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

Career Crack

Sometimes I love my job. Sometimes I get so fed up with it that I start browsing for job vacancies on the net, in the newspaper or anywhere available. I bet that I'm not the only person who faces this. It's just that not everyone manage to get comfortable in their career niche that they feel content doing it. I have to admit that it's like a love-hate relationship that you can't simply brush it aside. To live, we need a lot of things and of course, I don't want to sound shallow but let's face the fact. The ka-ching factor is considered as a necessity. Even instant noodles cost RM0.45 per packet. But first, to get it we need to work - unless of course you manage to snag a wealthy widow/widower/rich guy/rich woman, etc but that's beside the point.

One thing that I remembered most about career is of course, the line that I heard from Whoopi Goldberg in Sister Act 2 where she was persuading Lauryn Hill's character to get back singing. The line was (not that accurate though) - If when you wake up from your sleep, all you can think about is singing, that means you are meant to sing. Motivational sentence, correct? As for me... let me give that a thought. On Monday mornings my thought was - Monday already? And most of the time when work is piling on my always cluttery desk all I could think was - what else could I put in my design? So does that mean that this is my calling? Since secondary school all I did was thinking up some cool ideas I could put in my English essays (that's my other word for constant daydreaming). For now, my itch to write another fiction is there but I lack the motivation to start typing my brains out.

My brother asked me once when I was about to go to work - "Don't you get bored going to work everyday?" The thought certainly cross my mind more than once. I was wondering how anyone could hold a job for more than 30 years. That's the average years for those who work in the government sector. As an example, my mak. She started working when she was 18 and retired few months ago with the same job. Same goes for my abah. That's roughly 38 years straight. I am amazed at that feat and here I am having an up and down feelings on my job. The journey is merely just begun for me.

I was having a long talk with one of my previous supervisors while I was doing internship in MBJB few days back. We were talking about the attitude of some of the officers that was stuck in their comfort zone too long that they become less pro-active. His words were actually branded in my mind - "Don't get too comfortable with what you have. Try to get as much, even if it's not in your field of work. Just remember that there are thousand of people out there waiting to get your job." Creepy but true. There are lots and lots of unemployed graduates out there waiting for their chance. But that doesn't mean that you have to stay put and not moving at all for the fear that you don't have talent in other area. That was actually a nudge to look for a better future and career. You won't know your true capability until you take the next step, right?

Some might feel that they are stuck to their job because that is the only thing that they know how to do, some might have no where to go due to family business, some might have too many options that they don't know which path to choose and some may not have any choice at all. The world is big and I'm very sure there are more conflicts than what I have stated. Not everyone could be Bill Gates, and not everyone even with the guidance book from the real-estate mogul Donald Trump or Robert T. Kiyosaki of the Rich Dad, Poor Dad fame could apply the whole book and get what they want.

My mak asked me once after I graduated on what I want to work as. Jokingly I told her, a full-time housewife. Straight away she told me - in her teasing tone of course - that if she knew that was my ambition she would marry me straight off after I finish secondary school. Knowing my mak, in her opinion, women should have her own career path and dream, earn for herself and able to help her husband when the financial cost becomes more than he could take. Being fully dependent on someone else for every aspect of life is not what she picture life would be. And of course like any parents she would love her children to have more than she has.

There, my 2 cents worth about career. When mood strikes, I feel like signing up for KPLI, be a teacher and have loads of holiday, and again when it strikes, I can't picture myself anywhere but my current job. We'll just see in the future now won't we?

I Need Burger!!!

Yes, I do.

I am in desperate need of burger.

Not just any burger. I'm not talking about those expensive and not so tasty burgers at any of the fast food restaurant. I want the burger daging and cheese at Burger Street in Serdang!!!! The stall which the father and son sells at. And the song I heard by Don & Drew on 98.7FM since I can't remember when is not helping at all.

What song?

Ramly (daging lembu)

Darn! Darn! Darn! Darn! Darn!

To think that no one would sing about Ramly burgers, the song just makes me drool. Just imagine the greasy beef patty greased with margarine, the buns that is greased in the inside with of course, margarine, the cabbage, tomato, cucumber topped with generous amount of mayonnaise and chilli sauce. That alone only cost RM1.40. Burger special - RM2.00 which is basically the beef patty is wrapped in fried eggs (as if you don't know lah). Burger daging with cheese (my favourite) - RM2.30. Health freaks would cringe at those but what the heck, it taste good and of courselah kan, don't eat that ALL the time even though as a student the thought is so darn tempting since it's cheap.


Picture taken from Don and Drew web page... burger special... drools

Ramly (Burger Lembu)

Yo Ramly, you're with the family
Your meat is manly
Get fatter than fat

Yo Ramly, you're with the family
Your meat is manly
Get fatter than fat

Yo Ramly us the burger that I love to eat,
Eventhough I don't know what's in the meat,
A lil bit of egg and a lot of sauce,
No matter what they say I don't believe its horse
If you're feeling like a Ramly in Singapore
You gotta get up off your a**
You gotta leave this shore
You gotta barge us in you gotta get 3 or 4
But no matter how much
You gonna want some more

Bun, patty, egg, cheese, rubber duck please
I hold my Ramly between my knees
Yo even though the chef is infested with fleas
Squeeze the buns together to release the grease

Yo Ramly, you're with the family
Your meat is manly
Get fatter than fat

Ramly is good, good Malaysian food
Ramly is good, eat it like you should

Well that does show that our 'ramly burger tepi jalan' is quite famous even across shore. Can't manage to type the lyric much more I'm drooling. So far none of the burgers I found here are as good as the ones at Burger Street. Aaaargh!

Apekemendelah

Everywhere, all the papers, nearly the same headlines - about the badigol of an officer suruh the prisoner ketuk ketampi without clothes caught on camera. Its degrading. Ketuk ketampi tu kira not that hard lah tapi by right mana ada dalam undang-undang, naked part tu lagi one hal and they don't have the bloody darn right to make the detainee do that. One comment ajelah from yours truly - Bengong punya pegawai!

Adik Saya

Dari kiri ke kanan - sepupu saya, adik saya

Saya ada seorang adik. Nama dia Nabhanuddin tetapi kami sekeluarga memanggil dia A'an kerana nama dia panjang. Adik saya kata tak ramai orang selain dari ahli keluarga kami tahu menyebut nama dia. Kebanyakan orang yang baru kenal dia memanggil dia Nabanuddian, bukan Nab-hanuddin dan secara kebetulannya, orang yang tahu menyebut nama dia pada kali pertama adalah kawan karibnya.
Adik saya suka komputer. Dia suka bermain dengan alat permainan komputer dan alat permainan lain yang melibatkan skrin monitor seperti permainan PS2. Oleh sebab itu dia melanjutkan pelajarannya di Universiti Multimedia dalam bidang multimedia kreatif. Selain daripada itu, hobinya ialah mengacau sepupu kami yang kami panggil dengan panggilan mesranya Baby yang berumur 4 tahun kerana Baby sangat takut pada A'an.
Hari ini adalah 26 November 2005. Adik saya telah dilahirkan pada 26 November 1987 jadi hari ini adalah hari lahirnya yang ke 18. Happy belesday, hihihi

P.S: Feel free nak beri markah, hahaha

Harry Potter dan Gelas Api

Gelas api?

Sounds funny but that's wht the malay translation was for 'Goblet of Fire'. At the cover of the malay version book, it was 'Piala Api'. Though anyway, caught the movie straight after work was done and I was just in time for the next show. One thing about watching this movie, I felt that I'm one of the lil kids since most of the occupants inside the movie theatre were kids and their parents.

Nothing much to comment about the movie. For those who already read the book, don't expect t0o much from the movie. Obviously its hard to cram 600 pages of the book in a 2 and 37 minutes movie. If I didn't read the book I wouldn't know how the quidditch world cup would end - with Irish team at the winning but Viktor Krum from Bulgaria caught the snitch, wouldn't know what a veela was, won't know who Winky was, won't laugh at the older wizard who tried to blend in with the muggles during the world cup wearing woman's clothing, won't know who Ludo Bagman was, won't know who 'Snuffles' was, won't know that Fleur Delacour was half veela. Enough with what 'won't knows'. If I list all of it over here, it would not end.

Dobby was supposed to be in this movie, and he's the one who should give Harry the gillyweed, not Neville. People won't know why Neville reacted very strongly when Mad-Eye Moody performed 'Cruciatus' curse on the spider and that the imperius curse doesn't work so well with Harry.

As I say the list might go very long. I just hope that in the Order of Phoenix the forming of 'Dumbledore's Army' would make up for the future of the 'won't knows'.

Roy Is Now Puan Rohaya!!!!

Another buddy got married. Guess our anonymous prophecy that the all the 'ganas' girls get married earliest is close to true. I just got back from the wedding and it was great. For this weekend, I'm home alone as my parents went to send my brother and his computer appliances back to MMU. Started making my way to Zai's house in Sri Skudai around noon and hang out a little for Zohor prayers and short session of beraya. Ipah was already out from her place picking Intan, while Qis was waiting for Nani's phonecall before picking her up at the bus terminal. Armed with the map on the wedding invitation card, both Zai and I made our journey hoping that it's accurate.

The 'bersanding' session, according to the card starts at 2.30pm and we hoped that we would be able to grab a bite during or before the groom comes and join the crowd after our tummies got full. Our timing was great which of course due to some trial and error instinct following road guide. We circled the area twice forgetting which road is which and of course I wouldn't forget the amusing road name - Jalan Kacung. Sounds cute actually, that makes me wonder if there's any Jalan Cipan, Tapir or Tenuk somewhere in the country. That sounds cute too. The road behind it was Jalan Chengkerek but cengkerik sounds common. We arrived few minutes after Ipah and Intan did and boy, the parking was such a killer that it was a good thing there was an empty spot just by the junction cute enough for a Kancil.

Roy was all decked in green and she was lovely. Good thing I asked the week before on the colours that the family would be wearing or I would end up wearing the last pair of this year's baju raya. Its also green. The food was great and much to our delight, they serve sirap bandung with ice cream soda - yum. It was that good that the 4 of us went back for refills.

Roy, last week's picture and today's picture


Minah berlima - before bersanding


Hantaran from the groom.

The kompang group came not long after with the groom as we were having our meal. Good thing that we were already eating or being inside the house at that time would be really crazy. As always, the groom have to go through few barriers depend on the setting actually - front porch, the main gate, the door, the pelamin. Since we were busy eating, the good ol' DJ kept us updated on the barriers and the happenings inside the house. Apau and Md Nor reached there at that time.

Kulihat hijau....

After eating, we went into the house and Edda decked in pink (I have a field day making fun of her in pink since she always make an amusing comment about another 'ganas' friend of ours who loves pink) with her sister came afterward. The 'tabur duit' session came not long after with kids preparing to dive in for the token thrown by the bride and the groom. I was in the line of fire of the token throwing - Roy's husband (OMG, Roy's husband? Wow!) threw it a bit far away from the group that it hit smack on my face as I was busy snapping pictures of the merry children picking up the coins and money. Long time after, it was Zai who pointed it out that I got something at the folds of my tudung. I got 2 tokens sitting nicely there (Ah.. there's where those coins that hit my face were).

Mari menabur :)


The thing that got stuck at the folds of my tudung.


Cake cutting.


Group pics - Edda was too shy to be in the pic.

The rest of the gang finally made their way in - Qis, Nanie, Zah, Zue, Isem with her bf and brother, Zul, Nofie and her family, Fad and his family. Today was the first day that his daughter met her namesake. Fad named his daughter Arifah Nur Iman, after our classmate, the ever genius Arifah Nur (without Iman at the end of her name) a.k.a Ipah. Total count - Ipah told us that including Fad's daughter, she have 3 babies named after her. Honestly, her name is great and I like her name.

Ipah Jr & Ipah Sr


Moody Farah (Nofie's daughter) after having to wake up upon arrival at Roy's place.

Most of us went back at 4.30 ish since I got work waiting at home. Got a presentation this Tuesday. Maybe I'll start it after a short nap, hehehe.

Reunion Raya

Even if it was a last minute (not quite last minute la) plan, even if the budget was kind of tight, at last we managed to pull of a small reunion for our batch at Nofie's house on the 3rd day of raya. Coincidentially, its her birthday. The 'budak ganas' and the person that was thought by everyone to be among the last person to get married is now a proud mother of one. That was one of the topic that all of us talked about. Roy's getting married next weekend and Anas would be on the 24th December along with his sister, our KTAM senior kak Sab. Its a double wedding for him and his sister. Another friend of ours, Fad had just become a proud father of which his daughter was named after a genius classmate of ours. Ina-Mazlina (the case too many ina's at school as always) is getting engaged on the 4th day of raya which was why she couldn't make it for the gathering.
Food was in abundance - Soto, satay, fried bihun, muffins (courtesy of my sister's bf), rojak buah, sambal goreng, sweet sour chicken, all the normal raya food that makes my tummy so darn full. Good thing that many turned up even the attendance from the guys' side was a bit slow but they came with a full gusto. We got reacquainted again, haven't seen some since school ends. Just hope that we manage to do this again in the future.

The girls

Yan & Qis at the back with the symbolic salam-salam raya pose for the sake of the picture taking, hehehe


Celebrated November birthday girls - Isem, Lynt, Nofie and her cute darling Farah and Nanie
the birthday guys are just to shy to join in the pic.


The guys - the picture was snagged from Zul's friendster page.

Raya Pertama

Ramadhan comes and goes, Syawal making its mark after a month of fasting. One thing that is essential on the first day of raya - either Eno or pil chi kit teck aun, the best remedies for any case of over-eating. I used to have that kind of problem when I was in secondary school. My stomach couldn't handle the surprise of "eating like there's no tomorrow" habit after a month of tummy cleansing. Too many food from all over the places, neighbours, relatives and all. This year's Bangbil's turn to celebrate the first of eid at kak linda's place in Perlis with us three bachelors remaining. The best part of the day - picture taking session, I like. The second year of raya after the passing of my grandma, of course it is way different from before. Now its our turn to move around and visit the remaining of the elders. Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir dan Batin

Days Before Raya

Quote for the day (picked up from Jamie Yeo's show on my way to Stulang Laut)

Do not explain - your friends won't listen and your enemy won't believe it anyway
The point - Don't waste your breath

Nostalgic

The thing was like this. It was before Ramadhan and then of course, friends who have been communicating through the mailinglist was asking if anyone wants to have a gathering for this year's eid. Everyone - at least those who are actively going through warisan agreed. The 'bidan terjun' organizer - yours truly and appointed assistant, Qis. The venue that we thought of was teh school hall or someone else's house that is strategically located in JB.

I went over to school today, just to look around and meet up with the people at the administration office. I saw Cikgu Fawziah Simon exiting the office - though I recalled her name few minutes after she went to her class. Too many new faces around and so one of the teachers ushered me to the GPK's room and met up with Ustaz Fauzi. He is one of the new teachers and I didn't know what came over me that I was speechless clutching the proposal letter in my hand.

Maybe its just the school. The office was still there along with everything else and I am impressed with the small pocket park adorned with Royal Palm. Ustaz Abdullah is still the Principal and the office is now air conditioned. Had a chat with Kak Kam, our clerk since KTAM years. Boy, I really miss the good old days. Guys, look at our school now.


Beautiful isn't it? Last time we only have tarmac at this area and that was the girls toilet - usually very congested after PE

Look, they put a stage on the foyer

The Umar Abd. Aziz Hall. The building next to it is the girl's hostel - where we lived for... 2 years and a half after the old KTAM building behind Convent School JB

Months After

It was 6.30pm when I reached home. Abah was no where in sight - yikes! which means he would return with food he bought at the always crowded pasar ramadhan. I bought sayur lemak pisang (banana cooked in coconut milk) which surprisingly caused up more addition to the food on the table. You can't eat that without the whole gang of fried salted fish and sambal belacan. It was near to 7.oopm and the Maghrib prayer call for JB could already be heard. We waited a bit because Pontian is a few minute later than JB. Then my mak said, "Kenapa tak ada bunyi siren?" (why is there no siren?) because usually during fasting month the siren was turned on just to mark the maghrib time before the 'muazin' (person who performs the prayer call) doing the azan. Convenient way for him to drink and eat right on time. I agreed with mak.

My abah casually replied, "Siren kan dah terbakar" which means the siren was burnt.

We both forgot, the mosque was already burnt *smack forehead.