1 Liter Of Tears

Spent my whole Sunday watching �ｼ代Μ繝�繝医Ν縺ｮ豸� (Ichi Ritoru No Namida/1 Liter Of Tears). True to the title, I managed to emit out loads of tears watching every episode of the drama. Managed to drag my mak as my companion though she just made a crack on every funny translation that they got in the boxset. Who wouldn't laugh at '1 liter punya airmata' translation for the title?

Though anyway it was about a girl who got Spinocerebellar disease. Sounds fancy but basically it's a disease where the patient lost complete ability to control their body. It goes by stages that is. Anyway, 1 liter of tears was based on the life journal of Kitou Aya who passed away because of the particular disease. She was active in sports and one of the brightest student in her school. Her world came tumbling down when she discovered she sometimes couldn't control her movement, fell down without any reason and sometimes seeing things in double. Her soon to be boyfriend ditched her because of the sickness and as time goes by her whole classmates was calling her a nuisance because their studies was affected by her. She couldn't manage to write as fast as she could before and the teachers had to slow down their teaching because of that.

Aya lost her ability one by one. The story ciculated on how she lived her life before she passed away. The tearjerking scene came when even that she became an object of ridicule among her peers, she still managed to smile.

P.S: I don't have a life, hehehe. Only work and watching dramas 24/7. Bear with me ;)

Rambling of an Old Woman

Hello everyone!!
Hey minna!!
Konnichiwa, Ohayou, Konbanwa!!
Sabahul khair!! Masa'ul khair!!
Good morning, good evening and good afternoon!! (that just sound like a line from Lo's Evening News).

Sound a bit demented after a short hiatus. Though, more than a week in the tech world is actually long. A lot could happen in just a milisecond. Work has been hectic as always, especially few days back when some of the workers created a havoc. Normal labour relation trouble that I bet a lot would have to go through handling much too young workers.

My reprieve?

My PC with internet connection of course (sounds pathetic, thee hee).

Even so, I happened to skip checking my mails for 3 days. Just 3 days and there it goes, 60 unread messages exluding hundreds of spams in the bulk folder. Missed 4 days of learning kanji through e-mail, stuck at letter 'su' for both hiragana and katakana.

Cause?

Too caught up watching 'Kimi Wa Petto' on Youtube. The loading takes about 30 minutes max for a portion so sometimes I managed to get 2 full episodes in a night. The title sounded totally kinky to me at first sight. Some box set translated it as 'Pet Lover', some 'You're my Pet'. About a highly successful journalist who kept having trouble expressing herself, dubbed as the kakashi or noh doll behind her back by her collegue. The weird part came when she found a box filled with a young man covered with blood. Rain fell, she took the box in and cared for the young man. He woke up, felt indebted and wanting to stay with her. She agreed - only if he becomes her pet. Yeah yeah sound kinky but its not in the kinky way but still kinky in some way, nothing to do with sex. Being pet as pet. Like rearing a cat - feed them, take care of them, wash them and all that. Weird. But funny. Jun was in it, thee heee.

Then, watching the movie Azumi that took forever for the download to finish. It was an old movie. Old as in 2003 release. About an orphan girl, Azumi (obviously) who was reared along with other 9 boys as an assassin group. The mission was to hunt and kill leaders who becomes a threat to the Tokugawa reign. Watching the movie just remind me a lot of Kill Bill. Blood and gore, though Kill Bill was a whole lot unrealistic with blood that basically sprayed out like it was coming out from a hose. The starting of the story was like a cliche. Girl was found beside mom's dead body. An old man walked by with some boys spotted the girl and took her in. Few years passed by and then the characters fell down like dead flies, beginning with the final ritual of being an assassin - killing your own best friend. Demented. Lowdown - Joe Odagiri, the hero in Shinobi became the most psycho killer, hunting down Azumi's group. The psycho killer part I could stand but his character looked like a total pansy with too much powder on. *Sighs.



Scary.

Not because of Azumi.

Just that I've realized that I somewhat have reverted back to my old secondary school self only that now I have a job.

Keep Tryin'

When everything around becomes stressful, out of hand and sometimes makes you want to quit - take a deep breath and think again, and then get stressful again. NVM, the rant of a stressed out person, hahaha.

My theme would be Utada Hikaru's new song. Very meaningful when you look into the translation. Motivating. I love the PV because of the graphic :D

Keep Tryin' - Utada Hikaru

I don't care about anything
As I made a face that says as much
I was always, always praying
Asking for too much
I can't be even a little satisfied
So keep trying

A comedy program on at ten o'clock
Even though I've recovered from being tired from work
I don't want to be by myself
That's an important thing to me
I'm getting more careful than I was last year
Only a challenger can win the prize
I want to win it

I don't care about anything
I was a little late this morning
But I'm going to try hard from here
I expect so much
But I'm no idiot
So keep trying

The truth is that I'm more hungry than anyone
Even though I hide my confusion about my feelings
Every morning my weak and honest face is reflected in the mirror
I want to get rid of it
Wishes on a moonlit night are beautiful things
But I'm a target, jumping into the mud
Lady, let's go

I don't care about anything
As I struck a cool pose I fought with telling the truth
Life is important
You really should care about it a little more
Please take a break
"Time is money"
In the future, don't tell me that you're a government official
They've got no dreams
"Money over love"
It's alright if my darling is a salaryman
If we've got love

I don't care about anything
As I made a face that says as much
I was always, always praying
Asking for too much
I can't be even a little satisfied
So keep trying

Donburakokko
Rising and falling in this world is harsh
The only person with unchanging values
At any given time, is you

Boys always, always leave my love unrequited
A price can't be put on passion, on passion
Father, keep trying, trying
Mother, keep trying, trying
Big brother, conductor, bride, keep trying, trying


Just love the last part when she went on "Otousan, keep trying trying, Ookasan, keep trying, trying, Onee-chan and all that". Minna ganbarimas!!

Ode to Cikgu Zaiton/Mudirah

I was browsing through the online learn Japanese for beginner site when my mak came into my room - browsing through my notebook filled with Japanese alphabets - only from 'a' to 'se' - and said, to quote "Baguslah belajar bahasa Jepun. Lepas ni belajar French dengan Spanish. Arab tu kena betulkan balik." Then it hit me - I love languages, though not good in many. Even my Malay and English grammar is still going haywire.

My father is quadruplingual (I honestly don't know if that word exist or not, hehehe). He's able to converse in Malay, English, Arab & Javanese. Most of my Chinese & Indian friends are trilingual and sometimes I just envy those who are able to speak more than 3 languages. Languages are beautiful. It is our most precious form of communication - even cavemen have their language. I spoke Malay ever since I could speak, I learned English from TV and school and I've learned Arabic since I was 8, which I say is a pity that I wasn't able to master it. I'm 100% Javanese but I only know very little of it. Another pity. I was able to converse in sign language when my housemate's sister stayed with us for quite a long time. She is deaf but the whole house occupants were able to learn the language from her because of her warm personality. Then again, when she moved out I forgot nearly all of it.

My all-time favourite English teacher would be Puan Norliah (though I bet most of my friends don't like her). She have her moments but to me, her class was never boring. Cikgu Zaiton a.k.a Mudirah would be my all-time favourite Arabic teacher. In from 3, I was put in the weakest set for Arab (I always get C at that time boardering to D) and she was the teacher. From the moment the class starts, everyone was put on alert when she wrote a word on the board and picked us at random to construct a sentence from it and put the word synonym and opposite word (in Arabic of course). It was quite tense for me because she would always remember my sister. My sister was a student in KTAM, '88 batch and she was the head-prefect during her time - a fact that I believe, I never told any of my schoolmates of.

The hard work paid off when I was able to construct easy sentences and I was able to compose a short essay in Arabic myself. When I was in Form 4, Ija and Rafidah, my fellow juniors/dorm-mates approached me after they did an interview with Cikgu Zaiton for their PMR history project. They said that when they asked the most memorable moment for her - she said, it was when I got A for my Arabic. They told me that she didn't expect that at all because of my previous results and that she was actually waiting for me to see my results at the middle of the 'kolong' from the office. When they said that, I suddenly remembered that she was laughing from the office door at my reaction. How can't I be touched? Though it all went out when I was in upper secondary. I wasn't able to keep up with my new Arabic teacher. Not his fault but I lack the motivation because Arab Tinggi is the literature part of Arabic. If it was communication Arabic, I think I would able to but I'd still say, a pity for me. Cikgu Zaiton retired when we were in Form 4. I miss her actually and would really want to meet her again someday - probably would be bringing my sister too.

Hmm... any possibilty of me being multi-lingual?

Nobuta Wo Produce (Producing Nobuta)

Basically it's a high school drama about the friendship journey of Kiritani Shuji (Kamenashi Kazuya), Kusano Akira (Yamashita Tomohisa) and Kotani Nobuko (Horikita Maki). It started off with Shuji, the popular guy in the school, with a cool crowd to hang out with and a beautiful girlfriend whom he never dated with. He treated his school as a gamefield that he have to go through everyday and his mission was to get along with everyone without any true intention of being friends. Among the students at the school, Shuji hated and could not stand to be with Akira. Akira was an accentric joker who flaps his hands everytime he goes down the stairs, talks like a drunk with a very rich dad but lived upstairs of the tofu shop to enjoy his schooling days. Even when Shuji despises him, he was persistent in becoming Shuji's friend. Then came Nobuko, the new girl in town whom, if you saw her the first time she would remind you a lot of Sadako from the movie 'The Ring' (She was so different in Densha Otoko). She stutters when she speaks with un-manageable hair, walks as if she got a hump on her back and her smiles looks like she was sick. Definitely colourful characters to begin with.

Before going to school, Shuji have to touch a willow tree by the river for a boost. It was a habit that he can't live with and he believed that if he didn't touch the tree, something bad would happen. One morning he went to the spot and found his beloved tree gone. That was when Nobuko went out with her 'Sadako' expression telling Shuji that the tree has been transplanted elsewhere - and that the branch of the tree was not suitable to commit suicide at. Shuji freaked out and ran off. He freaked even more when he found out that the scary girl by the river was his new classmate. Being the new girl - and of course, weird - Nobuko became the instant target for bullying. Her bento was thrown while she was eating, desk was being scrabbled at and everything else that could be associated with bullying was done to her. Shuji helped Nobuko secretly and by some chance three of them got together when Akira was sprayed with water in his attempt to save her. Shuji made a pledge to make Nobuko the popular girl in school after the spraying incident with the condition that no one should know about the makeover or that they were acquainted, due to his popularity. They chose the name 'Nobuta' for Nobuko, hence the move for Producing Nobuta started.

Okay done with the synopsis, her comes the fangirl rant, hehe. I have actually watched the whole drama TWICE in a week before lending the boxset to Aidah - and that was only after I burned my favourite episodes on my hard-disk. No matter how late, I really feel that this drama deserve a post in my blog because I am absolutely, 100% LOVING IT!!! Seriously, I'm not the only one who say this since the thread for this drama over at JDorama have reached more than 100 pages and people are still raving about it. It was not about having a drastic makeover that we have seen before in movies or dramas like from looking way dull to superstar beautiful. It was about Nobuta who gradually found her courage with her own personality - and a new haircut, hehe. Shuji changed from being an empty popular guy to a guy who appreciates the value of friendship and became a better person. As for Akira, he was still the same baka guy who are really helpful in every single way, hahaha.

The supporting characters in the drama are also interesting - the vice-principal with a very menacing cackle, the bookstore owner who only allow beautiful people to read at his shop, the literature teacher who kept on pulling his pants up during class, hontou ojiichan (the truth grandpa-though he was only a side character) who chases anyone until they gave him a fact of truth about themselves or disaster would strike them, the guy who drank pesticide and much much more. The friendship between Shuji, Akira and Nobuta became stronger until they could actually share dreams together - and passing favours through it. They were always thinking of ways of making each other happy which makes the story even sweeter and the existence of one mysterious girl who kept wrecking what they were working on added up the suspense.

Anyway I've started learning Japanese Hiragana and Katakana - terkial-kial macam belajar ABC waktu tadika dulu. I was kind of happy when I was able to read the title although was too slow - nobuta wo purodyuisu, wee hoo!!


Kon!!~~

P.S: Areng, kalau kau baca ni aku rekemen kat kau.

SMS

From: SFMNVDP

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Jemput awak ke kenduri saya pd 2.4 nanti di temerloh, phg.
Thanks kerana sudi berkawan dgn sy wlupun sekejap

==========================================
Number: +601****7296
Time: 08.18pm
Date: 27/03/2006

My premonition of everything about this is not that off after all.
Hai! watashi ganbaru, zutto!!
A.ra.shi for dream!! hahaha.

P.s: Jangan salah sangka, aku tak sedih. Bersyukur sebab aku tak layan dia dari haritu. Kalau tak aku yang susah.

Wedding, Wedding, Wedding

My cousin's double wedding over in Shah Alam. Good thing I applied for leave 2 weeks before the occasion or I would be stuck at the site supervising projects *sighs. Spent the first day in Shah Alam cooking for those who came over to prepare the food for the wedding and of course the relatives who came and helped with the preparation. 'Pengsan'ed a bit after 3 and continued with the cooking at 4pm for the tahlil which was held after Isyak prayer. By the time I reached Dayah's house in Bangsar, it was already 1.30am and I was dead on my feet - literally.

The next morning I could barely open my eyes to get ready for the wedding. Had a quick breakfast when we reached there before resuming our preparation. We cut the orange and guava - had to go back and forth to sharpen up dayah's & my knife (since I can't work with blunt tools other than the fact that I love to sharpen things, hehehe). While we were cutting the guava suddenly... well I guess the knife that I sharpened for Dayah was sharp enough to leave a deep cut on her left thumb - youch!

At about 12 we were all geared up and ready for the reception to start at the Section 18 MBSA Hall. I helped over as the watergirl (hehe) for a few while and had a good talk with the kendarat (more or less like the food distributor/waiter) group. Then I was in a huge surprise. I was so darn astounded that my uncle actually took the FRU (Federal Reserve Unit) as his kendarat. I thought that they were the Section 18 community. Wallao!! My uncle is actually one of the officials in Bukit Aman but then again... FRU?! Mak aih. I told Dayah that I would be eyeing handsome officers or doctors (my aunt works at the hospital) at the wedding. Fat chance since I was too occupied with the wedding procession, hehehe.

The wedding march from the house started at 1.30pm and I have to say that both are great match. Ijal with Zura decked in soft brown while Yus with Nisa in yellow. The flower girls were too cute - which we suddenly spotted Dayah amidst the flower girls trying her best to blend in by shortening her height since her dress was the exact shade of the flower girls (of course la, two of the girls are her sisters).

L to r - Yus & Nisa, Ijal & Zura

Budak cute tak ingat - Flower Girl number 1, Baby & Budak perasan tak ingat - search the odd one , hahaha

Ntah siapa tah...

I left the wedding after a while to begin my quest for J-drama VCD over at Kotaraya since my mak and I was supposed to return home with one of my uncles the next day. I was totally blown away with what I saw at the rack. The VCDs are cheaper compared to the ones I saw in JB and there were wider varieties. After a few hours deliberating, I bought Nobuta Wo Produce. That one was the first that I took from the line-up. Reason? Kame and YamaP was great and it reminded me a lot of my 2 best friends in college, Mukodono 2003 - I was actually aiming for Mukodono because Aiba Masaki of Arashi was in it but I was not that lucky and Stand Up!! because Nino of Arashi, YamaP and Oguri was in it, yatta!!

It was funny seeing the box-sets that was displayed as usually for a drama there were more than 1 box-set although the content was the same. One of the box-set for Hana Yori Dango was translated as "Lake of Misty Dreams" (if I remembered correctly) instead of "Boys over Flower" and Nobuta Wo Produce was translated as "Ambulance" (ROFLMAO) instead of "Producing Nobuta". There were more that I want on the rack - Kimi Wa Petto (no malay/english translations *sighs) Anego, Files of Young Kindaichi 4, Beginner, Hotman, etc etc. Definitely have to go back there someday. When? I don't know.

Before I forget - Happy Birthday Bang Bil!!! And takziah for the passing of Kak Linda's (my sister in-law) father early this morning.

Al-Fatihah.

P.s: Kengkawan, gambar majlis ina klik sini. Sorry lambat. Hontouni gomen

Shinobi - Heart Under Blade

Shinobi - the tale of two star-crossed lovers.

It was about 2 clans at war - Koga of Manjidani and Iga of Tsubagakure. Gennosuke, the future chieftain of Manjidani fell in love with Oboro, the future chieftain of Tsubagakure. I guess you might have a very strong hunch on where the story might go. The Emperor put a ban on their war but due to the threat that both clans might bring if the rebel brought both shinobi clans on their side, a move was made so both clan would finish off each other. The ban was lifted and both chieftains, Gennosuke's grandfather and Oboro's grandmother have to name 5 warriors of their clan for a duel. The trick was that the victor would determine the next emperor. If the Tsubagakure wins, the eldest son would ascent to the throne. If the Manjidani wins, the second son would.

Gennosuke refused to fight, wanting to find answers straight from the palace on the real reason why the duel would take place. Both chieftains however had an agenda of their own and had their secret duel which in the end caused their deaths. Gennosuke the newly appointed chieftain sent an invitation to the Tsubagakure for their quest to the palace but then again, warriors from both clans ended up fighting each other.

The cinematography was great, though some of the CGI did not manage to blend real well but that was only at the beginning of the movie when some people from Manjidani jumped down from the top of the hill. The fight scene was so great that it was hard for me to catch the still images.

Nakama Yukie (she acted in Gokusen) played Oboro real well, and so did Odagiri Joe whom I guess if you watch Kamen Rider Kuuga, you would know him. I love it when both main roles have very strong characters. The hero is strong, the heroine is strong and could handle her own fight. Now thats more like it. Oboro was known for her 'Eyes of Destruction' that could destroy the whole nerve system with just a stare, while Gennosuke was known for his speed, agility and the ability to see things slowly. Sounds unreal but hey, its a movie. The lowest left screenshot is the part which I cried. Why? I'm not saying anything. Ayumi Hamasaki's Heaven at the end of the credit just made the crying worst.

We have our Puteri Gunung Ledang. If you enjoyed PGL, I would strongly recommend Shinobi.

Though anyway, the translation of Ayumi Hamasaki's Heaven wrap up today's post.

What you offered straight to me
With a smile for the last time
Was just so beautiful
That I gave way to tears

Surely, that day
The two of us touched love

We sought for each other
Lost ourselves at times
And found each other at last
So whatever result may be waiting for us

It's nothing but
Destiny

Stars are shining tenderly upon me

Stay by my side, my love
Crossing over time and changing your shape
You see? The future we haven't yet seen
Remains here like this

Stay by my side, my love
Crossing over time and changing your shape
The future we haven't yet seen
Remains here

Trust me, my love
You live within me
So I'll never
Say good-bye to you

Surely, that day
The two of us touched love

You and I will only be joined...
In our dreams...
Quote from Shinobi - Iga Oboro

Wedding Number.... I forgot

Ina's wedding yesterday to her long time primary school sweetheart (awwww), as always I try my best to go. Its the only time where we would get together and catch up. The day when we become secondary schoolers again, speaking at our highest tone and just be happy. I went there with our 3-car convoy - Imah, Nadia (aku agree dgn Sue, kau still "Cepot" pada kitorang :P), Lin Malek and Yan (who kept covering for Cepot on how much longer Imah and I have to wait at the roadside. 5 minutes turned to 45 minutes, cheh! hahahaha).

Ipah, Abby and Edda drove straight from KL and returned on the same day. Eena came with Helmi, her bf, Intan with her 'guy-next-door', Zah and Zai came together, Sue Mail and Deej came after going to 2 receptions before. In short, it is as always our small reunion. Who's next? From what they said, today is Mulyati's reception and... I forgot who is the other one. School holidays, time for weddings, of course.

Just for the latest news, Areng's wife is expecting their second child. Congratulations Areng n wife!!!

p.s: korang, aku upload gambar kat friendster nenantila. Aku beritau bila dah upload.

Singing On Broadway

Sunday, as usual, the day to laze out and relax. Get my mind charged before Monday comes. Today's list - watching Files of Young Kindaichi 3, Queen of Lunchtime Cuisine, reading my friend, James' story and giving him reviews of what I think of it, surfing jdorama forum and of course chores.

It was just now when my mak came in and pointed me to an article. I couldn't hear anything since I was using the headphone, hehehe. I saw an album review of a local artist. So? What's the big deal about it? My mak said something again, guess I turned deaf already from using the headphone so much ^_^" I glanced at the review again.

Khadeeja.

Okay. I asked my mak, "So?" And then she said, loudly and clearly

"Ni Ayong lah!"

Then I did a double take. Ayong? Then it hit me as I looked at the picture closely. Wallao! it is Ayong - my cousin's daughter. *Smack head. I know her name is Khadeeja but I don't know how she spelled it though. She looks so different. We know that she's a singer and seeing her releasing her own album is a WOW! She's a great singer, I watched her performance once at her college over Dayah's insistence ("Awak, anak sedare awak nyanyi malam ni. Tak nak tengok ke?") They went to the same uni.

All the best Ayong.

Otsuka Ai - Planetarium

Well, okay. Rain is making me mellow :p

Rain...

Rain - Madonna
Rain, feel it on my finger tips,
Hear it on my window pane,
Your love's coming down like,
Rain, wash away my sorrow,
Take away my pain,
Your love's coming down like,
Rain...

November Rain - Guns N Roses
And when your fears subside,
And shadows still remain,
I know that you can love me,
When there's no one left to blame,
So never mind the darkness,
We still can find a way,
'Cause nothing lasts forever,
Even cold November rain...

Lady Rain - Indecent Obsession
Lady rain, I hear you at my window,
Lady rain, I need you softly falling on my face,
Why did the sun shining come and take you away,
I wait for you again my lady rain...

Kiss the Rain - Billy Myers
Kiss the rain, whenever you need me,
Kiss the rain, whenever I'm gone, too long,
If your lips, feel lonely and thirsty,
Kiss the rain, and wait for the dawn,
Keep in mind, we're under the same sky,
And the nights, as empty for me, as for you,
If you feel, you can't wait till morning,
Kiss the rain, kiss the rain, kiss the rain...

Early Morning Rain - Bob Dylan
In the early morning rain with a dollar in my hand
And an aching in my heart and my pocket's full of sand
I'm a long way from home and I miss my loved ones so
In the early morning rain with nowhere to go

An apt theme for a rainy morning. Though anyway after listing all those songs that have to do with rain, I just realized that most of them are sad songs. I wonder if the portrayal of rain is as gloomy as that. Granted, too much rain is not good but occasional rain is fine. I love the smell of rain on freshly cut grass, but I definitely dislike the smell of rain hitting the hot tarmac road (now I sound more or less like my brother's recent entry on rain). Still cloudy and rainy outside...

A Day In The Life Of A Nadiah Part 1

10.30am:
Ms. L: Diah you wait over at the office for our new tractor and then you go to PI and ask our boys to get the old tractor up on the lorry to be repaired
Diah: Okay Ms. L

1.30pm:
Pakcik Lori: Dik, ni traktor nak hantar mana?
Diah: Kejap ye pakcik, saya turun, tunjuk pakcik site.

2.00pm: Phonecall
Mr. L: Diah how's things with the tractor?
Diah: The pakcik lori is showing our workers how to drive and take care of it
Mr. L: Okay good. I'm on my way there actually.

Pakcik lori: Awak ada kren ke nak angkat traktor rosak tu?
Diah: Orang tolak boleh kan?
Pakcik Lori: Boleh tapi maunya nak 8 orang
Diah: 5 orang tak boleh?
Pakcik Lori: Tak bolehla berat

and then come the boss
Mr. L: Okay all done here, sana mau angkat traktor 4 orang boleh kan?
Pakcik Lori: Boleh
Diah: *dalam hati (aik, tadi cakap lain)
Mr L: Okaylah of that's the case you arrange lah

2.00pm: PI
Diah: Okay tolak.....
after few minutes
Anto: Tak boleh lah kak, berat bangat
Pakcik lori: hah tu la saya dah cakap maunya nak 8 orang
Diah: *dalam hati (Eeeeee depan bos cakap lain)

phonecall
Mr. L: Diah, how is it?
Diah: Stuck at the bottom, hard to push it up to the lorry, Mr L
Mr. L: If that's the case ah, you go around the site and see if you could ask help from any jcb (backhoe). You kenyit-kenyit sure dapat punya - laughs

Diah: *dalam hati (aisehmen)

10 minutes later
Aha, a jcb and 4 workers resting
Diah: Bang, mintak tolong boleh?
Anonymous JCB operator: Tolong apa?
Diah: Tolong tolakkan traktor naik lori. Orang saya tak cukup
Anonymous JCB operator: Jauh tak?
Diah: Tak, sebelah sales office aje.
Anonymous JCB operator: Okay no hal punya.

And they pushed.....

*meaow meaow meaow meaow

Diah: Siapa pulak ni... hello?

Someone from my not very distant past: Apa khabar awak?

Diah: Baik

SFMNVDP: Busy ke

Diah: Busy

SFMNVDP: Pagi tadi pun busy jugak, penat-penat saya call awak

Diah: Baru sekali pagi tadi dah penat? Been a month already, no calls, sms tak balas, no nothing, ingat awak dah pergi Miri and already married to your mother's choice.

SFMNVDP: Saya still kat KL. Awak pun tak call saya.

Diah: I don't know where I stand, and cara awak cakap last time pun macam endah tak endah aje. Awak, saya nak kena hantar workers saya balik.

SFMNVDP: Bila lagi saya boleh call?

Diah: Entahlah. Saya pergi dulu *and disconnected the phone.

That's all folks

Finally

After pestering Sue and Bangbil on all the 'how to', I managed to upload Arashi's Yes, No into my blog, yeay!! Honestly, even though I only understand little bits of the songs, I just love the beat and of course there are always english translation on the net so it's not that difficult understand the message.

Drag... site measurement tomorrow...

What's My Age Again?

My mak is away for the weekend for my cousin's wedding at Serdang. I didn't go because of work but I would certainly go during the double reception in March. Yesterday was Ijal's wedding, next month would be Yus'. Fairuz and Faizal Hussin, no kidding, just don't mistake them for the celebrity siblings. They're both males hence for the double reception.

The bittorrent was a drag, I was expecting my downloads to be done today but I guess not. Apparently there were not enough seeders online. So anyway I found myself reading Hana Yori Dango comics and watching Arashi concert the whole morning (MatsuJun!!! Aishiteru!!!). Then it hit me. Boy, I'm nearing 25 but still going goo goo gaa gaa on a band - thanks to my friend & collegue Aidah and her sisters who kept on supplying me with Arashi stuff. At this instance, I have a very strong feeling that she's having her first driving class. Intensive driving for 3 hours. Hope she's doing well since she was asking me a lot about driving yesterday. I hope she understands my analogy of scales on the clutch-accelerator control. And then I learnt how to spell my name in Japanese.

Cool isn't it? That's only my first name actually.

Then I was bloghopping to everyone in my list, finding myself laughing silly at Zamose's entry on finger expression, smirking at Dayah's entry, hoping for the rest to just update their blogs hehehe and feeling melancholic at Sue's entry since she was talking about our secondary school friends. In school we were known for our obsession (whoa strong choice of word) on BSB - though I guess some of us managed to outgrow that fact (ye ke?). Let me see if I still remember it - Eena, Esah, Intan: Nick, Sue: A.J, Along: Brian, yours truly: Howie D... I forgot if anyone gone bonkers on Kevin... oh yeah, Harlin: Kevin.

16 years old trapped in the body of a 24. I'd better grow up, hahahaha.

Last Night

On a working weekday, you could expect me to sleep at 9 and then wake up at 2 to do some work I brought home. As for today, I woke up to a very peaceful dream. I dreamt that my arwah atuk came back wearing white, looking very healthy, wearing her sun-shade, very sweet fragrance with a very peaceful face smiling at all of us at home. Dayah and her whole family was in it too as if everyone was there to greet atuk back. Subhanallah.

Moga Allah mencucuri rahmat arwah atuk.

Al-Fatihah.

It has been nearly 3 years I think.

Work In Progress

Behold.

My desk.



It is impossible to get the desk neat and clean for more than an hour. There you go, genius at work, hahahaha. Time to get back to the papers staring at me right now. Ciao

Freaky Friday

Image from www.ristoklint.com

Yesterday morning as I was driving the workers to one of our sites in Tebrau, by some freaky chance I witnessed 2 minor accidents by drivers who 'didn't-know-how-to-budget-their-car-while-overtaking-the-others'. One was between a Toyota and a Waja, the other was a Mercedes and a Wira. The foreign cars were just scratched but yet again the damage on those 2 Protons were bad. It was already a common knowledge that most Proton are not hardy. When I was 5 or 6 a Proton Saga crashed into my mom's Morris Minor. My mom's car was only scratched, the Proton Saga looked like it smashed into an electric post.

And then my phone fell off the dashboard. It didn't manage to detect the sim card after the fall which is a surprise since it survived numerous fall harder than that one. The phone is old. Bought it since 5th July 2003. Thats the date on the battery sticker since I managed to smash the original housing on the edge of the desk in lecture class after a month using it. I'm not going to say that I am going to buy a new one as last time I just thought of it, my old Nokia 3210 was stolen in a bus ride. Just hope this one would stay until I couldn't even use it. After a few knocks, the phone went okay. *sighs, I really love my LG5300 even though the silver colour at the battery side already faded from my hand mark. I have never changed the battery unlike last time, I changed the 3210 battery 4 times in 3 years before I lost it. The phone is still good, minus the 'can't detect sim' hiccup that it gave me once in a while.

In the past, mobile phones are not a necessity. Time changed and seems like it is impossible for anyone not to have one. I need one for work since my bosses, the workers and I could communicate from the sites we have, chasing for suppliers, etc. For this weekend, I'm just going to spend it with my uncle's family. Going to go around with my cousin Irra for her new phone, so I'm just going to stay at the sideline and survey while I'm at it.

And today... aaargh.. I just have to stay over supervising at the site for a VIP visit for the grand launch of one of the housing developments that we take care of. Happy weekend \(^_^)/

And The Weekend Ends

This is the part of the day when I think of the things that I have done for the weekend. I guess that this would be the very first time when I found myself feeling bored on a Sunday. I don't know what went wrong but the Streamyx line have been going on a havoc. There were no connection as afternoon comes until just now. My mind went on a dead end on my story and so does the showhouse design that is due next Tuesday, so I read Odd Thomas - Dayah, kita dah habis baca :p

It was about a guy named Odd Thomas (like duh) with a special gift of seeing the unseen (I see dead people, LOL). Everything at the town of Pico Mundo seemed fine until Odd saw a man whom he called Fungus Man was followed by hoards of bodachs. Think the movie 'The Eye' when the girl saw black figure waiting for the dead, only that in this case the bodachs were only attracted to menace and horrific deaths. The ending however was a sad one. Guess that's why my intuition was telling me to put the book on a hold... but not for as long as 2 years, hehehe.

Finishing that, I went to town buying some toiletries just to kill time. No bookstores to hang out at since all the bookstores here are selling school books and comics. I'm thinking next weekend, I definitely have to go somewhere - preferably with a bookstore, or hunting for Hana Yori Dango manga collection on dvd ;)

Okay since I'm still in the HYD mood, here's the translation for Ai Otsuka's Planetarium. I definitely love the song.

Evening approaches and the voices of night-smiling children fades
I know that you are somewhere under this sky, far, far away
At summer's end, we snuck away together, we found this park
I kind of remember that constellation

Even if I don't meet you, I can search for memories
Of the same sort of happiness.
Both the smell and fireworks going "bang"

I want to go to where you are
I want to start running there soon
I can't see anything in the inky darkness
Even if I'm scared I'll be okay
The wisdom of this clear sky
Is here now all the time.
I didn't cry when I saw you in the past
Because the sky was clear.

Daily, from that road over there, I can only hear one sound.
Maybe you'll stare at your big shadow.
It is not in the least expected to change.
A sad feeling expands inside you.
This is the "you're not there" kind of feeling.

I really want to go and be next to you
Even though I am really, really small
I love you the most
I can be strong
I suddenly try to make a wish on a falling star
Maybe I'll reach the point where I don't cry
In a clear sky.

Even if I'm not with you, I can search for memories
Of the same sort of happiness.
Like the smell, together with fireworks going "bang"

I want to go to your place (The place that is with you...)
A small hand clenching yours,
I want to cry, that is a beautiful sky.
I try to make a wish on a falling star
Under this sky, I don,t think that I want to cry.

Hana Yori Dango

One manga, 2 adaptations on tv - the well known Meteor Garden in Taiwan and the recently released Hana Yori Dango in Japan.

Conclusion - I'm smitten by both (though I love MatsuJun better playing Tsukasa than Jerry Yan playing Dao Ming Si).

The plot: Kind of like a modern day Cinderella with guts, minus the helpless shoe-lost scene. Put a middle-class girl in a high class school ruled by 4 spoilt rich brats and you get a very interesting story. Whoever offends the well-known F4 group at school would get a red tag and would be bullied mercilessly by the rest of the students. Kind of like kissing the F4's feet to the extreme since their families were the most powerful contributors to the school. Makino Tsukushi was the transfer student, very low profile, trying her best not to cause any trouble and graduate. Her plan changed when she defended her only friend, Sakurako whom accidentally spilled orange juice on Domyouji Tsukasa, the leader of F4 at the cafeteria during lunchtime.

She was, as predicted, received the red tag the next morning and the torture began. Since her family were cutting corners to the extreme at home just for her to attend Eitoku, quitting the school would be bad. She went through it courageously with indirect help from Hanazawa Rui, the quiet F4 member and managed to keep her cool- until Tsukasa threw her lunch on the floor and stepped on the shrimp (looks to me more like a lobster than a shrimp in the scene) that her mom put into her bento. Then she decked Tsukasa and declared war.

How does it end? for those who already watched Meteor Garden, it won't go through the same plot. As always, I won't tell :D

Acting wise, Hana Yori Dango is definitely better than Meteor Garden. MatsuJun nailed the character Tsukasa with flair (I prefer his hair better in Gokusen), and as for Oguri Shun who played Hanazawa Rui, who would have thought that he was Uchiyama Hirohiko in Gokusen? In Gokusen, he was boisterous, LOUD, stubborn and way too naughty. In Hana Yori Dango, he was quiet and mysterious. One of the highlights of HYD is that Nanako Matsushima acted as Domyouji Tsubaki, Tsukasa's 'always-hitting-her-baby-brother' sister. My brother likes HYD better because, as he said - 'Tsukushi is cuter and the F4 in HYD is less faggotty than Meteor Garden's F4, but nevertheless still faggot'. He couldn't stand watching Meteor Garden even for 5 minutes but he waited for my downloads to finish for HYD.

Plot wise, Meteor Garden is better than HYD, probably because HYD cramped everything in 9 episodes - and of course because of the different ending. The songs are great and I definitely love the song Planetarium by Ai Otsuka and of course, Wish by MatsuJun's group Arashi.

Definitely a must see - if you like teen drama, thee hee hee

Trivia

Well, a trivia before I do my Maghrib prayers and baca yassin.

Whose hands does this belong to?


Answer: scroll down
















Answer: From L to R - my hand, A'an's hand

Kind of disconcerting that my brother's hands are wayyyyyy fairer than mine. It's like a black and white kind of contrast. And he's a guy!!! Correction - as quoted by him just know "I'm an artist and I take care of my tools." Barf!

Oh well, I work outdoors.

And I've Been Tagged

I was tagged by my yoga-babe-cousin, ninie/dayah and I am blabbing like crazy in my head because had I known I was tagged yesterday, I would buy something that would add something to my image. Here goes, my private bookrack for your perusal.

1) What is the total number of books you own?
Refer to the pictures below.

Total of what you see, right down to the accurate number is 148 (the books are double stacked back and front), not including a hefty numbers that people borrowed but haven't returned for ages and the hundreds inside my computer hard disk that I've downloaded. When I was in secondary school, the average price for paperbacks was RM21.00. When I was in university the price jumped to RM29.90. Currently the going price for a paperback is RM35.00 so it is kind of hard buying books around here since I haven't found book rental store as easy as I could find them in KL. In the end, I only buy books that I really really want and 100% sure that it is worth the money I spent. No money back policy on boring books *sighs.

2) What is the last book you bought?

Coincidentially I bought 2 today at MPH Leisure Mall this afternoon. Samurai Strategies by Boye Lafayette De Mente (beats me who he is but the book is for my brother A'an - and I'm going to read it before he bring it back campus) and Adam & Hawa by Aisya Sofea (my Aunty Bariah got me hooked on Alaf 21 books so don't ask me more :p)

3) What is the last book you read?
Adam & Hawa by Aisya Sofea a couple of hours ago *blushes. The most memorable lines I read at the end of the story:-

"Hawa dicipta dari tulang rusuk Adam,
Bukan dari kepalanya untuk dijadikan atasannya,
Bukan dari kakinya untuk dijadikan alasannya,
Melainkan dari sisinya untuk
dijadikan teman hidupnya,
Dekat pada lengan untuk dilindunginya,
dan dekat pada hati untuk dicintainya.

Jiwang karat beb, hehehe

4) What are you currently reading?
I've just finished a book today, so I would probably, as always flick through any books that I have in my collection and just revisit the best parts afterwards.

5) What are the 5 books that meant a lot to you?

- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
I read the full literature version of this book for the first time when I was in form 4. I spoke weird the entire week at school afterwards - to my friends and even my english teacher during classes and on English day. Old english style. I don't know who borrowed this book but it was gone for years hence why you didn't see it in this line-up. So anyone who are reading this entry, I would want Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre for my birthday, hehehe.
- Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas by James Patterson
I have bought the book when it was still hot on the rack and I (cried &) fell in love with it immediately. I remember buying the book at Kinokuniya KLCC along with Dayah who bought an Ahadiat Akashah book (I forgot which title) on Valentine's Day (I forgot which year) because we only had each other to celebrate with (sounds pathetic, LOL). The book that you can see here was actually the second one that I bought since I don't know who took it off from my bookrack and haven't had the motivation to return it back to me. It was about love lost and dealing with it. The most important of all I learnt the lesson of 5 balls - Family, Integrity, Friends, Health & Work.
- Ghost by Danielle Steel
Again, about love lost and found, but this time the characters were jolted back into reality from their ever so gloomy life by an old diary filled with a memoir of a runaway abused wife from England. I got it hidden in my desk drawer, so it is still safe.
-Nothing Last Forever & Tell Me Your Dreams by Sidney Sheldon
It was actually 2 books in 1 so that still make it 1 book. Dayah gave the book Tell Me Your Dreams on my 21st B-day (or was it 22nd?) and yet again, someone borrowed it from me without my knowing and didn't have the motivation to return it back so I bought a new one. Of all Sidney Sheldon's book that I read, those 2 titles are the ones that Dayah and I love most. I remembered Dayah gushing wanting to find an architect for a husband after reading NLF and we both agreed that the characters in TMYD was brilliant and creepy. POP! goes the weasel...
- Oxford Dictionary of Current English
This dictionary have been with me for years since I lost my trusty Collins Pocket Dictionary in matriculation. I read the pocket dictionary for my english paper during SPM and now I am still doing it, flicking through the pages to learn new words. Still considered as a book right?

6) What book(s) do you wish to buy next?
- For this time being, I am waiting with bated breath for the final book of the Harry Potter saga. It would probably be out next year... or the year after, who knows. I could only wait for J.K Rowling to finish up her book and hoping like crazy that it would have a satisfactory ending since she killed off Sirius Black and Dumbledore in the books before. The rumour was that Harry would be killed. I would accept it if Harry is killed after Voldemort is dead in a duel or something. If J.K Rowling plans on killing Harry, I think some people out there might commit suicide like the last time someone knew Dumbledore died. Fanatics...

7) What book(s) that you've own for so long but never read it?
- Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter &... if Dayah knew this, she would kill me but... what the heck... Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas (because last time I was bugging her like crazy to buy me this book *run for cover. Ack!!)


8) Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why?
- My brother Nabil - the book that he bought, Christopher Pike's Remember Me when he was a teenager got me hooked up on reading. I haven't stopped reading and buying books ever since.
- A bookworm friend of mine since KTAM n SMKAJB days, Sue Mail. We swapped books and trying to write short stories to be circulated among our close friends - she loves Judith Mcnaught & Sidney Sheldon too, thee hee hee
- Nana, my sister through the net. She loves books and we both loves bookstores esp Kinokuniya in KLCC. Since Singapore is riddled with Kinokuniya and lots and lots of huge bookstores all over the island, we could only drool.

9) Your books collection in one picture:
- Number 1 barf factor :p

Nasi Minyak, Paceri Nenas

Yesterday I went to yet another wedding. It was Syakin's sister's wedding. Since she invited us and quite a few came, I wouldn't miss the chance of any gathering big or small especially because Syakin's hometown is in Pontian too. I came with Yus and Zamose/Along/Aza. Haven't seen Syakin since after SPM so yes, another opportunity to get re-acquainted.

Yan and Hanim came with their parents, Lin Aziz and Zue came not long after we finished our meal. And then Lin started her gruelling 'korek cerita' session *groans. Alifah and Rafiqah, our junior was there with their friends though I jokingly told Rafiqah, if she doesn't remember me, I'd probably have to shoot her. We were in the same dorm for 2 years.

We went back at about 6.30pm. Yus have to start working today, poor her. And I thought I got the lesser of the less holiday. 2 more days of holiday...

Couch Potato Alert

It is the starting of the long weekend holiday. It's gonna be Chinese New Year tomorrow, and the Hijriyah New Year on Tuesday. As I started my journey to the office, the road seemed deserted. Well, it is after all the eve of the new year. Those who are celebrating would be busy making their way to their hometown and the rest whom are celebrating the holiday that comes would also be going back or at least going somewhere with their friends and family. For me and my collegue Aidah, we swapped J-drama vcds to be watched over the weekend since we basically live at our hometown with our parents and doesn't have any plans, other than relaxing and watching tv (sounds boring but acceptable).

I borrowed her 'Gokusen' and 'Naruni'. Just found out that most of the J-drama vcd on my rack had Takuya Kimura in it. Wallao, I know I like Takuya but it was quite disconcerting to see his face on all of the covers. Being a J-drama junkie as myself I started watching the video right away, paused for a while since I gotta do the last minute check up before the holiday at the site and then continued right after I got home. Managed to finish the whole episodes just now and I am totally wowed.



Gokusen was a comic based drama released in 2002, I think. About a teacher, Yamaguchi Kumiko or known as Yankumi by her rebellious students. At first I thought it was the same cliche as GTO, though at the first glance all I had in mind was that Yankumi was a serious nerd teacher who was going to get a good beating from her future students. There was a twist to the story.

Yankumi was the grand daughter to one of the most prominent Yakuza gang leader. Her parents was killed when she was 7 and was raised by her grandfather since then. As a new teacher at an all-boys school, she was unluckily put in charge for 3-D, the worst of worst class in the school. She may looked a bit dorky at the first glance but there were some episode where she took over some gangs who messed with her students single-handedly. Underneath the glasses and ponytail, she actually had a temper which all her grandfather's goons are terrified of. She was trying hard to cover up her Yakuza family background from the school but it was difficult since she kept slipping up Yakuza mannerism in conversations.

It was a good watch and as Aidah said to me earlier before I started watching the drama, the quiet class leader, Sawada Shin played by Matsumoto Jun is so kawaii!! hahaha. Now I'm waiting for the drama 'Hana Yori Dango' or as we all recognized it better as the original Japanese version of Meteor Garden to reach over here. Matsumoto Jun starred in it as Domyouji or as in Meteor Garden's Jerry Yan's Dao Ming Si. The story's the same but from the reviews I read, it was better than Meteor Garden. Oh goody!

Happy Holiday Everyone!!!

Haunted

I have been haunted in my dreams for 2 nights straight.

What have been haunting me?

My job.

The day before, I dreamt going through the site inspection with bombardment from the clients. The site inspection was yesterday, but seems that all we had was a meeting at the client's office and the favour was on my side. One of the phase at the site is my main concern since we stationed a new worker. She's slow and getting on to my nerves. There is one whole stretch of road median that needs to be weeded and come afternoon or whenever the sun is up, she was gone. Reason, she doesn't want to get burnt and tanned. Yeah right, if she can't take the heat, don't take the job in the first place. Or she could just do the weeding faster and cover a lot of area at the median in the morning. Normally the whole stretch could be done in a day by the previous workers. Now, it dragged on for nearly 2 weeks. How can't I be ticked off? It has been a rainy season and the weeds sprouted out healthily. Quick attention is a must.

Another new worker, I caught him staring out and smoking, doing nothing. His area was full of weeds and fallen leaves and yet he had the gall to ask me what else to do. I sure miss the previous workers *sighs. But then again they were homesick, misses their family and went back to Indonesia.

The dream before this? It was about my design and presentation, getting a long and wide lecture from my boss, supervising a site, scolding a worker, buying stuff at the hardware shop for a project and I could go on and on and on. One situation in a dream.

Last night, I dreamt I found the tap point at the park. It was funny because in my dream the tap point looks like a place with a potfull of gold. It was shining brightly. Why? Because I have been working and patrolling the area for nearly 2 years but I still don't know where the tap point is. Aarghhh!!

Workaholic? I deny it. Please feed my dream with other thing than tap points. It is so darn unappealing. And work.

The 3

Tv series comes and goes. Some lasted for many seasons, some might not even make it through the first season. Above all else, there are 3 tv series that I can't miss.

CSI Las Vegas - the original CSI as some might say it tops my list. The cast are still the same, the cases are interesting and creative. I learnt a lot watching the show. Maybe if there was a CSI show when I was growing up, I think I might want to be a coroner or get into the crime lab team. On other thought... I think I'll pass.
Nothing seem to get pass the CSI team, though I did get satisfaction watching the episode when Grissom was challenged by the genius and cunning wet-blue-paint-railing murderer. But then again Grissom did nail the case (as always) in the next season though the murderer committed suicide by suffocating himself with a plastic bag after he was caught. Some of the scenes were gory, especially when the case involved human juice or bullet shot to the face. Bottomline, nothing escape the team. There was always, and I mean always something that leads back to the murderer even if they lack in evidence.
Above all that, the series were somehow illogical. It seems that the team is doing all the job - investigating, researching, catching the bad guys, thinking like the bad guys, being the jack-of-all-trade while Detective Brass whom supposed to do the dirty work only looks like an escort to apprehend any suspects. Heck, I still love the show anyway. My favourite episode would be the episode when Quentin Tarantino directed. Nick was kidnapped and the team was led to a merry chase finding him and the episode where there was a murder scene but there were no bodies and the narration was kinda 6th sense like. It also had something to do with Nick.



Witty script, dry humour, babbles with funny remarks, interesting characters. That would sum up why I love watching Gilmore Girls. As you know, it was about a single mother and her daughter living their lives and going through everything that they face with a new perspective.
In the first season Rory was the main character that I like though after she got into Yale my attention was diverted to Lorelai and Luke. As my brother pointed it out, the scriptwriter - Daniel Palladino is brilliant. He made the script to be spontaneous and funny especially if it was Lorelai doing the talking.
The characters in Stars Hollow are definitely something to remember. Kirk with his misinterpretation of whetever that surrounds him, Michel the unfriendly frenchman, Sookie the clumsy cook, Luke the grumpy diner owner and the list goes on. Last weekend as I was driving home from Imah's house with Yan, we both agreed that of all the guys Rory dated, we love Jess the most.
Dean was predictable with all his heart melting charms and Logan was just... the image of a spoilt rich kid. Now as for Jess, the brilliant though stubborn literature guy with attitude and the bad boy image was just great. There's always an element of surprise. As a matter of fact, he's the main reason why Rory get back to Yale after 'taking a break' due to Logan's dad heartless remark on her journalism ability.
In the latest episode, Lorelai was crushed when Luke wants to postpone their wedding because of his discovery of his daughter. And the plot thickens.



"We all use math everyday"

That is the catchiest phrase that was played over and over everytime Numb3rs starts. The series, as dubbed by Rob Morrow in one of the interviews, though not that accurate quote- like a mix between Beautiful Mind and CSI. Since you know I love CSI, I love Numb3rs too.
Finding criminals by using numbers, now who would have thought about that. Looking for hotspots, finding the probability of where and when the next crime would occur, finding the main suspects by looking for the highest odds in the middle of thousands of data. In short, I am in awe of mathematic though my calculus result was just average and my statistic... you could say bye-bye to it.
The story was about Don, the FBI agent and his younger brother Charlie, the genius Math professor at CalSci who kept on deriving algorithm to find criminals, suspects and everything that has to do with crime. It is endearing to actually know that even if Charlie could come up with thousand of probability in a case by just counting, he was just totally lost in spelling. For an instance, spelling anomaly with anomoly, or conceited with conceitd. The end of every episode is heartwarming, showing how good their relationship despite their difference of interest. The season of Numb3rs are too short in my opinion. 13 episodes in a season. Definitely not enough.

Hmm... I think I heard the beginning audition of the new season of American Idol. Ciao!

And I'm Reaching In a Bus Trip...

Been a great weekend. Diana's wedding and then meeting up my internet friends in Singapore. This were our second time meeting and as always, it was filled with laughter, joy and of course gossips. I happen to wreck the plan a bit by thinking that the area inside Singapore is all near. Well it is near but the time duration showed at the MRT chart gave me a heart attack. Reached at Kranji MRT at about 9.30am, supposed to be meeting Steve and Nana at 10.

The train to City Hall, from the chart that is took about 45 minutes (wallao!) and the train towards Jurong takes 15 minutes. Which route to choose? I chose the train Jurong. From Jurong another heart attack. Train to Bugis takes 27 minutes. Just about the same if I take the train to Bugis via City Hall. Either way I was so late and reached there just in time to meet up Steve and Nana, chat a bit and taking another train to Orchard.

As always Orchard was full, and there we waited for another friend of ours, Musica. We waited for her at the wrong place and went straight to the restaurant that she booked for lunch. We went to the Indonesian Rice Table and it was eventful for my stomach. We were served up to 10 dishes with rice - prawns, chicken, beef, kangkung, lodeh, taupok etc etc - and by the time lunch ended, I could hardly get up from the chair. Afterwards went over to Coffee Beans since Steve need to get his coffee shot. He was still recovering from his jetlag but he never admits that he was sleepy at that time (hehehe) due to time difference.

We went to the Coffee Beans outside Wheelock Place and when Musica mentioned that the place have a huge bookstore, mine and Nana's eyes lit up. Yes, you got it, we are both book junkie. As we stepped into Borders I could hardly stop myself from drooling. The latest books and I mean the latest of latest that I know haven't even reached the bookstore back home were stacked up and there my greed alert was flashing furiously. I could spend hours in there just browsing. My happy place. As I was saying to Steve and Nana, they might need a crowbar to pry my off from the bookstore. In the end I bought only 1 book, though I saw 5 that I really want. My reasoning won. I could buy the rest when it hit the rack back home. Besides, buying at home would allow for tax deduction, hehehe.

We bought ice cream along Orchard Road and an advertisement shown on the giant screen began to get to my head. I know Backstreet Boys would be doing a concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium TODAY, and I did at one point went berserk asking if my friends could accompany me there. Yes, I was and still am a BSB fan. When I was in secondary school, everyone and I mean everyone knows about it. I was that freaky though as age comes, I am a bit mellower (yeah right). Nana and Steve are going, it is Steve's birthday present to Nana and boy was I so envious. Can't go as my annual leave is very limited. Actually I woke up this morning to the dream that Intan, Yan and I were buying the last minute ticket at the concert. Argh!!

Howie D!!!! I love you!!!! LOL

And... It's the Weekend!!!!

Saturday at last, though as always it comes and goes. For this particular weekend, I found myself packed with plans and agenda. Just enough for whatever left of my 1 and a half day free time.

2 days ago went to have dinner cum my best friend, Along's belated birthday celebration at Pizza Hut Komtar since we got so sick of Sundanese House for the past few months - the only time I splurged on food is once every 2 of my meetings with her. It happens once in a blue moon though we both try hard to make it at least a time in a month. We take turns with the treats so it won't be a hassle splitting everything off. We chose the new seafood pizza, looked interesting, tasted interesting and the crust was the winner above all else.

And I went through an ordeal throughout the night.

I know I am allergic to salmon, big time. The last and worst allergy I had strategically a week before my final project submission. Went on for 4 days until the doctor didn't know what else to prescribe me since the strongest sedative didn't work, courtesy to F1's smoked salmon. It was red and it was itchy and basically every surface I made contact with became swollen and scratchy.Guess the doctor became so sick of me bugging him for 4 days straight for an 'effective' remedy.

First day, he gave me antihistamine. Second day he gave me a shot. Third day he gave me sedative. Fourth day he said he already gave me the strongest prescription for allergy in the clinic. In the end I found my own remedy - sitting right smack in front of the air conditioner inside the studio, cranked it low to 16C and just wear t-shirt and jeans like it was hot instead of freezing cold inside. It worked but I got the side effect of chest pain and breathing difficulty. The price of the final project. To this date all my friends and my sister said they would LOVE to treat me out at F1, but only limited to smoked salmon. How cruel. Good thing this time it wasn't a re-enactment of the previous one but nevertheless whatever that was in that pizza, my system couldn't take it. I had a bad premonition that my weekend would go off in smoke due to the food I ate. Luckily it wouldn't... or I hope it won't since there are few swelling left.

So anyway, today was another friend's wedding. Diana was all decked in blue with (omg, another friend having one of these, lol) her husband and I, as usual was late for the wedding. Supposedly I finish my work at 1pm but then again, working with construction projects, you can never really tell when you could go off. Unluckily today, I just had to send out all the new workers for medical check up which lasted from 12pm to 3pm. Bummer. Long story short, reached Diana's house at 4.30pm which was just about time for normal cleaning out time but good thing there were still people coming in.

Night's getting later. Got to get things packed up and ready for tomorrow's trip to Singapore and sleepover at my uncle's house afterwards near Bandar Nusa Jaya.

Selamat Pengantin Baru
Diana & Isa

The Drive Home

It was a hectic day for me yesterday. Going back and forth to the Professional building, Menara TJB, had lunch at CS since my best friend Along wasn't able to join me due to our breaktime difference, took a plan from AH site office and did measurement for the turf and trees - my least favourite work of all.

And then there was the drive back home, my refuge.

Living far away from office got a certain advantage. Don't think of the extra mileage, extra petrol and extra time. Even its a 40 minutes journey one way I certainly value the driving time. It is where I am completely alone. Don't get me wrong, I hate being lonely for a very long time and 40 minutes is just fine.

It is where I would be able to reflect on what happened that day. Where I am able to clear my head just for a timeframe. No work, no nothing, just clarity. It is also where I get to exercise my lungs without anyone hearing it. Yeah, you got it right. It is when I get to sing my heart out without being heard by anyone for a very long time - unless of course except for the passing motorcyclist whom by bad luck manage to wait for the red light beside my beat up Kancil when I go for 'Phantom of the Opera' crescendo. And then they start looking me weird. Oh well, not that I care, hehehe.

And then the drive from Parit Selangor to Parit Semerah. The road is narrow and trying to reach 110 kmph would be a challenge. It is my favourite drive if it happens to be at night and the road is clear. One of the reasons why my sister hate it when I drive. If its not clear, then I would stick to the 60 kmph speed limit.

Time for work, 40 minutes to come up with a design to discuss with my boss this morning. Brought the work home but my head was clogged last night by watching 3 episodes of Numb3rs back to back on my pc. Have a nice day!

Confused & Insecure

Monday morning.

Just the right day to get the blues,
and feeling all confused.

At a time, I am sure I am going to do it,
The next, am I sure I am going to do it?

At a point, I am sure I am going to get it,
The next, am I sure I am getting it?

In a moment, I am sure that I am what I think,
The next, who am I?

Everything is hanging on a thread,
Hoping too much would bring heart ache,
Not hoping at all, would be impossible.

A ball was passed and it was passed back,
To the first person who tossed it,
It all comes back to the first person.

To do or not to do?
My answer is do.

Would your answer be it too?


This entry is dedicated to someone I know, whom I have feelings for. Who I don't think read my blog or know of it's existence. But then again, it's the thought that counts. Right?

The Day I think I Lost My Cool and Starts to Freak Out

1st scenario:

I frequently go to my bosses' house in a gated precinct in Skudai where visitors have to pass their driving licence at the guard house. One of the security guards, a young man kept passing me his phone number everytime I have to fetch something at my bosses' house but I came up with lame excuses like my phone was lost, stolen, eaten by my cat so on and so forth but seems like he didn't get the hint. So he said he just want to be pals. I was stupidly naive because as you can tell most of my good buddies in university are guys and I told him lots of times that I was taken. I passed him my phone number (stupid stupid stupid). He didn't call which I thought was great.

Couple of months after which was actually 2 days ago he started to sms me with his new phone number, just once. I didn't reply anything at all. I thought okay fine, friends are friends no point of over-reacting. He called me up once when I was dead asleep at 12 (I get really annoyed if anyone jerks me up in the middle of the night as I start sleeping) 3 times. I was already in dreamland and the phone was already off. The next day I asked Aidah, my admin pal to pick up the call and told him I am in the middle of a meeting. Then when I was driving he called again. I didn't check the caller ID so there, busted. He asked me to sms him my home address. I asked for whatever reason? He said, to quote:-

"Saya nak hantar mak saya merisik"

Double triple quadruple quintetuple sixtuple whtever thousandtuple HAH?!!

Kenal idak, berbual pun setakat nak pas lesen and bam goes that. I nearly crashed into something. All I said was "Hah? Biar betul" he answered, "That's my main intention." And then I said, "I don't even know you." His answer was "I know but I do want to send my mom over." And then I had to disconnect the phone because there was a speed trap up ahead. Where did the word "Saya dah berpunya," gone to I didn't know. I am rotten at lying. That was the first call ever, so how else would any girl react? I don't have the guts to pick up the phone and it keeps on ringing since then and just now as a matter of fact. Doesn't he take the hint? Unanswered phone means no. Its so darn freaky and scary. That all happened yesterday and I'm hoping like crazy that there would be no calls from him tomorrow.

My boss already know about him since the day he passed me his number but they doesn't know about the latest happening yet. Everything starts with my ever so generous with smile attitude... does that mean I'm gonna have to change that?

2nd scenario:

Nothing much but as I was taking the pictures at the site for the site meeting I managed to get myself knee deep into the soggy soil. The workers were there planting turf and making the concrete bench when they came to my aid and lamely saying,

"Lah akak, terlupa beritau, jalan atas walkway, nggak boleh jalanin atas tanah. Tanah sini lembek."

There I was immobilize and they warned me about the soil condition only after I got stuck. How approppriate. Had to leave my shoes in the soil since I couldn't pull it out anyway. So if anyone lives in that new Indahsinar phase and played at the park that we are working on and tend to break off the plants, my shoes will haunt you.

Because of...

Because of trust...
A person lost their dignity

Because of faith...
A person lost their respect

Because of emotion...
A person becomes blind

Because of compassion...
A person was used

Because of passion...
A family nearly broken

Because of love...
A person lost everything

p.s: Don't get the wrong idea, this is not about me and it's not that I'm getting cynical and jaded. Love is a very beautiful and powerful emotion when you found it with the right person. You could fly up so high, reach the cloud and still be grounded. When someone use love to gain something, it changed to be destructive. People get used and be used.

Yippee Day

Nothing much of idea for today. Just gearing up for the coming weekend. Make it my long weekend, hehehe. Looking forward for tomorrow to actually. My ever-so-flexible cousin will be on NTV7 for the Malaysian version of fear factor. Time to get my booing voice ready, hahaha.

Kidding :p

So, the show's tomorrow at 8.30pm.

'Songlap'ed from the fear factor page. Ganas gile muka

My Bracelet!!!

I'm a beginner E-bay user. Actually I was just browsing the shopping list over in e-bay, looking for funny illogical stuff that was downright crazy. Like the stone that speaks (yeah right), the mineral water bottle drank by some celebrity (who knows who else drank on it if there were no finger print test?) and lots more. One of my friends, Gladys an old timer with e-bay told me that bidding anything locally is much more better than bidding on things that are overseas. And so I browsed over Malaysia e-bay page.

Good thing, not so much of bizarre yucky stuff. But then again, being a girl (thee hee hee) I just had the urge to look over the jewellery section, just browsing for anything with star shape (I'm totally crazy about star shape trinkets) until I saw the love charm bracelet. Wallao, I fell in love with it that I bid on it straight away. Granted it wasn't star shaped, it was heart shaped but it just look too good to resist. Honestly this was the first time I bought a bracelet. The 2 that I got was given by my mother, though I rarely wear it anyway. Being in a job that involves a lot of physical activities prevents me from wearing anything beautiful at work. All that aside, I just have to have that bracelet. Good thing that I was the only bidder and I got it. And the mail got through today, yippee!!!!

Lovely isn't it? (mak aih, golapnyo tangan eden)

Weekend

My cousin Irra was discharged from the hospital due to the operation done on the tumour that grew next to her knee so I took the opportunity of the weekend to crash over her home. Things were looking good for her and being a hyperactive 17 year old, sitting around without doing anything would sure get to her nerves. By the time I arrived at her house, she was already hobbling back and forth and trying hard not to scratch anyplace near to her bandage. Good thing she and her parents decided to postpone the operation until after she finished her SPM papers.

Night time, my uncle, my aunt and I went over to the PC Fair over at City Square. Knowing of all the good deals happening around, I tried hard not to withdraw any money from the nearby ATM machine. But then again, I have to - I think. Just for a 256mb RAM that cost me RM 78. Not that much actually. As for my uncle, he bought a new Lexmark 2300 all in one printer, scanner, copier that only cost RM199, an MP3 player for Irra, a card reader, speakers and I don't know what else. The sale was crazy that I was just as glad that I managed to restrain myself from buying unnecessary items.

Catastrophe fell on the next day. I planned to go over to a wedding of my ex-collegue during internship by the MBJB bus that they already arranged. I was so excited and prepared all the clothes and the things that I should wear with it but I wasn't prepared for the big bad hot iron. I haven't even worn the clothes yet, and it was the third baju kurung that I sent to be made for hari raya but I managed to iron a hole on my kain. I was frantic afterwards since the bus was supposed to leave at 9am. Tried to wear the clothes, hoping that the hole could be covered but then again, my luck, the hole was strategically located at the middle of my shin. Went through Irra's closet but her kain was a bit small. Went through my aunt's closet, found the right baju kurung but as remarked by Irra, I looked like I was wearing a 100% borrowed clothes. In the end, I didn't go to the wedding, sat home and removed the tail of one whole bag of bean sprouts (taugeh) with Irra the whole morning. *Sighs

The laughing kain. Die yuppie scum!

Amazing Fact

I was browsing on my birth certificate where, interestingly on top right of the document was a writing which I managed not to notice untul just now.

Sabtu legi
13 Zulkaedah 1401

It was of course, written in jawi, with my dad's handwriting. I know I was born on Saturday. Now I know one more interesting fact of myself. According to Hijrah calendar, I will turn 25 years old next thursday - 15th December 2005 / 13 Zulkaedah 1426. On the Gregorian calendar (which of course the normal calendar that we use nowadays) I am only 24. Now, how cool could that be?

Behold. My Prologue

Last time, I manage to write this part of the story and left it unattended for months long. As for today, my ideas are kicking in and I found back my rhythm. Before you start hunting me for leaving the story too long in my blog without continuing, just know that I don't let anyone read my story until it's fully done. That's just how I do my writing. I bet most of you know where story is going by just reading the intro. Anyway, feedbacks are more than just welcome. I'm on my first chapter and I think I'm falling more in love with my characters, hehehe.

Well, here goes nothing. There's no title yet though - that always come in the end.

Prologue

Ayuni was sitting on the old swing under the rambutan tree eating chocolate and reading a Harry Potter book. The place was her favourite spot every time she managed to get home in Kota Tinggi from her busy life in the bustling town of Kuala Lumpur. It was a hot afternoon but the tree was shady enough to protect her from the sun. The wind was breezy. Ayuni closed her eyes and raised her face to feel it blowing softly against her face. This was definitely her favourite time of the day.

Suddenly she felt something fell onto the open book on her lap. Her heart beat increased automatically knowing what she could feel slithering at the sides of her hands. It was heavy and it was scaly.

"Don't move, don't move, don't move," silently she chanted in her mind. Ayuni refused to open her eyes knowing very well what she would see. "This must be the 'luckiest' day of my life," she thought horribly. Where was her father when she needed him most? She forgot. Her parents were out visiting relatives. Anuar, her younger brother was out with friends, Aniza the youngest in the family was out for tuition class. She was all alone.

Gathering her courage, she slowly opened her eyes and nearly fainted when it was a big black python looking back at her as if it was expecting her to look at it eye to eye. If it was up to her, she would run away like crazy, providing that she was far away from the snake in the first place which in this case she wasn't. She watched too many documentaries to know that snakes would not bite unless it felt provoked but this snake in particular was weird. It was as if it was looking at her with a very thoughtful look.

Thoughtful snake? She ought to have her brain operated, she said to herself. In this case if she manage to get out of the ordeal alive she promised to be a really good person. Not just good, she'd be great. She would stop picking on her younger siblings, to recycle, be good to wildlife. It was not as if she use animal products anyway but the list kept on going. Heck, she would even be nice to this particular wildlife and would name it Blacky.

While Ayuni was busy preparing her mental list on what to do if she survived she realized the snake raised it's head. Much to her horror the snake was moving its head to her arm in a gesture of affection. What was she supposed to do? Pet it back? No chance in hell that she would do it. She would be the next patient in the emergency room if she does.

To her surprise, the snake reared its head up and bit her!

To be continued, hehehe - probably next year when I finish the whole thing off :D