You-know-what

Finished in 8 hours over a span of 2.5 days. Would have finished in one sitting, but remembered that I can't afford panda eyes which take agesssss to get rid of. Like I promised, no review, only "I absolutely love the book!"

Even more reason to love it : Popular called me up yesterday to inform me that they're giving 25% discount for HP7, which makes it RM82.43. They will refund me the additional RM16.48 I paid earlier if I show them the receipt. That's absolutely great! That means I only paid an additional RM12.53 from what the hypermarkets are selling at. I wonder if MPH and Times are offering the same discounts to its members. Not like it really matters since in the first place I was already prepared to buy the book at RM109.90 - but discounts are, of course, always a pleasant surprise :)

Finally, I got my white shoes at Metrojaya. Not my preferred pair, because most of my preferred choices were not available in my size. I scoured the entire, and I really mean entire, 1 Utama and Mid Valley to finally find this pair.

And oh, the treasure hunt up to Cameron Highlands was great! Our team "Nasi-lemak-on-the-go" (only thing off the top of our heads) got 3rd prize! We're natural treasure hunters, being first-timers, haha. I loved the treasure hunt, although it really squeezed my brain juice dry, and made my eyes get really fed up with the huge masses of signboards stuck everywhere. And I absolutely loved Cameron Highlands! First time up there, see. The long winding road uphill from Simpang Pulai seems quite easy to drive, not steep at all. Weather was fantastic. Breakfast at Equatorial was actually quite filling. The market was a thoroughly apt place to become an "auntie". The Boh tea plantation was superbly English. So many places I didn't get to go, because my colleagues have all been there so many times. The next time I go up, I want to pick strawberries, buy more flowers, eat more fried mushrooms, stay a little longer, drink a little more tea :)

The end of Harry

This shall be the reason I am going to be holed up from Sunday onwards.

Reminiscently, I can remember that when the 6th book came out, I was whisked away to PD Avillion to enjoy the book - free from spoilers divulged via the papers, the radio, the tv, or the Internet. KF patiently waited for me to finish the book, to be completely antisocial, and then when I was done (after being completely devastated and reduced to sniffles), I wanted to read the book all over again, but of course, it was then his turn to retreat from the world.

Unfortunately, I can't do the same thing this time.

I hope, I really truly hope, I do not hear any spoilers from the radio on the way down from Cameron Highlands, or glance upon intruding headlines on the Sunday papers. Please let me make it home safe in the knowledge that I'll have a few days of pure joy (or horror) when I eventually get my hands on this book. And, I will not be blogging any review of the book at all. But I'll shout out when I'm done, so you can call me and we can rant about the ending together.

On an unrelated note, I cannot believe that Tesco and Carrefour are selling the book at RM69.90 when I pre-ordered mine for RM109.90 from Popular! Don't like the idea of being ripped off by the major bookstores. Glad to know that all bookstores and hypermarkets open at 7.01am tomorrow for everyone to get their final Harry fix. I'll be flagging off at that time, hopefully completely absorbed with tulips and anagrams and signboards to be able to withstand Hogwarts' power until the next day.

Have a very harry weekend! :)

My 27th birthday

A million thanks for the many well wishes! Really, on your birthday, there's nothing happier than knowing people gave a few seconds of their time to think of you, and that friends are wishing you well :)

I left right on time from the office (something I haven't done in a long time, but the lady boss was smiling indulgently when I left) and waited at home for KF to come pick me up. He came with this really cute box of cupcakes for me :) It's from Cupcakechic and boy does it taste super yummy! I was so excited when I saw the cake that I only remembered much later (after 25% of the cake was gone) that I didn't take a photo! I did eventually, much later at night ...



The haul this year includes 2 Coach bags, a DKNY perfume, an MPH book voucher, the sinfully sweet cupcakes, HP5 movie and a yummy steamboat dinner :)

We then rushed off for HP5. GSC 1U was, as usual, swamped with people (this is why I don't really like to go there, besides the price being super exorbitant and can you believe that Gold Class is always frequently sold out there?).

The opening notes for HP5 sent goose shivers down my arm. Then I settled down to completely engross myself in the movie, features of which were: the young "Snivellus" Snape (and the much older, can't-decide-if-he's-bad-or-good Professor Snape), the sickly laugh of the pink-clad Professor Dolores Umbridge at the end of every sentence, the completely-absorbed-in-her-own-world Luna Lovegood (quite a great performance actually, she was exactly as I imagined her to be), the mad-looking Bellatrix Lestrange, the fun-looking Nymphadora Tonks. Felt that Draco Malfoy didn't have enough screen time to portray his soon-to-be evilness.

But I shouldn't dissect the movie so thoroughly, the movies will never overseat the books. But I do plan to buy the box set when all the movies are finally produced. Something to keep.

This weekend heading up north to Chiangmai on company trip! In holiday mood now, thinking of Thai massages and yummy Thai food .... aiyo, how to lose weight before photoshoot? Nvm nvm, this is the real me right? The photos must depict the REAL me! Better if there's more of me! Muahahahahahahaha ;P