PS. I Love You....

A few days off Piano, a few days off Facebook, a few days off Blogging...
All because of this one book!!

Well, a few days off Facebook is not unusual, a few days off blogging is also common for me, but a few days off Piano???!!

Well, that's a bit abnormal for me heheh.. 

The thing is, I saw this book many many times when I was in Malaysia, in MPH, in Kinokuniya, in Borders, and many many other book stores, but it never occured to me that I should buy it, and I had never even bothered reading the synopsis, because in my mind, it was always the same thing:

 "This book must be another hopeles romantic kind of story...."
Judging from the title of course... And I didn't even care of it being 'The Number one International Bestseller' because of course that's what most people want, the more hopeless romantic, the more people loved it... Errrrrr I'm right, am I??

Mmmmmm... Of course I'm dead wrong!!

This is an INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING book we're talking about, not MALAYSIAN BESTSELLING book!!!!!

Ok, ok, so, never ever underestimate any books!!

I'm not going to ramble about it, and make u guys feel bored of my failure to deliver what the stories were all about in short. So, this is basically the synopsis for those who haven't read it yet:

~~Some people wait their whole lives to find their soul mates. But not Holly and Gerry. They were childhood sweethearts-no one could imagine Holly and Gerry without each other. Until the unthinkable happens. Gerry's death devastates Holly. But as her 30th birthday looms Holly discovers that Gerry has left her a bundle of notes, gently guiding her into her new life without him, each signed: 

'PS. I Love You'

With some help from her friends, and her nosy and loving family, Holly finds herself laughing, crying, singing, dancing-and being braver than ever before. Life is for living, she realizes-but it always helps if there's an angel watching over you~~

As for me, this book was a mixture of emotions. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me sad. It was such a bittersweet book. And I loved every bit of it! 
It was by far, one of the best books I've ever read!
And it touched every corner of my heart.. :)

The part that had touched my heart so deeply was when Holly had to open Gerry's last letter, he'd left her ten envelopes which she had to open one each month. So this tenth envelope was opened by Holly after about a year after Gerry's death.. And the content of it  brought tears to my eyes, and also the fact that there'll be no more letters after that, and that Holly still hadn't had enough strength and courage to go through life alone...

This novel really captivates you in to reading more, I found it very difficult to put down, and I kept putting myself in Holly's shoes.. 
Though hubby is not my childhood sweethearts, but the love we have built together for almost ten years were enough to make me understand how Holly feels throughout the novel. 

Cecilia Ahern is very very good and there were times when reading the funny parts in this book, I felt like I was reading Sophie Kinsella's book! :D

I reccomend, read the book before you watch the movie, or if you have watched the movie, you should also read the book. I heard the movie was far from good. Here are the facts: 

Movies fail to deliver good emotions, an act can't produce it as good as writings do. 

As for me, I had never cried at movies, and I don't easily cry over novels too, unless if it involves mother and child relationship or if it's based on true story.... but this book was an exception, just like 'A Thousand Splendid Suns', 'PS I Love You' made me cry. But still, nothing can beat 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' just yet, it is still number one on my list!

My rating for PS. I Love You~~~~~ 4.5/5

Lessons learnt from it ~~ Appreciate what you have before it's gone!

So, enjoy!

PS. Sorry if there's any mistakes in my writing...

Quick Update... (",)

Salam...

I know I'm supposed to be updating about rotten stories, but... that can be delayed...

They were already rotten anyway hehehe!

Ok, just a quick update....
Rite now I'm in an exhilarating mood.. yihaaaa...
I just got a new niece, which I'll be meeting soon!! InsyaAllah..

Ok, enough of that, what I wanna share here is, Fatini's progress so far...

She did a good job in Mathematics, I explained to her once and then she did everything herself... I prepared Smarties candies for her to use for counting, but she prefers mental calculation!

The best part is, her enthusiasms in learning, everytime she's so excited to do some Maths and some reading..

Her usual words everyday, "mama, jangan lupa hari ni baca Read Easy!"

So mama tak boleh lupe okeh!! 

Bukan dia nak buat2 lupe ke ape, dia lagi ingatkan mama hehe..

 "Things are hard before they're easy..."

Fatini had always given me a hard time when she was small, now she makes everything easy for me.. alhamdulillah.. (",)

Now she's able to read text like above (",)

I know I know, kids her age in Malaysia are also able to read this even better, but, it's just something special and different when it's entirely my own effort... 

I feel like I've just succeeded in something... hmmm...

And yesterday she did this (pic above)... 

Satu je salah, ok la kan hehe.. So proud of her. She calculated it all mentally (",)

Haaaaaaa melukis pun terer! Ade sama la kan? Hehe..

Mmmmmmmm... Always talked about Fatini's progress, how bout Afeef? 

 Afeef not as fast as Fatini, and not as much enthusiasms as Fatini, but at least he enjoys reading this book now. Baby Blues deutsch version. This book really is funny, I highly recommend this book for those wants to encourage your kids to read. They have English version in Malaysia. 

I remember my late father, in his effort to make us all love reading, he would buy us whatever books we liked regardless, as long as we read!

Including comic book macam Baby Blues ni lah..

Though mom disagreed sometimes because mom always preferred us reading educational materials..

But I think, being a parent myself now, what my late father did was right, it's important for the kids to find reading enjoyable.. once they enjoyed it, they will start looking for more..

And most importantly, like I said before, if you want your kids to eat vegetables, you have to start with yourself first and same goes here, if you want your kids to love and enjoy reading, 

START WITH YOURSELF!

:

:

:

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Mmmmmmm... same goes, if mama loves to beautify herself, then like mother like daughter laaaa hehe..

  Rambut yang mendapat pujian setiap hari dari cikgu2 Kindergarten.. Ade sape2 berkenan? Hehe.... 

Lastly, gambar selingan...

Just got the Fasching photos @Kindergarten yesterday...

Fatini and friends and some of her teachers.. 

Fatini jeling ape ler tu hehe.. spoil gambar...


Ok, that's all for today, till later....
Salam..
(",)

My little IMAGINATION... (",)

I was rummaging, oh, don't ask what was I looking for, this is what happens when you never keep things properly in your house.

Ok, back to the story, as I was rummaging the book rack, my eyes fell on this book,

I talked about this book before in one of my entries HERE, and how I found it interesting, but this time when I looked at it, a thought came across my mind...

Lexi, the character in this story, had been in a car accident and she got amnesia and lost part of her memories, 3 years of her life to be exact.

So she got up in a hospital room, with no memories of the past 3 years of her life and found...
What the heck, A TOTALLY NEW HER!!!

I mean, a really really new Her, she had somehow turned into different person all together..

So, when I was reading this book, I did wonder, is it really possible that a person could transformed so much within just 3 years??

And, this morning, I found myself wondering, if I were to wake up in a Hospital room today, with no memories at all of the past 3 years of my Life, how different was I then than now??

Mmmmmmmmmmm.... Lets see....

1~~ I have a 3 year old daughter named Aleena??? Really??

2~~ I live in Germany?? In a nice and huge house? Really??

3~~ I play piano??? Biar betul!! 3 years ago, Playing piano was like, 'In your dream babe'..

4~~ I have a piano at home? My very own piano?? Really?? No way!!

5~~ I have this new habbit, an apple a day is a must! Seriously?? I never liked apples!!

6~~ I wear shawls everyday?? This better be for real!!! Shawls used to be a stack of 'harta karun' kept in my wardrobe because I was too shy to look different, and I looked pathetic in it, and many more excuses but now shawls are my Life!! A friend even call me the  'Queen of Shawls'!!! Hahaha!

7~~ I make my own Tiramisu, cupcakes, muffins, etc etc... This is unbelievable!!!! 3 years ago I had not the slightest ideas on how to bake anything!!! Hahaha!!

8~~ I have flowers in my house???!! And I've made flower base paintings to decorate my house?? No way!!! I was never into flowers, I have always dreamed of a house full of abstract paintings and 'flowers free' hehe..

9~~ I speak a little Deutsch? Wow..

10~~~ I have a collections of pots and plates?? Haaaaahhhh....!! I was never into pots and plates!!

11~~ I have many friends in Deutschland!! Really??!!

12~~ I've been to some interesting places in Europe!! Wow!!

13~~ I'm no longer a messy person, I can't stand to see a pile up in the sink, or a table full of stuffs and things like that, which was something I couldn't be bothered before hehe..

14~~ I kinda enjoy kenduri kendara which I used to hate, it's a chance to get together with friends and families, but I still hate the kind where woman do all the work and men just sit back and relax while coffee is being served!

15~~ What else?? I have a blog!! 3 years ago I had no idea what blogging was all about hehe! I never even thought I could write and continue to write because many things I did in life 'hangat2 taik ayam' je hehe.

Ok, I think that was all the little things that have changed over these past 3 years in my Life, nevertheless, they were enough to make me as dumbfounded as Lexi Smart in this novel.

Hei, why don't you guys do the same thing, just to find how dumbstruck you'll be in discovering how your life has changed in just a few years!!

It's kinda fun, Try it (",)

My little mission... not impossible (",)

I am now trying my best to pursue my mission, that is, to make my children love books, love to read books, to have passion for books..

My late father was someone who had so much passion for books, he had this huge collection of books, and we even had a library at home with racks full of books!!

I've been exposed to all kinds of reading materials since I was a little girl, such as Readers Digest, Time Magazines, Novels, etc etc and a Book Fair was something we would all looked forward to and were always always sooooo excited to go, and the best part was, 'abah' would always gave us the huge amount of money to buy as many books we like regardless of the amount, the price.. 

Oh, I've realized now how abah tried his best for me to love books, because unlike my other elder siblings, I used to be someone who disliked reading, maybe I even hated it!

The turning point was when I started reading English books, and it was all my father's effort, he had taught me to read in English (",)

When I started reading English books, I fell in Love immediately, because unlike Malay story books, English story books are far far more interesting..

So, in the process of teaching my children how to read in English, I observed these cute and funny differences between Afeef and Fatini, why they differ so much, I have absolutely no Idea!!

For instance, Fatini is now able to read these sentences on her own, and Afeef had long ago finished with this part, but when Afeef read this, he just read it and never questioned anything. 

I would then asked him what's the meaning of everything that he had just read..

So he would start thinking what had he read? 

And he would read again, this time to understand it so he could explain it to me..

If I didn't ask, he wouldn't bother to know what the story was all about!

He would read just for the sake of reading?? hehehe..

No wonder he found reading BORING!! haha

Ok, so it's a totally different story with Fatini, when she was reading these exact same sentences, when she came to the part,

"Sam sat on a cat...."

She started giggling all of a sudden, and I asked why??

She said, it's funny that Sam sat on a cat!! How could a person sit on a cat!!

Seeee???

She understands what she reads, isn't that great????!!!

Same goes here, with Afeef, he'd just read it like usual and never question a thing, but when it comes to Fatini, she immediately asked, why sit and then sat?...

Haha so smart (",)

She always explains to me what's the meaning of everything she'd read without being asked, and if she doesn't understand anything at all, she would always always asks!!!

And she is now able to read this!! 

It's amazing how fast she progresses (",)

Oh my, I guess children really are different, like I said before, at 4 years old, Afeef was always so satisfied with my 'Orang lidi version of Ultraman', but for Fatini, No way!! hehe..

I had to draw something, anything exactly the way she wanted it mmmmm..

Nevertheless, I believed that, no matter how different they are, they each have their own special talent and I'm going to discover it!!

Just a lil something to share here...

Aleena always has a teddy with her whenever she goes out, even just to fetch Fatini from kindergarten and it's a must for her to bring her teddy along haiiiihhh..

And Fatini, refused to cut her hair, see how long it is now??

Macam2 perangai.... hehehe..

Till Later (",)

If You Could See Me Now...

Mmmmmm.. Something to share here..

I'm currently reading this, this was a gift from a nice friend, Izu :)

Thanx Izu, really really appreciate it...

 I don't know if she has read this before, but this book is seriously interesting!

And really is my cup of tea hehehe..

It's about a woman named Elizabeth who'd been abandoned by her mother when she was only a child in her endless search for freedom.. In the beginning, her mother would returned home once in a while, and Elizabeth would wait endlessly for that moment to come, and at the same time racked her brain for something, anything which would make her mom stay, something her mom would love so much that she would never leave again..

It had never occured to her that she should be that SOMETHING... 

Sob sob sob...

Oh believe it or not, I got all emotional, and this time around I no longer laughed like an idiot in the middle of the night, but I got tears run down my cheeks!!

Ok, ok, call me an emotional freak :)

But that part of the story really breaks my heart..

And then later, her mother gave birth to a baby sister and not long after that she'd left for good, leaving Elizabeth with a brooding father, who'd sat by the fireplace all the time reading news paper but never turned the page hehe, and a baby sister she had to take care of.. 

So, Elizabeth grew up to be someone who believed that letting someone in her heart would only make her fragile and it would not do her any good.. She'd blocked her heart from any sorts of emotional feelings toward others...

But then, enters Luke in her life, her sister's son, (her sister has somehow turned into a psycopath and always wanders around that she had no idea how she had gotten herself pregnant!!)

And also enters Ivan, Luke's invisible best friend :D 

Is this best friend really exist? Or just Luke's imagination? Either way, this Ivan is about to make a difference in their life...

And Elizabeth was about to discover what she had been missing all along...

Nevertheless, I haven't finished reading this book, I'm only about 1/3 and already it's hard for me to put it down.

With a touch of a fairytale, this book is a must read!!

And for those who's been wondering, 

'What to read next??'

This is the answer!!!

PS: Anyway, in case you don't already know, Cecilia Ahern is the No.1 bestselling author of 'PS, I Love You.'

Housewife heaven :P

A steaming hot coffee and a novel... 

*****Siggggghhhhh.....****

What else should I want..

This is what I call a 'Housewives Heaven' ngeh ngeh..

No worries, no pressure, no dateline, no meetings, no rushing... :D

By the way, this is another delicious page-turner by Sophie Kinsella, catchy and of course hilarious!!!

And since it's winter and 6.30pm is already Isya, and at 9pm, already feels like midnight, so everyone sleeps early too.. 

And since I've turned into sort of a disciplined mommy (konon2 laaa ngeh ngeh),

my reading time is set to only before I go to sleep, on the bed, with only a tiny lamp switched on..

So, I ended up laughing like an idiot in the middle of the night hehehe!!

Ehem.. of course there's a loophole, though I've said reading time is only before I go to sleep, I've decided that is only aplicable when I haven't gotten to the climax of the story :D 

Seriously, if you are a huge fan of Sophie Kinsella, then this is a must read!! 

And even if you are not a fan of her, you still should read this, it's really really nice!

mmmmmm.... ok, just a lil bit more, this is my latest piano cover, as I've said before, this past week had been a 'Lagu-lagu basi mode', so this is the first lagu basi I've played, not so successfully though.. the ending was a bit huru hara :P

Anyway, Enjoy!!

Sape yang tengah jiwang bercinta masa lagu ni Top dulu, suka lah tew hehehe...

Ok, lastly, came across this yesterday, 

"Kemudian sampaikan khabar gembira kepada mereka yang beriman dan beramal soleh, bahawa bagi mereka syurga-syurga yang dihiasi oleh sungai-sungai yg mengalir. Setiap kali mereka mendapat rezeki dari buah-buahan di dalam syurga, mereka mengatakan, 

"Rezeki ini adalah rezeki yang telah diberikan kepada kami sebelum ini"

Mereka mendapat rezeki yang serupa tetapi berlainan hakikatnya.."

(Surah Al-Baqarah: ayat 25)

It occurs to me that in heaven, we'll actually have the same kind of life we have now on earth, we'll have the same things we have now, whatever we love to have and already have, we will have it there again.. only in heaven, it's far far better, far happier, with no more tests, no more worries etc etc.. it's unimaginably beautiful...

So, lets work for it ;)

A Doctor in The House..

This book arrived yesterday, "A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE"... Hubby bought this book from Malaysia, and spent a few hundreds for the postage cost plus the price of the book itself..

Hehe.. I wrote before in 'Novelholic..is there such thing?' that hubby and I have got a totally different interest in reading materials, and see??? Am I rite?? This is the kind of reading materials he would loves to read, not just reading them, but he's got such passions for them which amazed me..

Also I wrote before in one of my entry, 'Nothing in Common..?' bout how different me and hubby is, this is one of it... perhaps, I should try reading this too.. maybe I'll love it.. maybe it's interesting once I get to know it... Like I said before, we have understood each other, and accepted each others liking and at the same time try to like it also, maybe I should try to like this kind of reading materials too.. after all, this is knowledge kan? hehehe..

Books, books, books...

Last Saturday we made a trip to a nearby bookstore called Thalia, actually I just wanted to look for a Deutsch course book, since the 2nd module for Deutsch course had started last week.

This is us getting ready to go..

Ambik gambar dulu kikiki..

The bookstore remind me so much of Kinokuniya in KLCC, it has this sitting area where people could spend their time reading, I loved it instantly.. very comfortable and cozy.

mmmmm.. looks like the she's delivering a speech or something...

The best thing was, there was quite a selections of English books available, not much but at least these much by Sophie Kinsella were available.. Most of them I've read, but there were other books too by other Author. I wouldn't have shipped any story books here if only I had discovered this before.

This is what I'm reading now..

Ok, guess what? that was not the whole story yet, there were only few choices of english books available because German's people, they don't really read english books, maybe some of them do, but the majority still look for books in Deutsch language, so, all the English books were translated to Deutsch!! Can you believe it?? I hardly believed it myself...

Look, this is the famous novel kan?? I'm not a big fan of this, but I know it was famous. This is the translated version.

And also almost all books by Sophie Kinsella in Deutsch version were available..

Check this out, 'Mini Shopaholic'... I guess books by her were always a hit anywhere, thats why they were displayed here at the most wanted section.

This one, I'm not sure which one, the title is something like "I'll tell no more, Darling", is there any book by Sophie Kinsella with that kind of title? I've never seen anything like it.. the closest possible could be "Can you keep a secret?"

This, I'm sure everybody knows, Khaled Hosseini only wrote two books so far, if I'm not mistaken. This is the Deutsch version of "A Thousands Splendid Suns".

And also, my favorite "The Kite Runner" also by Khaled Hosseini.. this book has touched my heart deeply.. not only for the wonderful story itself but the realization of the hardships those Afghanis had gone through...

Haaaaaa.. there were several books available by Nicholas Sparks, Deutsch version of course. He wrote the famous "Message in the bottle", for those who love "jiwang karat" version, books by him are highly recommended.

I guess, it's an opportunity for me to learn Deutsch better, if I could only finish one of these novels, since I've read the english version, I might not totally be at a loss.. hehe

we'll see...

Ehehe.. This is "The Kite Runner" on the inside, hehehe bole faham ke? I could only picked up some, here and there.. hehe... Ntah ler...

NoVeLHoLiC.. is ThERe SuCH ThiNG..?

I must say i'm a novelholic, I culd go crazy whenever i'm in a bookstore especially MPH, Borders and Kinokuniya in KLCC. I culd spend hours just reading through the synopsis of each book and then I wuld have a hard time deciding which one I shuld buy. Unlike my sister and hubby who read all kinds of reading materials, I on the other hand prefer only novels!

No matter how life's changed, this one thing bout me never change, even after I gave birth and during the confinement period, I'd still read and my mom wuld say "Jangn baca masa dlm pantang, nnt mata rosak.." and I wuld put the book away temporarily and wuld surreptitiously read it again, and even when the number of kids increased and they often snatched the book away from me especially when they were babies and I wuld try to find the time so I culd read peacefully but eventually all efforts failed, like right now, I wuld only read whenever I breastfeed Aleena or before I started reading I wuld offer her lots of soft toys and colorful stuffs to distract her but still the moment I opened my book, her attention would divert to my book and again she wuld snatched it away.. and even when I started blogging and facebooking, I had spent less time reading, but at the end of the day, I wuld still settle for a cup of coffee and a book in my hand.

Last winter here, I couldn't find any books in English, I was worried, "Four years without a novel? How culd it be?" so a few days before we boarded our airplane, I had prepared a stock of novels to be shipped to Germany. Though my hubby had relentlessly told me that I culd buy any book I like online (Amazon.de), but the stubborn me culdn't take the risk. haha sorry for that my dear hubby, I hope he now understands the passion I have for books.. I feel quiet ashamed with myself actually, hubby was right, any books are available here, all I have to do is just 'click'. My hubby bought lots and lots of books already.. but of course his choice of a book was waaayy different from mine, he reads 'The Accidental Billionaires', this book is about the founder of Facebook, and 'The Last Lecture' bout a professor who was dying, wats the name of the author? I culdn't even recall.. arrgggghhh will I ever read it? dunno. we'll seee.....

Right now, I'm reading this novel by Sophie Kinsella:

hahahah, she certainly has her own pleasant way of writing such a wonderful novels.. Unlike others who love the Shopaholic series, i prefer other books by Sophie Kinsella, like 'Can you keep a Secret?'. But still, all books by her were truly entertaining! Those who were a huge fan of Sophie Kinsella know what I mean. hehehe...