Adventure romantica in Italy

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Dr Oetker. All opinions are 100% mine.

“Hi girlfriend, you and hubby got any romantic plan for Valentine?” I laughed out loud when I read this SMS from my friend. Whoa…Valentine’s Day is a month away and you are already asking about my plan, I said. Well, I do have a plan. And, its romantic. *wink* Hubby and I are going to Italy to enjoy an eleven-days wine tour, complete with romantic meals, sightseeing and a lot more! Er, girlfriend, you might want to close that jaw before a fly zoom-in. Seriously? No. It is only wishful thinking. *smile*

Hey, the eleven-day Italian wine tour, meals and sightseeing are true, you know. It is the Grand Prize to be won in the Dr Oetker Adventure Romantica Contest. It also includes return economy airfare for two to Italy, hotel accommodation, one winery tour and pocket money of $1,500 CND. Feeling excited? Well, first of all, you have to be a Canadian to participate in this contest…hehe.. To my fellow Canadian bloggers and readers, listen up. Become a Savoury Moment member now and get a bonus PIN to enter this contest right away! Having done that, you are in the running for the Grand Prize. *smile*

Hmm, besides the Grand Prize offered, there are other 100,008 Instant Win Prizes to be won. 100,000 Ristorante Pizza Coupon, 5 “Ristorante for a Year” that includes 52 FREE Dr Oetker prize pack and 24 bottles of custom labeled wine, and 3 tours for two at a local winery/vineyard near your residence. See, these prizes are equally attractive. Oh, this awesome contest ends on February 15, 2010. Buona fortuna!

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Christmas is here

Christmas, the second-greatest feast day (after Easter Sunday) in the Christian Calendar is here. I just want to wish everyone a merry Christmas. May you have a wonderful time !

:) I am having a good time. Gathering with hubby's side of the family. Vanessa is busy playing with her cousins downstairs. Obviously, she is also having a jolly good time right now that she forgot about her mommy for a while. So, apa lagi? Mommy pun ambik kesempatan la...putting up this short post.

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Holiday fun eyeglasses

I have posted an entry on the $8 prescription Zenni glasses a month ago. And…here I go again…hehe.. Don’t worry; I won’t bore you with a long and winding post. It’ll be a short one this time. I promise. Cross my heart! *smile* I just want to shout about the new arrivals at Zenni Optical. I feel guilty if I do not share this good news with you, my friends. *smile*

Zenni Optical offering a wonderful selection of holiday-themed frames to coincide with Christmas, all at low, affordable price. You want a snow-covered country side-themed frame? Snow flakes-themed frame, perhaps? You can get it here. Browsing through their selection, I found myself this lovely thing. A half-rim in cinnebar red! I’m such a sucker for half-rim. *grin*

Hey, the holiday-themed frames are not limited to adult only. There are holiday fun eyeglasses for the children too you know. This one is a cutie.

Okay, that’s it. A short post like I promised. *wink*

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Cherishing the moment

The holidays are over. But why oh why am I still in holiday mood? Somehow, I got a feeling that I am not the only one. LOL.

I’ve cleaned up my desk, my In and Out tray, filed some loose documents into its files, etc. Now, I don’t have anything to do in the office. Most of my Muslim colleagues and superiors will only be in next Monday. So, it is so peaceful and quite in the office. I am sooo enjoying this rare blissful moment. Even the phone is extremely quiet, adding to the tranquility. It has been that way since yesterday and hopefully, it’ll stay like that until tomorrow evening…*fingers crossed* … hahahaa…..

Since the line is all clear. I grabbed the chance to browse for a new layout. I found a few but am still considering which one I prefer the most. *smile* Okay, I may have abused the office hours and the internet facility, but what am I suppose to do to kill off some time? Hehe…my boss better not find out about this or else I might end up kena goreng sotong and be part of the country’s jobless statistic! *wink*

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MV Doulos, Bedtime routine and Raya – A ‘rojak’ post

Finally, I managed to visit MV Doulos, the floating bookstore for the very first time last night. 3 days before it is scheduled to depart KK. Nasib baik sempat pigi…hehe…Despite Doulos’ several visits to KK, hubby and I had never step on board of the ship. Kesian kan… :)

As expected, the books available are limited already and the Special Offer Books section was closed. Well, looks like we were not the only late birds flocking by. There quite a number of ppl coming in when we arrived at 8.30pm. Or perhaps they came for their 2nd or 3rd visit …hahaha…Anyway, we didn’t leave empty handed. We bought 2 hardcover storybooks for Vanessa. Of course, she’s too young to read, so most likely mommy will do the reading. I’ll try to read her one of the story in the Bedtime Stories for her tonight. Hopefully, she’ll like this new routine. Currently, I have to lulled her to sleep by singing her favourite nursery rhymes, i.e Little Indian Boys, Are you sleeping?, Pussycat, pussycat and London Bridge is falling down. Normally, I get to repeat the medley for at least 3 times until she falls asleep. *faint* If she dozed-off after that, then I’ll consider myself lucky. I'm spared from singing a round of an additional song, the ‘Happy Birthday’ song …phew…

Okay, yours truly is already in holiday mood. *grin* Am now impatiently counting the hours, 2 more hours to go and off me go for a - 4 days break. Yayyy!!! In the spirit of 1 Malaysia, I would like to wish all of you, Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, happy holiday and selamat berkunjung ke rumah-rumah terbuka! :)

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4D3N - Part 2

Woke up early in the morning of 30/03. After having breakfast (same variety of food as the day before) hubby decided to switch to another hotel nearby. Err, well, not exactly a hotel, the Replica Inn. It looks quite new and the room rate is suitable for the room/amenities they offered. But, there was one disgusting experience during our stay. Ah, that’s another story to tell. I’ll save it for the next post. *wink*

We went for an outing at the Colmar Tropicale Bukit Tinggi Resort. Good thing that Just and hubby were willing to loan their car to us for the day. Otherwise, we won’t be able to visit Colmar Tropicale. Thanks to Just & hubby.

It was a very long journey to Bukit Tinggi that we almost give-up and thought of turning back to KL in the mid journey. * sigh * We got lost! That’s why it took us half a day to reach there. I rather not talked about this sesat-sesat thingy. Bikin panas saja…

We finally reached Bukit Tinggi in the late afternoon. We only spent half an hour there. Looked around the place, snapped a few pics here and there. The place sure is beautiful. Rasa macam berada di negara urang putih pulak…hehe… Hubby thought of trying the food at one of the restaurant but I had to forget it. As it was getting late, it’ll be even harder to drive at night. I can’t bear the thought of getting lost again on the way back…*wink* Furthermore, I was late for my meet-up with Just and KadusMama.

When we reached the City Centre, it was raining mad! Almost impossible to get a good look at the signboard. Once again, we made the wrong turn. DAMN! Ntah jalan apa suda tu kami termasuk...forgot the name liao! Lucky there was not many car passing-by, hubby managed to make an illegal turn. Hopefully there was no hidden camera there…inda pasal-pasal kana saman kereta si Just. *wink*

We reached KLCC around 8 something. We parked the car near a bus-stop then walked our way to the KLCC Burger King, the venue of our mini gathering. KadusMama and Just was already munching their burgers and fries when we joined them. There are some pics and story here and here *smile*

It was the first time daughter Vanessa meeting with her mommy’s old friends. Being a friendly kid, she was not intimidated by the present of these new faces, instead she smiled cheekily to these hot mamas *smile* I know, she is at the stage where everyone is interesting. She smiles, put out her hand and wave bye-bye to strangers in the airport and commuter. Hmm, it is good that she is friendly but in the same time, we’re concern about her friendliness. Can’t help it though…tau-tau saja la kan sekarang ni banyak kes culik budak. Touch wood…

Sayang sekali that we, the blogger-mamas have only a little time to spend. Otherwise, we could have brought down the KLCC with our chat and laughs. LOL! We bid our good-byes when KadusMama’s hubby came to fetch her. Just and hubby was kind enough to send us back to the hotel. Thanks again guys!

Before depart to the airport, we went for a quick tour at the Aquaria KLCC. It was packed with ppl and kids. Some kindergarten pupils came for a visit. There was about 30-40 of kids with their teachers trying their best to keep them in order. It was not an easy job to keep these curious kids under control. That is why I never dreamed of being a kindergarten teacher! Hehe….mau urus satu budak pun susah, apa lagi berpuluh-puluh budak..pengsan!

We spent the half of our journey back to KK sleeping. The last thing I remembered was the stewardess preparing for the safety demo. When I woke-up, it was an hour before landing. LOL! Vanessa was fast asleep too due to the fever meds we gave her earlier. So, that's the story of our cuti-cuti in KL. :)

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4D3N - Part 1

Now I’m back in the office and in the blogsphere as well. Hehe...I'll be blog-hopping soon, watch-out ya! This post was supposed to came up yesterday but was unable to do so as there were a few out-standing works waiting for me during my absence. *sigh*

I was back in town on last Tuesday but only came back to work yesterday. It was a good thing that I took an extra leave on April Fool’s Day as daughter Vanessa was having a mild fever. Her fever started on the last day we’re in KL. As the day goes by, her fever subsided. Thank God! But she was very cranky and grumpy and extra manja. Sikit-sikit mommy, sikit-sikit daddy....aduii..

Just as I expected, she has become too attached to mommy and daddy. This morning, she was okay a bit compared to yesterday. It was almost impossible to leave for work. She was crying her heart out….whining for her mommy and daddy. Btw, now at 18mths, she can pronounce “mommy”, “daddy” fluently :), no more "meh" or "deh". Another milestone reached. It breaks my heart to see/hear her crying, but still, we need to go work L. Does that make me a bad mommy? :(

Okay, here’s some story on our trip. On 28/03, we arrived with Air Asia at LCCT, 10 minutes ahead of schedule. My BFF, Chenli & fiancé were supposed to fetch us at the airport. When after 5 minutes looking out for each other at the arrival hall, we’re still unable to find each other. I had a bad feeling that there was something wrong somewhere. Just as I thought, we were at two different locations. She & fiancé were waiting for us at Subang Airport! * sigh* Miscommunication.

Waiting for them to get to LCCT was obviously not a good idea due to the distance and traffic jam. Therefore, we took the Air Asia Skybus @ RM9 to KL Sentral instead. The ride was so boring that we all fell asleep as soon as the bus started to move. Oh, the cool breeze from the air-cond definitely expedites the process of dozing-off to la-la land! Hehehe...

Chenli & fiancé picked us at KL Sentral and sent us to Radius International Hotel. Our room was situated on the 14h flr with a view of the city. After having dinner, we all waited patiently for the clock to strike 8.30pm, the Earth Hour. From the dark of our room, we were able to see that the major shopping complexes and hotels had their lights-off for Mother Earth e.g. the JW Marriott, the Royale Bintang, Lot 10, Starhill, Low Yat Plaza, Berjaya Times Square etc. The hawkers stalls along Jalan Alor was operating like usual…probably they didn’t want to take the risk of losing business or worse have their goods stolen…hehe…

The next day, buffet breakfast was served at 7.30am to 10.30am. We were quite excited to see what they have to offer. Well, there were varieties of food served to suits everybody’s taste. There were fried kuey teow, nasi lemak, bread, bun, egg omelets, Coco Crunch Cereal, coffee, tea, juices, fruits etc. Well, the food was edible but the fried kuey teow at one of the stall out there was a lot better. :)

We spent the entire day, jalan-jalan. Our first stop was the Berjaya Times Square. Hehe..it was more of window-shopping than shopping itself. But I did grab a shorts and tops and a few books by James Patterson and Steve Berry at the Borders Book Store. I’m a book fetish…if only I have all the money; I would probably end-up buying the whole rack of mystery/adventure books!

We were joined by Chenli and fiancé later in the afternoon. Our second stop was Sg. Wang Plaza. Here, we bought some more clothes, T-shirt and dress for daughter. I was checking-out the shoe stores for a pair of sandals but my search was halted when daughter became grumpy. Ah, that’s the cue to end the day’s activity. After having dinner at one of the kedai kopi along Jalan Alor, we headed back to the hotel. We were all exhausted from the jalan-jalan that we fell asleep as soon as we hit the pillows. :)

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Christmas Post Mortem - Part 2

The highlights continue:-

27 Dec ~ Attended Tome & Chelven's wedding reception in Beverly Hotel, KK. Both bride and groom are our (hubby & I) friends in UPM. Had a good time that nite. Well, the foods were so-so, except for the red wine. Don’t really fancy wine but this one is exceptional. It’s sweet and delicious, without the kelat or bitterish ( am not too sure if it’s the right English word) taste. The wine was limited so only managed to have a glass. The best thing about that nite besides being able to share the joy of the newly-wed couple, was that we got a chance to meet with other fellow UPMers. Apa lagi, so many story came up, works, personal etc. A lot of catching up to do, yet so little time to spend. *sigh* Man_D was supposed to come but she got an upset stomach pulak at the last minute..must be too much moginum the day before...*wink* Another dear friend, iLLa’s plan to chill-out and drink after that was almost spoiled...but we were determined not to let anything spoil the plan. So it was just the 3 of us, iLLa, hubby & I.

We went to D' Junction, Penampang after the reception. Surprisingly, the place was not crowded. Wonder where all the ppl go?! Maybe still holidaying in their kampungs. The live band’s performance was a blast. We managed to enjoy a few songs before they went for their break. Hmmm...during the break, we were entertained with ear-deafening music for 30 miutes or so. Felt my heart thumping against my chest! When the band came back, they did their version of Fall For You (originally by Secondhand Serenade), which was great..cheers! The crowd joins in to sing on the chorus, of course, we're no exceptional! Lurrveee this song...

A glance at the menu, under the "Alcohol & Beverages"..Oh my! What’s that? There were some cocktail with a VERY INTERESTING name, e.g. Slippery Nipple, Blow Job, Dirty Orgasm, 7 Sins. Of course, there are others but can’t remember. Probably the alcohol has flows its way into my system …haha..I’m not much of drinker actually. Whoever came up with the idea of naming them sure had done a great job. Won't fail to catch an eye!

Hubby ordered 2 glass of whiskey, while the ladies ordered 2 shots each of cocktails. Frozen Margarita and Rainbow Cocktail for iLLa, and Pina Colada & Long Island Iced Tea for myself. Too bad I didn't have a camera handy. It’s impossible to take a good pic with my cikai Hp under the very low lighting. So to not disappoint you guys, here are some pics...well the presentation didn't exactly look like these but more or less the same la. I liked my choice of drinks, but not too crazy for the margarita. The taste is too bitter for my liking...even iLLa was disappointed with it.

28 Dec ~ Went back to Keningau again. After unloading our luggage at my in-laws, we went straight to Sabah Agricultural Park, Lagud Seberang,Tenom. InobongProper had wrote about this park here. Arrived there around 4pm. Hubby was so determined to see the orchids especially the Orkid Selipar, that we work our way on foot. The orchid place was the furthest to go. Train was not in operation any more as it was already late. We only managed to see a few species of hybrid orchid. Need to go back as fast as we could before it rain. Hmmm…keciwa si hubby tida dapat tingu Orkid Selipar. Next time we come early la dear supaya dapat naik train,tida payah jalan kaki. Going around the park on foot is sooo tiring. He had to carry daughter some more …hehe.. I have no idea what type of tree is it?! Never seen it before.

29 Dec ~ Attended hubby’s cuz, Debbie and Freddy’s engagement. Congratulations to both of you. Off to Penampang in the evening.
So that’s whole story for the Christmas holiday and the long weekend. The end.

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Christmas post mortem - Part 1

I know, I’ve abandoned my blog for 5 days! I am guilty as charged. At first I was too lazy to go online, due to the streamyx itself. It seems to run with the speed of a snail. It took like forever to load anything…*sigh* Besides, nothing much happened during Christmas and over the weekend. Some highlight here:-

24 Dec ~ Hubby, daughter Vanessa & I went to Sacred Heart Cathedral KK for the Christmas Eve Mass. Yey, we reached there on time, just before the Christmas Carols started @ 8pm, secured a seat for ourselves ;) . The choir did a wonderful rendition of carols, a mixture of both traditional and modern. Got applause from the audience, even lil’ Vanessa clapped her hands after each songs :) . My fav got to be The First Noel! The church was so full, the air was so hot inside. All the fans were switched-on but it didn’t do much help.

Being a toddler, daughter can only sit still for 1 hour…a record so far! Thanks to the kids sitting behind who kept her amused. We retreated outside just before she started to go out of control. Even though we have to stand there, the cool night air was really refreshing. Daughter was soo happy to run around with the other kids. The Mass started @ 9pm, an hour earlier than previously,…which explain why some ppl only came at 10pm. Nevertheless, the church was so packed that the parking space at the main entrance was flooded with devotees. The plastic chairs at the chapel could not accommodate all the ppl.

25 Dec ~ On Christmas Day itself, we stayed at home, lazing around. Well, being an only child, no anticipation for other sibling to come balik kampung. It’s kinda lonely. My first ever attempt to organize a Family Christmas Gathering didn’t happened, as aunts & cuzs were too occupied with their own program. Hmm..will try again next year :) !

It’ll be a different story though if we spent Christmas with my in-laws in Keningau. Every year there will sure be a gathering. But I feel guilty to leave my mom behind, alone at home during Christmas. There is no way, mom willing to leave the house unless it’s a day trip. She’s worry about her chickens, dogs, cats and her pet burung tiung – “Who will feed them?” she said. Tough question to answer. Can’t depend too much on the aunty next door bcos she too was busy with her own family activities. “What if she forgot to feed them?” Another tough question to tackle. * sigh * In short, mom just didn’t want to bother other ppl …lagi pun mana dia harap urang lain bulih jaga ternakan dia dgn baik, macam dia! Hehe…. Then again, day trip is tiring, 2 ½ hours drive to and fro is simply exhausting..not only for the driver but also the passengers…maklumlah kereta kicil. So, in the end, STAY AT HOME only lor…*smile*

Will continue Part 2 soon. You guys might get bored with this post. It supposed to have pics to go with but I forgot to download them from camera. Tida siok bah kalau story without gambar kan…*wink*

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Merry Christmas everyone....

It’s been a week since I last posted my entry. Hmm..no worries…I’m still around. Except for some disappointment here and there, I guess I’m okay. Honestly, I’m a bit disappointed and sad bcos most of my plan for this Christmas didn’t and won’t turn out as I planned. Can’t help it with these feeling.

* sigh* Yup, I missed the BWF Super Series Finals, we needed to go back to my in-laws place. BIL held his wedding reception on last Sunday, 21st. Got too tangled up with the last minute preparation. Didn’t even have a chance to watch the finals on the telly :(. Despite all the last minute prep & arrangement, I’m glad that all went well. But it’ll sure be a lot more better if only some crucial prep & arrangement was done earlier. So, an advice to other BIL & SIL, do prepare awal-awal especially all the small –small thingy to avoid any regrets ya!

Okay, enough said on this disappointment thingy. For God's sake today is Christmas Eve already. It’s time to be merry and jolly :). Hopefully can go off earlier and get ready to church. Have to be there at least 1 hour early…otherwise it’ll be packed, no seat available. Cannot tahan la standing for hours, apa lagi if my dear sumandak demand to be carried. Adeiii….

To all Christian friends:- Wishing you guys and your loved ones, a Merry & Blessed Christmas where ever to are! Drive safely ya!

And to non-Christian friends:- Happy Holiday and do drive safely!

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The truth behind...

I’m sure all of you out there have gone thru an appraisal interview before. Here are the most common comments that we may get. Cool comments eh?! Do check-out the real meaning behind….hehe…

Weekend datang lagi..plus one extra off-day on Monday! Yey ! Have a happy-happy weekend and holiday ya!

To all Muslim friends, Selamat Hari Raya Haji.

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Monday blues...

After a long break, I woke up this morning with super lazy feeling and a blurry mind. I was like..Huh?! Why wake up so early today?? Aiseyman, today is Monday already, got to work bah pulak. *sigh* Eventually, I managed to drag myself from the bed.

Surprisingly… but gratefully, today is not as busy as I expected, only some documents need to finalized and double-checked. Thank God, I’ve prepared them before the break. Today, tinggal sign, seal, deliver. Bersusah-susah dahulu, bersenang-senang kemudian, right?! It’s peaceful in the office today, no KL staff fussing this and that. Perhaps, they are still on leave.

As I mentioned in my last post, my holiday schedule is quite tight…Well, it is. BUT it didn’t turn out as I expected. Hmm…a lot of changes here and there. First of all, I only attended one open-house on the 1st Raya. The host, hubby’s colleague was very generous with all the delicious food (rendang, ayam masak merah, serunding daging etc) and drinks served. However, I’m a little bit dissappointed bcos all the kuihs are modern type (almond/chocolate cookies, fruit cakes, carrot cakes)…my favourite batang buruk was nowhere to be seen.

On 2nd day of Raya, didn’t attend any open-house as MIL summoned us to go back to Keningau. She insist to do daughter Vanessa’s 1st birthday party there on 3rd Oct. Initially, we planned to do it in KK but had to postponed as most friends and relatives were unable to make it.

Next day, we rushed back to KK as we need to attend cuz daughter’s birthday party. Niece, Bethany was also celebrating her 1st birthday. We reached Atlantis Restaurant, Bundusan an hour late. Nasib baik the party is still on going. When it’s time to distribute the goody bags, all the children went out of control, all swarmed cuz hubby at one time. Not long, cuz’s hubby surrendered and left the goodies on the podium. LOL …The children masing-masing berebut, takut kehabisan bah. When the function is over, they berebut again, this time for the balloon decorated on the ceiling. After that, we’re supposed to attend hubby’s friend garden wedding at Lembah Impian Resort, but we’re too exhausted to go.

However, we attended their reception at KDCA Hall yesterday. It was a nice one, although not many guests attended. The setting was quite interesting and a bit different from other weddings, the lights were dimmed, so the backdrop with all the blue lights really stood-out. I should have snapped some pics and let them do the talking. But I didn’t…am too occupied with daughter’s antics. She wants to explore he whole dewan…excited that she can walk already *sigh * The 3-piece band was good too…they belted some popular songs in harmony accompanied by acoustic guitars and the upright bass. It sure was an evening to remember. And of course, as well as the Sumazau, the Poco-Poco dance was also performed.

Congratulations to the bride and groom, Didi & Jojo!! :)

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Day before holiday...

Hooray…another long break! Boss is very generous…gave us an extra leave on Friday, 3rd Oct. Well, not to ALL staff but majority of us, some counterpart in KL have to work on Friday. Don’t worry guys, you’ll get paid for OT, perhaps double-pay some more. And, our extra leave is not free…it’ll be deducted from our annual leave. But, hey, I don’t mind at all.

I must admit, my holiday schedule is quite tight…with open-houses, wedding, gathering and nieces birthday party to attend. In the same time, me myself have to prepare this and that for a birthday party. Yes, my dearest daughter Vanessa is celebrating her 1st birthday. I’m planning a small and simple party with family, relatives and close friends. Also glad that hubby is in town already. Honestly, I was really surprised when he came home last nite as he said earlier, there are still a lot of works to do. I was afraid he would miss daughter birthday. It won’t be complete without hubby being around.

Hmm…this year, I’m looking forward to attend friends’ open-houses. I missed it last year as I’m still in my confinement period. But this year, I’m back with a vengeance. * evil grin * Hehehe …Beware to all the yummilicious kuihs and biscuits, especially the batang buruk and pineapple tarts. I lurve them sooo much.

To all my Muslim friends, Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri & Maaf Zahir Batin !!! To other friends, Happy Holiday!! To ALL, drive safely and I’m sorry, if I ever did or said something hurtful ya.

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