Posed for the camera for the millionth time yesterday. I'm missing days when I used to whip one out and just take self-photos of me.. god I was vain. So very vain. Didn't think anyone else could do it better than me, but now I'm out of that phase and silently watching my friends do self-poses and smile for their camera. If I'm laughing at them now, god knows how other people used to think when I did the same thing to myself.

With Hao, Wani, Jerry, Syer, Minul and Saifol.

So, LufBru did a joint trip with Malaysia Soc. I had an awesome time at Alton Towers with my friends and boyfriend :-) We went crazy on the rollercoaster rides (can't wait to bring Ella here!) Fol and I bought some photos of us on the Flume and Oblivion. The long queues were a bitch though, we queued for almost an hour just to ride on Rita for less 45seconds. I'm grateful that most of the Bruneians went though, they are a great bunch of people to hang out with and be silly. The bus ride took 1.5hours in the morning and it turned out the bus driver was late for something so he drove awesomely fast to get back to Loughborough. We made it in an hour.

I slept the whole way because Fol and I were constantly talking during the night before, like we've just met and we wanted to know everything about each other. Haha. I love the feeling :-) He makes me feel so loved. It felt like it but in reality it was only five long days. I'm glad we had our talks though because I realise now how we're good together. He's a great guy and I am very very lucky to have him in my life to support me through my ups and downs.

With Mariam and Minul

Played netball today since like.. Nottingham Games? My shooting's crap. My arm's way off and theres a million things I need to work on. Like my footing and my referee spotting skills. We had a game of boys vs. girls.. the boys, of course, kicked our ass..except they had the most fouls. They're worse when they're in such a rush. We kept yelling at them to relax and slow down.. But yeah, we've got the boys loving and slowly understanding the concept of netball. Cheung fell down sideways today, in slow motion. I wish I had it on camera. Haha. He was catching the ball and meant to pass it, but he tripped on his own shoe (I think because the sole is too thick) and he fell sideways, in slow motion :-P

We're sending the invites for LufBru Summer Games '07 tonight. :-) Good luck in registering and whatnot. I look foward to seeing people on the badminton, football and netball courts.

Last bit! Just wanted to show photos of the fanstastic Bruneians in Loughborough :-) and yes, that's a new hoodie I bought from Bench. Haha! Mama, you bought me that brand first. So I'm sticking with it! :-) Two more months until I come home. I can't wait.

LufBru Group Photo

LufBru Second Group Photo

Love,
Yasmin.
xx

ps. mama, if you look.. Awi came along to the Alton Tower's trip and we rode on a crazy rollercoaster together :-)

Ida Nabila Patera!

HAPPY
BIRTHDAY
ELLA!
Enjoy being 18. I'm sorry I can't be there to celebrate your big day though I wish I was :-) Have a beautiful birthday. Don't party. Just have a pleasant dinner with your closest friends. You're a great sister, thank you for listening to me about my idiotic mistakes, etcera. I'm looking forward to coming home and embarrasing you further.. maybe we can still convince everyone that you're the older one.

Our only most decent photo where you look much much better than me. :P

In the car, during Easter Holidays. A year ago :-(


Us in Singapore. Ella on the seat....haha she's about to get an industrial piercing. She looks worried doesn't she? hahaha!


With Ulfi.. us at a family gathering in Tutong


The famous hot dog photo!!

I love you. :)

So once again,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY LITTLE SISTER WHO'S NOT SO LITTLE ANYMORE! :)

Love,
Kaka.
xx

I'm tireddd of uni. The one month holiday felt like it just came and went.. like sand passing through your fingers, or salt whichever you're more familiar with :-P Today was the second day of my oh-so-many-and-tiring lectures.. I had a class at 10am.. and then I don't have one til 4pm later..of which I'm going to cycle to. Dipesh said that cycling is just going to make my knee hurt more, but seriously ah..it's faster.. and these days I just want to go home as soon as possible and rehat..and do random things that probably have nothing to do with uni.

My version of exploded brownies :)

Yesterday I printed out like 3 past year papers from Sequences and Series. I'm determined to do well this time around.. today I'm probably going to end up printing out the past year papers for Differencial Equations..and keep printing one module a day..and work my way through it. Pooh. The subject I'm definately most worried about would be Statiscial Modelling.. statistics is so not my forté. Sigh :-) But everything else should work out fine. Fingers crossed!!

Taufiq and Syer with the Mini

I've got 6 weeks of lectures left.. and my exams start on the first week of exam week..but I also finish earlier than everyone else. So I'm ultra happy about that, but Fol's classes don't finish until the 29th of June which is like.. two weeks after I finish my last paper.. and my exam timetable looks a bit crapped up.

First week
Mon, 4.06.07 : Sequences and Series 16:00 - 17:30
Tue, 5.06.07 : Management Accounting 9:00 - 12:00
Fri, 8.06.07 : Statistical Modelling 16:00 - 17:30

Second week
Mon, 11.06.07 : Company Law 9:00 - 11:00
Tue, 12.06.07 : Diffential Equations 16:00 - 17:30
Wed, 13.06.07 : Corporate Finance 9:00 - 11:00

Fol and I at Welcome Break on the way to Blackpool.

I don't even know when I'm going home because I haven't decided whether I want to go home early in June or go back with Fol and Mus on the 14th of July (which incidently is also Fetty, Abd Rahim and Taqiyah's flight..) or go back on the 25th of June (which is the flight twelve of the Lboro Bruneians are taking..)

I'm stuck.

I want to go home and see Mummy, but I also want to stay around and be with Fol. If I go back, I'm planning to go to Brisbane and hang out with Qi and Jit and if I come early enough, I'll get to hang out with Mi and Li. Haha, but those two are going back to Brunei for holidays anyway..but Jit and Qi aren't... So we'll see how it goes.

Us at Pleasure Beach in Blackpool.

I'm trying to limit my sugar intake this week because I had a massive sugar overload last week..haha 3kgs worth of sugar went into brownies, meringues and etc that Mus and I made over Easter. It's been crazy.. Fol rented a car last week so we went to Blackpool, Nottingham, Cheshire Oaks in Chester and Birmingham. It's a shame we didn't drive down to London, but Fol has a bad gout and couldn't walk much anyway. I bought a tekken 5 game for the ps2..and we've been playing it daily. lol!

Me with the girls out on Wallace Road.

Over the weekend, Fol and I threw a BBQ party calling it "Satay on Saturday". We charged people a mere £2 per person, but I suppose that's just peanuts in terms of money. We're thinking about having another one next month, but that depends on how things go here.

The Attendees at "Satay on Saturday"

I'll be moving out my house, but I'm not sure where I'll be going. I've got a gazillion things in this house that belong to me.. the agents will be readvertising Wallace Road..it's a shame to leave it, and all because of one problem. But it's better to let the house go rather than stick to it another year..at least I think so anyway.. but if the agents don't find anyone.. I'd have to pay the rent for it, which in my opinion is silly..but I don't make the rules. Again, we'll see how it goes :-)

Turning twenty is suppose to mean a lot.. other than hearing people left and right telling me to grow up, there's the whole "I am suddenly responsible" bit. Ladies and gentlechildren, I am now officially twenty and it only took a week for it to sink in. Thank you for all the birthday wishes, presents (cough) and time you've all taken to say/type to me :-) My best birthday present was my trip to Rome with my two housemates: Masnur and Syer, and my beloved boyfriend: Fol. I didn't turn twenty until after the trip, but it was still a good present and I had a great time sight-seeing and eating (lol).

I didn't feel well on the day of my birthday, I had stomach pain and a slight fever. Fol and I were in London, so we went out with his two cousins to London Bridge, initially we were going to go to Madame Tussauds but quickly changed our minds when we saw the long queue. Then we wanted to go to the London Dungeon but again, there was a 3-hour queue to stand in.. so instead, we just walked around the River Thames and went to St. Thomas hospital and had lunch at Yo! Sushi nearby. After lunch, we went to Waterloo and bought brownies at this bakery shop called Konditor and Cook. £5.97 worth of brownies, worth it? Yeshu! ^_^ It's delicious. Yummmmyyy.

Anyway, what I'd really like to talk about today is my love for netball. I've been playing netball on a regular basis since I joined JIS. During my time there, I learnt how to play both netball and basketball, joining both school teams. However, back then I took more time playing basketball than the other because basketball has and always been my number one favourite past time. These days, girls aren't included in to play with 'boys' because they "don't want to hurt us when they get too into the game", whatever.

I used to play basketball on a regular basis with my group of friends and the guys I played with had no problem letting me play with them, in fact, I've fallen on my ass a couple of times by them and I've returned the favour. Anyway, netball. Back in JIS, I would play either Center (C) or Wing Attack (WA). They were two positions I enjoyed, but I was also rotated in different positions by our coach because I was usually the most flexible one. I didn't have a favourite position back then, I sure do now :-)

When I came to UK, I met Masnur who asked me what sports I played and recuited me into DangGanazz. Initially, when I joined DG I was suppose to take a defender position but.. we (including myself) learnt that I could shoot... haha and the rest, I suppose, is history. And that's how I've become a shooter or more usually, a Goal Attack (GA). Eventhough both my legs give me problems in playing, I'm happy to say that I'm still well enough to play.. as long as my legs don't give out.

Anyway. I didn't have a point in talking about that story. I just wanted to talk about it. Getting back to Loughborough was a long trip, I fell asleep in the car. Mus drove and says I snored. Oopsie. My housemates threw a surprise party for me when I got home.. haha it was a huge shock but they got a big kick out of watching me looking so surprised that I cried :-) So thank you to Mas, Syer, Amzar, Yus, Jor, Fahmi, Amzar, Fol and Mus for taking time for me.

Have a great easter everyone!

xx

Birthday list.

I'm putting it back up just in case people are still..... shopping. :-P

Posted: 10/02/2007;

I'm gonna keep this list at the top so it's viewable :-D So yes, that date says 4thApril. We're not even there yet..!

Posted: 31/01/2007;
Since my birthday's in April, I'd like to get a head start on what I'd reallyreallyreally like for my birthday. I know it's three months away, but maybe you'd like to get an idea of what I actually want rather than assume.

On the top of my list, I'd like a bath robe, not because I don't like the one I have, I just want a thinner one. Maybe it's not really a bath robe, I want one of those robes I can wear around the house because the one I've got right now is really just for the shower and nothing more.

Secondly, I'd like a Japanese/Chinese tea set. You know when you go to those Japanese restaurants and they serve you those cute cups for your green tea? I'd like one of those, preferably in grey or black.

If not, I'd like a clear glass tea set to match the tea pot I just bought last week.

I also would love a Polaroid camera. I know it sounds a bit old-fashioned, but I do like photos that come out of those magical boxes. They fascinate me, seriously because I know it can keep me entertained for the rest of the day, as long as I have a lot of film.

I don't think many people know that I've now converted back into being a Charmed freak. So, if anyone wants to get me the first to last season..or one at a time? That would be nice. I've been watching the show daily (and I try to miss it more often since it's exam period and all..but my curiosity is getting the best of me).

My book and other stuff wish list is here from Amazon.co.uk :-) There's a whole big list here.. of BOOKS..What else would be nice? Hmmmm. Would someone like to pay my O2/3 network phone bills for a couple of months? No, really?

Added (01/02/2007): I want some fluorescent light bulbs for my room because yellow lighting makes me sleepy and it's harder to study.

Added (08/02/2007); Got my Fearless FBI books today in the mail!!! XXXOXOXOX

More soon :-)

XX

I'm back in London, just arrived this afternoon from Rome after four days of basking in the sun and enjoying sights. Shopped a little (okay, a LOT) but hell, Rome has a million sights to see and think about. Romans have an interesting past, Julius Caesar and all that. We visited the Colosseo, the time elevator, some "ugly palace" that the old romans dubbed it as (Palazzo di Glustizia), etc. We spent only a day shopping, and that was yesterday.. after Masnur and Syer convinced Fol and I to go to Castle Romano, which is this factory outlet about 25km outside Rome (and conviniently close to Rome's Ciampiano airport, fifteen minutes ride by taxi I tell you!!!).

We arrived in Rome really late at night and didn't get to settle in until about midnight. Knocked ourselves out and slept away. I forgot what our hotel was called, but it was more like a motel then a hotel. We were barely there. Breakfast at the hotel was absoluteshite, they served two types of cereal (one was similar to corn flakes and the other was probably the bran version of it), bacon (can't eat that! lol) , breads that look like croissants but weren't (they were normal bread, only folded accordingly to trick the untrained palate and eye to look like a bloody croissant)... and about 5 different varieties of yogurt. There was milk, water, coffee, pinapple juice and orange juice. *cheeng* Anyway, like Milan and probably the rest of Italy, Rome was dirty. Half the places we went to smelled like piss or vomit. I didn't feel well most of those days, due to a muscle pain in my stomach (played football on Thursday, scored a couple. Woo hoo!)

After breakfast on our first day, the doorman at the hotel convinced us to get on a tourist bus. The hotel we stayed in was actually just across some big shot Church, St. Mary's or something. I don't know. (just checked my tourist map, it's called Santa Maria Maggiore) Will talk about it once my memory comes back.. but for now, I will try and list down the things we did for the few days we were there.

Being the "tourists" that we were, we went. €19 per person for the whole day, complete with a guide of Rome and a pair of earphones. It was the Ciao Roma bus, it was cool being on it, because you could hop on and off it at any of the 12 destinations it took you.. especially since we got to hear about Rome's history, how and who erected what buildings, which ones used the recycled marbles from the Colosseo, etcera. We got off at the Colosseo and there was a huge queue of people lining up to go inside the Colosseo. Anyway, we ran into this Indon chick who said we could jump the queue if we paid for a tour, which we did by the way, and it was, I suppose, worth the money because we did jump the queue, got in, the tour guide was hot and he walked around with a red umbrella. My guess was that he's probably italian.. but what the heck, he had this zit on his nose that I couldn't stop staring at... but never mind me and my weird obsession with acne. The actual price of going into the Colosseo without a tour (plus queuing for about an hour outside) was just €11, and the tour cost us €21 plus we got to use walkie talkies so we could hear the guide babbling on about how great the Colloseum was and the nine mistakes the US people made with Gladiator. :-P It was FACT that during the Roman times, men and women were sat SEPERATELY as they got a bit too friendly with each other and no one was ashamed of making friends very quickly. During those days, people were very very very open, if you can catch my drift ;-) Anyway, in the Gladiator, men and women were sat together. I don't really know if this is true or not since I haven't seen the movie myself.. but I will put it down as one of the movies I need to watch soon.

We also took time to visit the Vatican (Giardini del Vaticano) and I saw these two guys in colourful suits. Apparently they were from the Swiss army. FACT: You have to be Swiss and at least 174cm to join.. and the costumes were funny. It was yellow and purple and they looked more like Jesters than army guards. Got lost one or twice (thanks Mas :-P) but we found Zara (my boutique heaven) but didn't go in.. we ended up having a late lunch at Spizzico (it's this pizza chain under AutoGrill and it's like splattered all over Italy) and walked our bums to the Spanish steps. The Dior shop was located right in front of it, how convinent. Anyway, the steps were really cool because it was their way of getting their Chruch to connect to the ground floor in a straight line or something.. but I thought the steps were a beautiful idea anyway if there weren't so many tourists resting their arses on it. Seriously, you couldn't SEE the steps because everyone was sitting on it! Anyway, we didn't get back to our hotel til about 11pm because:

a) we got lost;
b) we had to retrace our steps because we somehow read the map wrong (that was Mas. I have no connection to directions or itenary);
c) the bus that was suppose to pick us up never showed up.

So we ended up having dinner at a fancy smanchy restaurant.. of which I ended up coughing €50 for my "part" of the bill and we took a taxi home. I had stomach pains (muscle...) throughout the day by the way.


The next day my stomach felt worse than it did before.. but Fol managed to convince me to go out anyway. We were initially
going to take a boat ride at the Tibet river but decided against it because:

a) the river was damn dirty;
b) it was smelly and
c) it didn't look very popular since there were no masses of queues for it.

So we took a walk and did I ever mention about how notorious the people in Italy were at selling knockoffs of branded goods? I can tell the difference between some goods now, but hell.. that Guess bag was anyone's guess. Anyway, the bridge we crossed were FULL of black men and bangladesh men (I'm not being racist, this is a full fact) selling knockoffs. I was just extremely grateful I didn't see any knockoffs of the LVs and Guess bags I had.. hahaha I've only got about, 5 nice handbags? :-) So yes, was very pleased. We walked towards the city and ended up at Piaza Navona which has these really quiant Italian restaurants. Am yet to be disappointed with "real" Italian restaurants despite their lack of imagination when it came to serving food and lack of choice (Bella Italia, Uno, Fratini's menus win by miles).

We rode on a horse coach to go to the time elevator... it was really lame but it had interesting facts in it because it told you the history of Rome for the past 3000 years in just 45 minutes. At the end of that, I just felt really sick so everyone sent me home and then they went out again (by they, I mean Mas, Syer and Fol) so I stayed in our hotel room and watched Who wants to be a Millionaire in Italian. That's another story I think I'll keep to myself.

Anyway, by Monday we learnt how to use the Metro system (and busses!!!) so we took the tube to get to Laurentina and thirty pestering questions later (to the people working at the Bus station), we were finally on our way to Castel Romano... only to be dropped out at the bloody highway and we had to litarately WALK from the motor way to the designer outlet... which took half an hour..... and I was cursing under my breath. Heck, it was worth it. :-) I bought a skort, a new top and a dress.. unfortunately, Fol didn't buy anything for some reason... but by mid-afternoon we were shopped out and wandered down to the Colosseo and walked to the Roman Forum (Areo di Tito) and also this beautiful arch which was located right in front of the Colosseo. We took lots of photos...... everyone will yet to see me in a photo alone with a scenic background (it screams "HELLO, LOOK! I'VE BEEN HERE". Seriously is not my thing). Anyway, after that whole let's take photos thing.. we took a bus to Spagna and places I didn't go to because I was not feeling well... and Fol took me to Zara and watched me shop.. and shop.. and shop. :-) We didn't get back to the hotel until about 9;30pm and we stopped by the NikeTermini and I bought us matching tops (lame aren't we?) and bought him a cook book to read :-) I love that boy. :-)


We woke up at 4am the next morning, I could hear Syer's alarm beeeeepping....she was pretty loud when she woke up. Haha, she fell asleep at the airport table. We were exhausted by the time we arrived, but at least we checked in our bags early. We had second priority seating, woo. But that's only because we checked in at 7am... but our flight wasn't until about 11am. It was pretty crazy...


Now, Mas and Syer have gone back to Loughborough..and I'm staying in London til the weekend to celebrate my 20th birthday in many many styles!

Will post photos up eventually.

love,
yasmin.
XXXX

ps. please mind my grammar and spelling.. am on an apple laptop. have no clue how to use this thing. xxx