hobbies...

I'm terrible at keeping with a particular hobby. This blog being an exception...

For a while it used to be baking. I would bake on a weekly basis... even spend late nights to make something to bring to the office the next day. For 2 years, I made Raya cookies... they're tasty (orang kata aa, bukan sendiri perasan, hehe) but all look the same because I'm too lazy to roll and cut. They're all the *drop* cookies. Mama complained because they all look the same and are not pretty. Well... cookies are for eating what? It's the taste that matters not how it looks.

Then I stopped baking because I ended up with lots of leftover cakes and cookies. Everyone has had enough of my carrot cakes, chocolate cakes, muffins... I myself don't have a sweet tooth so I typically don't eat much cakes or desserts. The joy of baking, for me at least, is when you see people digging their way into the cake/cookie and savouring the taste.

Lepas tu it was sewing. I've been encouraged by my mom to pick it up (I think it's because she wants me to jahit all her kain langsir, hehe). None of us siblings ever picked up the skill. If we needed to tampal or alter anything, it's always "Papa... tolong jahit kan boleh?" Yup... my dad can sew!! Whenever our trousers are too long, ada baju terkoyak... he would carefully manouver his way through the pieces of cloth, in all seriousness siap dengan his glasses on his nose... jahit for us. He would usually do it properly as well. For example, kalau koyak, Mama would just jahit je over the offending garment, tapi Papa would kemas kan dulu, get an appropriate kain to tampal and jahit kemas2.

After many years of observing them doing it, I got interested. How hard could it be right? Looks simple enough. My first project was a pillow case. We were at Macy in Serdang... I think I was there to get Mantze curtains as a house-warming gift for her new house. Then ada juga kain lain on sale... really cheap! RM1-5 per meter. So bought some and that's how it started. Gosh... senget benget the first time I jahit. But before that, had to learn how to letak benang in that small bekas benang thing that you put in the machine... what do you call it... sekoci? Ntah lah... Then had to learn how to pasang benang on the machine itself... pusing sana sini, make sure not too much tension otherwise it might putus, deciding on the *size* jahitan... macam2! My first attempt... coz takut cannot control, I went slow.... really, really slow. My mom came to me and said "Laju lah sikit... macam ni sampai bila baru nak siap?" I just smiled back at her.

My first *masterpiece* was not something lovely to look at to say the least but was something that I'm most proud of :) I can finally sew!! After that, I went on a frenzy of making many more sarung bantals, even made a curtain for my room. Senget pun senget lah... it's for me to see anyway. Then I got adventurous... even dah boleh alter baju, seluar... although I'm still a novice compared to Papa.

Then I ran out of ideas on what to do... how many pillow cases do one need anyway right? I'm doing this for fun not as an additional source of income. The thing I like about sewing is that we have the machine in the exterior of the house, next to the dining room where there is a water feature. So each time menjahit, I would turn the thing on and I'm transported to a world of calm and serenity... just bunyi air and mesin jahit... sambil menikmati angin from kipas above. It's so thereupatic!

Lepas tu Ina introduced me to SimCity. Aiyoo... I'm addicted to any form of computer strategy games. Several years back it was Caesar, then it was The Sims. My siblings always complain that I take too long to play... that I try too hard to plan everything. Even when building the house for my Sims, I would take ages to do it. Why do I like these games? I suppose I have an intrinsic interest towards architecture and planning. But I've stopped playing these games because the consume so much time and I was having neck pains and lenguh wrists.

Whenever I'm planning for a holiday, then my free time would be consumed with reading travel journals, forums, visiting various websites... all to do with planning for the holiday. Where to go, where to stay, how long at each place... right down to the admission cost and mode of transport to travel from one location to another. It borders on obsession, hehe... But despite all the planning, I don't follow the schedule strictly... they're just as guides. So that I can make sure that I get to see all the things I want/ought to see.

Then coming home from a holiday... I would spend time sorting through the photos - to be uploaded or printed. Tapi this year's trip sudah ketinggalan bas... so many yang belum sorted. I just don't have as much time as I used to. Maybe that's something that I can do during this coming Christmas break.

I guess keeping busy is something that I need to keep my sanity...

Yesterday over lunch, my supposed-to-be-housemate (STBH) #1 ajak join dia for dancing class. Now... that's something I'd like to do :) She also ajak join the aerobics class every Tues and Thurs. Since I've promised myself (and NSY) that I'd start exercising soon... I'll take up on the invite. We'll see how this lady fair next week... Hopefully I won't be muttering *aduh* with each step or bend ;)