehe.. if I want, I will buy them using my own money which he gives me every month. By that time, winter pun dah habis. Haha!
 
Some of the jackets I see online nampak cantik bila model dia pakai.. Or you see other people putting them on, it looks soo good. Macam citer Ally McBeal, Sex & The City or 30Rock. Samala bila tgk website H & M online. You feel like buying everything, if possible! But all of those are just the advertisers playing tricks on our minds.. and also, good looking models and good photography plays an important role.. Maka, jangan tertipu dengan online fashion pictures :p For example, yang kat tepi nih .. I can never pull that one off! But it looks so good on the model ! Believe me I have tried that exact same jacket but I don't look as near as good as that model. Maybe the shape of my body pun mcm sekeping je, so tak nampak cantik..  Boots dia pun cantik but kena jaga² because most boots from H & M and NewYorker or any other shoes that costs 20€ and above has pig skin lining. Jenuh la nak samak balik (although ada sesetengah orang cakap tak perlu samak because hanya perlu samak when kena daging babi. But just for the benefit of the doubt, I did samak). Harini ada mood la nak citer pasal fashion because yesterday I did a whole lot of 20 minutes walking while having my lunch. I had a small portion of wedges with Lemon Tartar sauce from Nordsee to-go (or Malaysians say it as Take-Away, dipengaruhi oleh Colony British). So I walked from Marktplatz all the way to Hauptbahnhof. I noticed that people walk while eating for several reasons. 
1. Nak jimat masa. 
2. It feels warmer when you walk sambil makan. Its a bad habit, I know. But the coldness made me do that. 3. You can kill a few stones macam jalan, sambil window shopping, think and do your shopping list in your head, check out other people's fashion and finally reach your destination. 

Things they usually have while walking are bende yang macam to-go-ish like Pretzel, Croissant, Burgers, Fries. Depa takde la makan nasi lemak or kueyteowtomyam while walking. That would be a messy sight wouldnt it?

Yeah it's already November and in a few days it'll be mid of November and come December will be winter. Daun - daun pun almost semua berguguran. My hajat untuk berphotog with my feet in dalam himpunan dedaunan pun taktau sampai ke tak since it's freaking cold to go out for photography.. But for Winter, I hope it snows though. Last time when I first landed, after a couple of days, it snowed. But I only experienced snow on my way to the hospital di dalam tangisan  sebab kena chicken pox. Read here to recall. Last Winter was quite an experience. An experience I shall never forget kot.

Talking about experience, I went to Seilwolf yesterday to do the normal weekly grocery. Kat situ tak ramai orang and you can get all this weird² stuff that they don't sell in the normal DE grocery supermarkets. By weird² stuff I mean asian stuffs like cili kering, tofu, santan, sos for nasi ayam etc etc. So as I was walking, I saw another asian looking lady and I thought it was Kak Asmah (a kakak permanently residing here, married to a German and has twin sons a year younger than us). So dengan penuh confident I ran to her and said, Hi kak asmah! and she was like, 'was?' (apa?) and I was confused, I said, 'eh, ni kak asmah kan?' dia pun boleh jawab, 'nein, nein' .. rupanya she was some Thai or Vietnamese lady. MALU OK! terus saya ckp, 'ooh! Entschuldigung²' maksudnya, 'ooh malunya saya.. sory²'. My husband will say that I am racist bila I citer nih, but actually I am not .. betul...!

Okla, do you notice that this post takde correlation antara satu sama lain ?
This entry has been edited several times. I lost count

Hands in my pocket

I have a confession to make. I had my subuh prayers at almost di penghujung waktu. Bad, bad I know. Reason is, it is so cold here (-2°C) and nak pengang tombol pintu pun cepat² je lepas kan. My tingkap dapur (mein küche fenster) is kaputt so it can't be closed properly. Resulting to the kitchen being super cold especially when I wanna prepare breakfast for my husband. Brrr... Nak basuh pinggan pun tunggu dah tengah hari sikit. And I have to think twice or thrice or how many times before taking a shower because the thought of walking to the bathroom is satu hal. N then I have to leave the shower running forawhile to wait for warm water. The challenge is not taking the shower. The challenge would be the time after having that hot shower and when you turn the shower off, that time you nak lap lap badan, the coldness kinda creeps up so fast, you regret having a shower at the first place. But when you are taking the shower, rase best because ada hot water. Rase nak mandi lama² pun takpe. Tapi LEPAS mandi tu, yang horror.

We have our daylight saving coming up this Sunday. I still confuse myself on the changing hour bit. Pukul 7 jadi pukul 8 ke pukul 6? Now that sunlight is very little on this part of the world, when you see sun its like whoaaa! Even so, sometimes it might be sunny and you are all excited and everything to go out. But actually the weather is soo much colder!

I experienced this yesterday when I decided to go out, experience the natural sunshine heat after days being in the room with the heater. While waiting for the sun, I decided to learn how to use the GPS on my handphone after months of never using it. So, excited la ni. Nak beli daging using GPS, although I know very well where to get daging. The getting ready to go out process is abit longer now that it's the Fall season. Baju kena berlapis², have to remember to wear jacket.Going out in Mannheim feels different after a month in KL. Kalau in KL, naik kereta, cari parking paling dekat dengan pintu, takyah bawak beg, bawak purse je cukup. Kinda miss those priviledges (betul ke eja nih?). Anyway, once I stepped out of the house, the weather was so cold, I had my hands in my pocket all the time. There goes my GPS experiment. Sejuk sgt, tak larat.

Went to the bank to take out some Euro (since I only had RM7 dalam wallet) and took the SBahn No. 3 to Markuskirche, took the bus (63) to Neckarau-Übergang and SBahn No. 1 to Friedrichstraße. There I walked to Seilwolf to buy my groceries. Tak banyak beli kalini. I decided to buy only the necessary stuff since we bought a whole lot in KL.

When I came back, a friend msg me. An old friend. Memang syok la kalu borak dgn dia. Walaupun jarang².. She is sempoi, average Jane but riding on her road to success. Diam² ubi. Gila² dia pun, sometimes her words are of substance but not in a way that makes you feel small.

LEsson for today and yesterday : Smart women usually KISS. Smart women usually Keep it Sophisticatedly Simple.  

Back in Mannheim

Salam everyone. I am back in Mannheim now. To those who follow my blog, you must have noticed that I changed the template (again) of my blog. It is now the Fall season here.

Once again, the whole family sent me off at KLIA. All the time that I was there, I felt sad but tried so hard not so show it to my family. Pretending to be strong. I know for sure that I will miss them dearly. Even though the technologies have advanced so rapidly and that I can talk to my parents almost everyday, perhaps even more often than people who are in Malaysia, it is still not the same. But I know inshaAllah I will pass this phase. It's always hard at first, but eventually, as the days become more routine, I hope that I will be okay.

When they sent me off, mama made Curry Puffs and Caremel Pudding and my sister brought Fried Kuey Teow from home. We ate at KFC like it was just like home. That's my family. Everywhere we go, we would always feel like home.

The holiday was great, even though one month is not enough. But inshallah, I hope to see each and everyone again next year when I return.. or if they decide to come and visit me here could be super cool :)

The flight was okay. I slept throughout most of the journey. But I managed to finish watching The Notebook and ate all my meals. The movie was simply amazing. Despite being sad departing from my family, it made me realize that I will be meeting my husband and I know that he will be waiting for me at the airport.

Upon arrival, they announced the temperature (-1°C)and everyone simultanously said, oooooohhhhh!!! Imagine from being in a very hot country to a very cold one. I wasn't really prepared for the weather. I only wore a pullover and a spring jacket. Luckily my husband brought my winter jacket and gloves. My husband came with our old high school friend, Kurik, and we had breakfast at McDonalds. After that, we headed back to Mannheim via ICE. I knew it was cold when asap were coming out of my mouth when I breathed.

True enough when my friend said, Fall is very nice here in Mannheim. I wanted so much to take out my camera to snap some pictures when I was on ICE but I was too tired. Perhaps one day I might go out to do some photography. Hope I wont get lost in the forest again :p

Ok people, this is just to update you upon my arrival here. I am missing my family at home so much and hoping and praying that they will come and visit us here one day. Because I know they will enjoy it very much..

Take care people! Will upload some pics on the next post :)

Communication and Comprehension

Yesterday and today I went jogging near by the Rhein. Yesterday I test power sorang². Today I went with YY and she was damn fast I termengah - mengah nak keep up. I got some sweat out of my body and it felt really good. Need to build some muscles and get some stamina. Over here we do a lot of walking (cause no car) and running. Running mostly nak kejar bus or trem because everything is very punctual. Showing up late is not a good thing. So, must have stamina so that can walk and kejar bus or trem :p The weather here is gorgeous since now Spring is can-say officially here. Average is 15 -16° in the afternoon and sunny.

The clinic that I went to during my check up for my chicken pox called for them to claim insurance. When I went there previously, I had the temporary card. Since now I have my permanent card, they need to cucuk it inside this one device for them to make the claim from the insurance company. Mr. Lucky was at work so I memberanikan diri and went there alone since now I know where it is. With very little knowledge in Deutsch I dengan selamba asked the receptionist. 'Can you speak English?' . 'Ya' she replied. So I told her about the insurance thingy, she did her thing, and in less than 5 minutes, we were done. 330pm and I was all dressed up and the weather was gorgeous. And you expect me to walk back home ? I don't think so. ehehhe. I made myself useful (with all the jackets and make up and all) and called Mr. Lucky and told him that I'm going to buy minyak masak since it's almost finishing at home. He said, 'you bole pergi sorang² ke?' I said boleh punyaa.

I love going to groceries. It's like shopping for food :) So I walked to Rewe and took a basket instead of a trolley and with full of confidence took some of the things needed to buy for our house. Cheese, yogurt, minyak masak, chocolate etc. It was 9.55€. I knew it cause I looked at the cash register even though the cashier will always read the total amount out loud. I took out a 20€ and usually the cashier will just return the balance. But this time, he just HAD to ask me something. I figured the only thing he could ask is, 'do you have a smaller change?' I smiled and took our some coins and he said Danke shon. My guess was right. I took my stuff and said Danke shon. and Tschuss! (itu slalu disebut sebut di sini).

I walked back home feeling all confident and happy. Suddenly I stopped nearby a small little shop that sells cute cute pens and papers and notebooks. I wanted to buy a card for my little nephew, Aman and mail it to him cause yesterday was his birthday. But I couldn't find anything that menyingkap hati so I left the shop.

Once I exited the shop, and old man showed me something at the opposite building and he was telling me about something funny that happened there (I assume). And he was laughing while telling it to me. I felt so kesian because he was so bersemangat telling me the story. I just smiled and said, 'sorry. ich verstehe nicht (i dont understand). ich sprechen nicht Deutsch (I dont speak German).. ich sprechen Englisch ( i speak english) sorry sorry' . He just smiled and said, 'oooh ok ok'.. I felt so bad.. kesian dia... Then a lady (age about 40) looked at me and smiled. She was with two of her adorable little girls. She pandang like she wants to borak with me. (Do I have a friendly face?) So she was asking something in German. Funny thing is, I understood what she said, and I can answer! But with very broken German. And she also understood and replied. And we were borak boraking while walking back home.. From our conversation, I understood that she's a Turk and has been staying here for 8 years. Her kids are 4 and 7. The 4 year old will turn 4 in August. She sends and picks up her children from school everyday. And the daughter was also telling me that she learns English every Monday and Wednesday. I told her I just reached here last month and I am a housewife and my husband works in Heidelberg. I am from Malaysia and speak very little Deutsch. She asked if I have kids I said not yet. She explained her house was at I-cant-remember- street and I told her I live at Kalmitstraße.

It felt so good talking to a local. Although my German sucks but at least she could understand it :) After I reached home, had my Asr prayers and went jogging with YY. Hope I can learn and communicate with people more :) Tomorrow YY asked me to accompany her to buy a jacket in the bandar. if Mr. Lucky gives me the green light, I will go and try to communicate with people if I get the chance :)

That's all from me folks.. Take care and hope you enjoyed me story walaupun ala-kadar je.. hehehe Tschusss!

Lately

Yes. No. I mean, lately I have been staying at home. Mr.Lucky suspects that I have low blood pressure. Since I have not been feeling well. Perhaps yes. I am sooooooooooo dying to go out. Like literally. I need sunshine and fresh air and abit of sweat wouldn't hurt. This chicken pox is almost diminishing so its good news. Alhamdulillah. The weather here is still cold though. It's about 7° / 9° during Mittags (afternoon). And we have very little sunshine compared to KL. Some parts of DE is still snowing like Berlin, Dresden, Hamburg, Stuttgart and München. Mannheim is comparatively warm (I suppose ?)  compared to other cities.

 Most of the time, I hang out in front of the heater, and also Choco-loco-bear (CLB) [i know he is not a bear but just be it like that ok] keeps me warm whenever its cold, read my Time Traveler's Wife and learn abit of Deutsch to get a head start on my classes that will be commencing in April. Here are some pictures of life at home so far. hehe..

That's Choco-Loco-Bear (a gift from YY) with my hp (a gift from Mr. Lucky) hehehe 

 Living with a heater

Tomorrow I am FINALLY going out, yay! I haven't gone out since I got lost in the forest.. oooh.. then I went to the hospital during snow.. and I went to the clinic to do a follow up check up with the doctor (which was soo cool. He speaks English, yay!). So, yeah, tomorrow Mr. Lucky is gonna buy me a pair of running shoes, and I will be going jogging when the weather is not so cold anymore and I am back on my feet again. woo hoo!! And then on Thursday, we are going to the Immigration office to settle my visa (hopefully alles ist gute). So, yay! again! I need this. I need to go out.. Watch out world! I'm coming... with no chicken pox virus (inshallah).

I found a radio station, BIG FM that plays 80% of English music. Out of 10, 2 of them are German songs. So it's not so bad. And they plan Lady Gaga's Bad Romance too! Btw, Lady Gaga will be coming to DE in May to do a concert! I am hoping that I can find someone who can accompany me but the tickets are expensive.. We'll see if I decide to go or not cause the place is quite far from Mannheim, (2 hours via train ) König Pilsener Arena, Oberhausen. Since the lost in the forest incident, I'm scared that I will get lost again.. in the city pulak! Minta dijauhkan.. huhuhu

Well, I guess that's all for now. I wanted to post a video of me singing Lately by Jodeci. But it's just to embarrasing when I view it again. Haha! If I am in a tourist-y (I learned this word from Nadia hehe) mood tomorrow, I will quietly record a video of the city using my Nokia and post it here hehe..

This blog is not so glamour (check out the number of clicks below) cause I only share this link with the ones who are close to me. Although they can always ask other people to read but its okay. The thing is, I dont want to really advertise it as much cause I you never know who might read your blog. I was just from my old blog and it's really disturbing to know that people landed on my blog after googling my name or some other people's name.. So, I wanna lay low this time :)

Ok. readers. Pray I won't get lost tomorrow! Bis später! Tschuss!

Pokerface

Thats a very small picture of me from the back (ignore the guy). This picture was taken on the day I left KL and this was in KLIA about 1040pm on 25th February 2010. I looked kinda lost and eager at the same time. But certain. I was on my way to start my new life in DE. Land of the Deutsch. Deutschland. I didn't know at that time I was carrying a chicken pox virus. Now I have a pokerface and listening to Lady Gaga's Pokerface while blogging. Well, who said it's gonna be easy.. but then again who said it's gonna be hard. Just go through it one day at a time :)

It snowed. I experienced my first snow experience! and to top it off i got my chicken pox too! Isn't it ironic? Dont u think? Funny2.. I have been resting a lot that's why there weren't any web activities as much. But today, I feel abit better alhamdulillah so I am gonna upload the pics of snow.. Check it out..

Morning of 6th March 2010

 Morning of 7th March 2010

 Ok.. I will blog more when I am feeling better and have more activities to share ok. :) Danke! 

New Kid on The Block

Guten Tag!

Welcome to my new blog. This is actually the spinoff from my previous blog. This blog will tell you mostly about my life here. My new life in a different country.

I landed safely in Frankfurt on Friday morning and was greeted warmly by my husband who is residing in Mannheim (30 mins by ICE from Frankfurt). Its now day 5 in Deutschland. It's a beautiful Tuesday morning and the weather is about 0 degrees. I am still getting used to the weather. Coming from a very hot country (currently KL is about 35), my body got a shock but the usual me, taking it positive :)

I love the cool breeze and the wind blowing through my face. Sometimes I wear gloves even though there is no one else wearing it, but I don't really care cause I feel cold :p well, nothing much for now.. just an introduction to my new blog.. :)

yeah, I am the new kid on the block.. check out some of the pics I took on the way back from groceries.. Enjoy! Perhaps if the weather is not so cold, I might go out for some snaps of the neighbourhood and post it here :)

 

                      Finally.. I get my müller joghurt!                    On the way back from Rewe (grocery shop)

bis bald!