Life is A Divine Chaos

... and my Inspration Pad today ask me to "embrace it! Breathe and enjoy the ride" ... 

I don't know how to response to this "divine chaos ... because for once the chaos that is entering my life right now is simply not divine and I will definitely cannot breathe and totally would not enjoy the ride!

Jason's wedding is drawing near, our office account need to be "closed", projects need to be on advance stage but people keep coming for unnecessary funding, school holidays is coming and the weather is slowing down the progress on site!

Suddenly I feel so sad!

Friends Are Friends Forever

I think many of us remember this song ... quite famous gospel song in the late 90s. By the way, I would like to share this song as I have finally found and make great friends here in Penang. I mean real friends ... not friends with benefit ... (or sex friends hahaha). These are friends that will always support and be there for me. Friends that will protect and watch my back. Friends who have the same passion and believe in what matter most. But the mosttttttttttt important of all ... friends of the same age group hahahahahaha

Bukan apa lah ... before meeting these new friends ... the two person closest to me seorang teruna senja and seorang pulak andalusia. Dua-dua pun dah nak dekat umur persaraan (sebelum dilanjutkan ke 60 tahun)

I was never short of meeting people that would want to be acquainted with me or from the same social background or social circle. However, I always feel empty inside ... or not that interested to meet them for social outings or non work related. However, lately I have been laughing my heart out ... or found myself burst to guffaw of laughters. Even the Dzi beads seller or auntie who sell me wantan mee will smile widely when they saw me hahaha.

Now I have great friends that I can talk about food. Also friends to talk about arts and culture. To link this together, I have good friend who is a journalist, editor and my unofficial source on information who's who. I also have close friend in event management, an owner of the most important tourism hub in Mainland Penang, another one who always scold me like a senior boss but when we never see each other for a time ... will call me instead and say ... "what happened to you ... I miss you, you know" hahaha

Most important of all ... let say one day someone suddenly asked you ... "Can I kiss you?" at least you can have someone to share it with or analysed whether this guy was in his right mind or not. Hahahaha

Let's admit it ... without a friend by your side be it your family members, your spouse, your colleagues or even a stranger whom you befriended... it can be tough to walk this life with all its challenges, turmoils and trials. Don't live in isolation...

And I thank God from the bottom of my heart for this blessing.

Penang Beat Prelude@Queensbay, Penang 2011

Hello friends ... just want to promote my latest event for Penang. Maybe some of you might wonder why out the blue I suddenly want to promote this event on my blog. To be honest, my office events during the last few months were back to back with no time for me to spare for updating my blog. As for this one, my office is the co-organiser so I have some space to breathe.

Few months back I was approached by Penang Municipal Council to assist them in this event which will be mainly funded by them. This was because, the President of Penang Municipal Council was so impressed with Music In The Park Concert during the last Parks and Gardens Carnival at Penang Botanic Gardens. Further to that, I was also made to understand that the council would also like to strengthen and focus on tourism related activities as a member of Tourism Promotion Organisation (TPO).Coincidentally, I was also doing a research on sister cities or friendship cities as a catalyst for sustainable tourism (huhuhu ... topik memang hebat tapi paper pernah tak siap-siap).

So together with the National Arts and Culture Department (under Ministry of Information, Communication and Culture), we researched, planned and developed a music fest that will benefit from the council sister-cities networks and TPO membership as well as creating new arts and culture based tourism product for Penang. To be honest, I was a bit surprised when Cik Mariam (National Arts and Culture Department Director) suggested that we explore "experimental music". Wow, when all the hype now in Malaysia is "World Music" ... from Penang to Sarawak and now Sabah ... lets be honest here that I was skeptical. I remembered talking to one of the founders of Sarawak Rainforest Music Festival ... years ago, nobody cares about world music and now 3 states are claiming that theirs are different than others.

But as we progressed further, I began to realise that Cik Mariam might have a point. It was to my great surprise that we as in Malaysia do have groups that have won numerous awards at international level and a homegrown group that just need a little push and exposure. Hahaha ... now, the Penang Beat is no longer a music fest but a platform for these groups to compete with each other. But since the genre is relatively new we decided to design it as a showcase or prelude first.

Hahahaha ... will have to stop here as I don't want to give away so much information ... just come and feel the BEAT on 11-12 November 2011 at Queensbay Beach area from 7.30 pm to 10.30 pm. See you there!

Teratak Spa, Bayan Baru, Penang

Sometimes, it kind of bad knowing too much. It makes us too cautious and skeptical on little, little details. Like when I was with Ministry of Housing, though it saved me from buying property from scrupulous developer, it took me about 7 years to invest in one. The same goes here in Ministry of Tourism when I had to rate hotels and spas in preparation for the Visit Malaysia Year 2013 as well as to move the Malaysia Tourism Transformational Plan - 2020:36:168. Some hotels that I had rated, looks good on the outside but sekali you go to the kitchen .... you want to pengsan.

However, on the bright side, at least you are ensured that company practised good quality assurance in their services while keeping up with competition and latest trends. Having said that ... I am still skeptical hahaha. Takut masa rating jer "fabulous" and "marvelous", habis rating ... lagi teruk dari hotel cap ayam hahahaha ...

Anyway, I want to share my personal experience with one of the spas that I had rated and in which I think deserve to be promoted by me. By the way, the lady boss doesn't know that I own a blog and going to blog about her spa as whenever I went there for "short breakaway from the office" ...she was not around.

The entrance to Teratak Spa

Teratak Spa is actually a double storey, corner lot house which was converted into a spa sanctuary in the residential area of Bayan Baru. It is actually quite near to the Bandar Bayan Baru roundabout heading towards Bukit Jambul, but most people missed it from the roundabout because there are huge trees planted by Penang Council blocking the view.

All the lush tropical greens in the garden greeting you as you enter the spa compound.

The spa concept in my opinion is a mixture of Balinese and Javanese, from the spa deco to the treatments offered. However, I was very happy when she incorporated some local elements in the deco such as spice tray (nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, star anise), rattan casings, "mengkuang" mat and bunga rampai (a Malay pot-purri). The owner also created a special brew of ginger tea with nutmeg essence that was quite calming and soothing (though slightly spicy) as a welcome drink before you go for your treatment.

The bunga rampai

To be honest, when it come to massage ... I am a great fan of Thai massage by Thai masseurs. It is something about the massage technique and how they applied pressure from using their thumb or palm. Every time I went back to Kuala Lumpur, I will definitely indulged myself with a nice massage at Thai Odyssey. Sometimes, I will go to Urban Retreat at The Curve@Mutiara Damansara. I did try some local spa centres who engaged local therapists before but ... memang kureng lah.

But on that fateful day, I was actually having very stiff neck and back pain due to fatigue, stress and lack of sleep/rest. Coincidentally, that month ... there was no trip to KL. Cannot "tahan" anymore, I called up the spa for a short session during long Friday prayer break. The therapist on duty recommended me to try the 1 hour Swedish massage after a brief consultation. That time I didn't care anymore ... Swedish kah, Thai kah, Malaysian kah ... as long as it could relieve the pain and make me feel relax I am OK. She also recommended "cream bath" to go with the massage.

 

The treatment bed and some insight on the treatment room.

Cream bath hair treatment is actually a traditional Indonesian hair treatment to promote hair growth, elasticity and prevent damaged hair. The treatment usually uses ingredients such as coconut milk, mint leaves, aloe vera and sometimes avocado, which is applied to your hair and scalp with a light head massage. I tried it for the first time at Taman Sari Spa Jakarta and love it so much. My hair smelled coconutly terrific for days.

Most of treatment rooms come with a bath tub and built in shower.

Rain shower ... I love rain shower. The rustic wall is cement by the way.

I also love the fact that Teratak Spa use quality clean towels and proper massage bed ... among the plus points I gave them during my rating session. The treatment room was clean and tidy, with proper locker to keep your things. During rating session, I usually give special attention to the preparation area and product storage especially if the spa is using natural ingredients such as fresh fruits, yoghurts or coconut milk in their treatment. And Teratak Spa scored high marks in those area.

Anyway, lets move to the most important part - the treatment. Was it worth the money spend? To be honest, it was fantastic. I started dozing off during the cream bath treatment which was unexpectedly minty cold by the way, followed by a very relaxing Swedish massage with the right pressure on the right points on my body.  Seriously ... that was the first time I enjoyed a massage by a local therapist so so much.  Overall, it costs me about RM 170.00 for a 1 and half hour session of massage and cream bath hair treatment. But I really, really enjoyed it and truly recommended it to all tired and stressful ladies out there. I went there twice and both times it was excellent.


Address:
No. 31 Jalan Tun Dr Awang,
11950 Bayan Baru, Penang.

Telephone: 04-6444121

Someone Like You

I really love Adele ... starting from Rolling In The Deep. I love it when the singer in Hard Rock Penang sang Rolling In The Deep to live band. It usually got me into the mood. However, for Someone Like You ... we need a nice piano and a soulful voice ... Tersentuh hati akak bila dengar lagu ni for the first time. As if satu penceritaan on akak punya perchentaan yang tak kesampaian ... hahahaah! One day I must try sing this song in my Kotak Merah session.

But anyway, I had to say it's hard to turn something negative to positive. In the song, Adele sang ... "nevermind I'll find someone like you, I wish nothing but the best for you ...., Don't forget me, I begged, I remember you said, sometimes it last in love, sometimes it hurts instead"... Fuh meremang bulu roma akak when she get into that part. 2-3 kali ulang lagu ni ... part tu jugak yang buat bulu roma meremang.

Adakah orang nak wish macam tu to their ex-lovers? Usually after the break-up, you usually wish him or her to ROT in hell. And he or she met someone else, some people will use black magic or spreading bad rumours so that he or she will never live that "happily ever after". Sedih bila mengenangkan kejadian yang menimpa one of my staff. After 5 kids, one very jealous ex-admirer still couldn't get over with it ... macam-macam dia buat to my staff's wife. Santau lah, penuju lah aiyoooo ... Kan bagus if he just write a song about his pain and who knows like Adele, it became a chart topper.

One of my friend pernah pujuk me by saying ... "God is fair ... He will send good man to a good woman and bad man to a bad woman" ... Wonder I ni kategori mana ... hmmm maybe cute and forever young ... balik-balik yang mengetuk pintu hati yang muda belia jer auwwwww ... tak rela akak! Tapi I doakan I met "someone like you" yang like 10 years ago sebab sekarang that "you" dah boroi so tak lazat hahaahahahahahahaahah

To be honest, blogging to me is a very "positive" avenue in channeling your thoughts and feelings. I had been busy these last few months that it came to a point that I myself don't know which way I am heading to. Despite the "hoohaas" I felt empty inside (unfortunately stomach never empty hehehe). But I returned back to this blog once in a while, looking back what I had done in the past ... what exciting experience that I shared ... comments I got from friends and fellow bloggers. One most important comment ... "this blog lighted up someone's life" ...

Okaylah chow dulu ... Saja nak lift up my mood on this Moody Monday hehehe

Mie On Penang after 19 months

When I started blogging somewhere 2007, I managed to separate my working life and personal life as it was already quite balance. I refused then to blog so much about my working life as I was dealing a lot with housing problems - sales and purchase agreements, rehabilitation of abandoned housing projects, prosecutions of rogue developers etc. Looking back, if i was to compile all these work stories, it may be a bestseller hehehehe

Here in Penang, working life rules! So can't help lah selit-selit about work. Gosh ... I couldn't enjoy my weekends. Got calls on odd hours. Kadang-kadang tu teringin jugak tak dapat tidur malam sebab terbayang-bayang seseorang. Ni tidak, cannot sleep sebab worried work tak siap. Kadang-kadang wish jugak my heart pumping hard because nampak object yang "lazat" mata memandang. Ni tidak, jantung berdegup kencang sebab nampak no telefon yang tak lazat appeared on phone screen hahaha

Though I have all the priviledges of a state Director but at this age ... I think I deserve a good rest. Had been doing this when I was 41-44 officers. Btw, I hope the Housing Act amendment are being carried out smoothly ... it was already 80% complete when I left. Bukan nak take credit, but it was a team 4 people yang really think about it from 2009- april 2010 ... now semua left Ministry due to better offer. Hari-hari balik pukul 9 malam. But weekends ... sorang pun tak kacau.

Penang to be honest post quite a challenge for me to handle. The greatest pressure is actually how to be different or better than my predecessors. And in order to do that I need a good team. Adoh, when we first start-up, some posts were not being filled up. And ada pulak officer bermasalah yang dihantar ke opis aku. OMG! Ada yang sebok dengan DAP (Di Alam Percintaan), ada yang ada kes tatatertib, ada yang sebenarnya lari dari negeri asal sebab tak bayar kontraktor heheheheeh ... tapi after probing further some are actually mild and can be tackled easily. Masih better than one of the state directors who had to handle isu staff tiba-tiba hilang dari ofis sebab masalah pankreas atau gout stage kritikal. 

But the funniest incident was when my HR officer told me that one of the staff is a disable person. The description given was "no hand and leg". I almost had a heart attack. So what can she do? Dahlah staff tak cukup, bagi pulak sorang yang OKU takde tangan dan kaki I nak buat macam mana? So when I arrived in Penang, I checked sorang-sorang yang takde tangan dan kaki. Rupa-rupanya the staff hands and legs are slightly deformed but she still can do work but slow. Now, she is one of my best staff handling homestay and program pelancongan pelajar. And has longer list of beau than me hehehe

Throughout 2010, I had been through many trials and errors ... polishing my people skills, building bridges and linking cultures, and trying to adapt Ministry's policy into Penang settings. Coincidentally,  many of the programs and products introduced by Ministry or to be exact, my Lady Boss actually work in Penang. Sometimes, it's hard to tell the OTAI of tourism in Penang that the tourism scene has change and we need to change. Itu belum lagi those who think they know better than you huhuhu

Entering the tourism market now are the Gen X and Gen Ys, both as tourists and tourism players. At the end of the day, what we want to get from tourism are income, job opportunities and of course leisure. Domestic tourism must also work for both local and foreign tourists. I looked at the growth of our budget carriers. Their routes, not only it must encourage outbound but it must also bring inbound as well. I relooked at all the concrete structures implemented during 8th-9th Malaysia plan. Many of those had become white elephants as people just know how to build but dunno how to market and used it to it's fullest capacity.

I know many people dislike Dato' Seri Idris and his PEMANDU team. But having worked with him for a month I learned one very valuable lesson, if we can change the way we work, no matter how simple the idea is to create a big impact and transformed the industry, why not?

The Batu Keras Story

It had been quite a while since I had a very loud, huge guffaw of laughters. Yelah status kat FB pun none yang brain stimulating kan ... Like I said before, since I now breathing, living and eating in a heritage city ... lama-lama I pun jadi heritage. Soooooo the 19 kong kong (1900 BC).

Despite that, thank you sooooooo much Sazali, for making my day and night! I had so much fun catching up with you. You know what, despite working like in a living hell for 4 years under Dr. P ... looking back we had so many stories and memories that comparitively NOW, despite all the glamour and paparan di dada akhbar  (kelasssss) ... my life as Lady Di (Lady Director) is soooooooo pale in comparison. Hari-hari my blood go upstairs hehehehe

Back to Sazali ... when I got his surprised sms the other day ... I quickly called him and said .... "We are soooooo going to Batu Kerasssss today". Didn't realise that he had no idea what is Batu Keras that he had to ask his bus driver cum tourist guide, Mr Baskaran. 

Zali: Mr Baskaran, where is Batu Keras ha?

Mr Baskaran: Mr Sazali, I have been living in Penang for 30 years ... I never heard of Batu Keras. Batu Uban, Batu Maung, Batu Kawan and Batu Feringghi ada lah ... Batu Keras mana ada ... 

Zali: My friend is working with Tourism and she said she want to bring me to a place called Batu Keras. Must be exclusive place that locals don't know.

Hahaha ...luckily lah I didn't say ... Senorita Licin (Slippery Senorita) or Straits Kuey (Straits Quay ... hehehe) ... lagi konfius Mr Baskaran!

Yaaaaa .... this is Batu Keras. Had a great time rocking !

Singapore Trip 2011 - Reunited and Reacquainted

Flu, fever and unexpected call from JPA last week sort of hindered me from writing this post earlier. But then again, I felt my mood to update my blog seemed deteriorating with age hahaha ... I felt older living here in Penang (where sits one of world's heritage site) "ditambah pula dengan" living with senior citizens. Memang heritage!

Okay, the Singapore trip was unexpected but timely. I traveled a lot last year so I thought I wanted to cut down on the travelling, save the money for London and Paris trip next year. However one assignment got me on a dead end recently and the only solution was to go to Singapore. Coincidentally, Emel got an invitation from Chan (our eating buddy during her Infeneon Kulim days who is currently working in Singapore) and asked whether I wanted to join her for the trip. Finally I found the reason to travel on Tiger Airways (hahaha) but of course as part of the "assignment" must travel with Air Asia too.

I learned a lot of things even from the planning this trip ... starting from the itinerary, airport services (which I usually buat dek jer in KLIA and LCCT), transit tours (as I arrived earlier than Emel ... about 5 hours gap), transportation system in Singapore (taxi, train, bus) as the location of places I need to cover was all over Singapore. Not that it didn't occur to me before but it term of town and infrastructure planning (hints hints) ... I take my hat off to Singapore.

To be honest, I love planning and organising my trip ... and be in control of situation. Something I learned from my last year's trip to Chiang Mai. We covered the best of Chieng Mai in 2 days ... puas hati wooo. But from my Phuket trip ... I must reminded myself that Singapore is much nearer than Kuching, somemore got 6 direct flights from Penang (everyday) on two budget carriers.. so no need to cramp everything.

If you take Air Asia flight from Penang, you will land at Terminal 1@ Changi Airport.

The first and oldest terminal. Even bigger than our KLIA. Currently there are 4 terminal operational in Changi Airport including their Budget Terminal. If I am not mistaken, one more terminal is underway.

You can find the visitor information centre everywhere. I baru perasan that Singapore Tourism Board tagline is Your Singapore, whereas Penang State tourism is currently on My Penang campaign ... who is more kiasu here.

I received stares from many people (even passengers on same flight) when I wrapped my new travelling luggage bag. Memang lah tak mahal ... sekali sampai Singapore it was raining and my bag bebas dari kebasahan. My turn to "stare back" hehehe

Many years ago ... when I first came to Singapore there was no MRT. It makes travelling so convenient in Singapore.

  

Once I arrived and tried it ... baru lah it make sense hehe

As part of the assignment, I must leave my bag here for a few hours. Not that pricey ... SGD 3.21 for small luggage (24hours).

It was raining when I arrived in Singapore. Nobody will be waiting for me at the airport and Emel arrived only 5 hours later. First and foremost, travelling solo sucks but please bear in mind that there might be a time in our life that we have to travel solo especially for business people or head of department. I remembered once I was stuck for 6 hours in KLIA as I got last minute notification from KL and most of the flights back to Penang was fully booked.

It didn't occur to me that day to try out the Left Baggage service in KLIA but just imagine, travelling back and forth to KL itself may cost a fortune! Galleries, museum or shopping malls around KLIA ... nada! Perhaps Malaysia Airport Berhad, Ministry of Tourism or State Government of Selangor could look into establishing satelite mini tourism based township around KLIA. I see three of MOTOUR products can be a niche there ... shoe, contemporary arts and parks and gardens!

I had to select one of the 4 hour city tour for transit passengers which I got from the Singapore Visitors Centre Guide. Taking into consideration my own plans the next few days I decided to try out the Civic District Tour ... very the cultured society gitew. From Changi Airport ... I find my way to the Bras Basah MRT Station.

Singapore Art Museum .. occupying Singapore oldest Catholic School, the 158 years old St. Joseph Institution.

They were having Video- An Art History Exhibition that day. Entrance fee SGD 10.00

They have many contemporary arts collection here.

 

Video art doesn't appeal to anyone ... I had difficulty at first to understand the exhibition. Actually it is about camera tricks and positioning of objects in front of video camera to get some effects. Some of the galleries focus on expression and shots. See ... I was part of the art hehehe

I didn't have much time so my next stop was the legendary Raffles Hotel.

Though on paper MRT seems to be near certain location ... but the distance from the station to the exit memang jauh. Luckily I didn't have to walk in the blazing hot sun as everything is more than 6 feet under the ground hehehe. Anyway, it was great to be reunited with Emel and Chan in Singapore. Though life has been great in Penang (ok i lied a bit here) I really miss the time when we went from one shop to another shop in mainland Penang and Kulim ...searching for great food. Ok ... the eating part here, I will blog in my food blog. Stay tune!

Dinner at Paulaner Baurhaus. We came all the way from Penang and Kuching just to eat German food hahaha

Angels and Demons

I was thinking of blogging something based on the title above last night but ended up reading the e-book instead ... something I wanted to do for a very long time. I watched the movies but some Netizens commented that reading the book was soooooo much better as the storyline was simplied in the movie. I have problems with imagining something so technical or involved symbolism ... therefore watching the movie then reading the book seems to be a better option.

Anyway, angels and demons seem to be warring within me these past few days. I really don't like it that people are taking their frustration on the economy, the politics, or even the weather on government servants. Hey ...who do you think we are .. punching bags ... or God? They are angry at other agencies ... they thought that the other agencies are the same. At one point I raised my voice at one very prominent hotelier for not wanting to sponsor his project after his sinical reply that "all the money went to RM 1.8 million FB account". I told him that I am protecting taxpayers money from people like you. Personal project not taking into consideration public interest ... fund it yourself lah! 

I am sure many of my colleagues are doing the same thing ... but often been potrayed differently by some opportunists. God knows how many files, records, mesyuarat pagi, minutes of meetings, minit ceraian everytime there are events ... just so that I could explain to internal audit and of course a control measure just in case, there is indeed some little Napoleon in my office. But most important of all ... I hope my successor got some guidance on how to handle those event in the future.

But even all these "bona fide" gestures might invite criticism from certain people ... "You are not going GREEN. You cut down so many trees and should go paperless". And so ... I had to let out the demon inside of me to counter them ... "what concerns you more now ... is it the tree or how we spend your tax money". By the way ... I drive a Green car, do you?

1Malaysia Parks and Gardens Carnival and 1Malaysia Harvest Festival 2011

Actually I was really really busy these past few days as I have little time left to prepare for the 1Malaysia Parks and Gardens Carnival at Penang Botanic Gardens on 11th and 12th June 2011. But this is still OK compared to 1Malaysia Green and Clean launching at Penang state level last year. I had to organise it within 7 days ... after "mentertawakan" Nel (Sabah Director) who first got the "heart attacking news". Suddenly I found myself the one to launch the event in Penang whereas Nel had to appease the community leaders for the change of plans. It is really not easy to be State Directors.

Anyway, I took up any jobs "thrown" to me with an open mind and heart. As a civil servant, I have a secure job and steady income whereas there are many people out there struggling to make end meets so events such as these are their chances to get jobs or make some income... This statement may be a bit subjective as many head of departments, whether in private or public sectors, still practice the "10% culture".

However, I have to be honest that for this event, I had to organise it with "tears in my heart" as I will again miss the Gawai celebration. For the Chinese just visualise yourself had to work during Chinese New Year and the Malay, missing the Eid-Mubarak .... last year I couldn't celebrate Gawai because I just moved to Penang and running out of cash because of delay in travelling claim payment.

And to be honest, I also didn't intend to blog tonight. However after listening to Sayonara Hari Gawai (on Jethro Henry Adam recommendation) ... especially to Jenny Tan's vibrato ... suddenly I find myself started singing and speaking in Iban hahahahah (when Hokkien took me like forever!) and into the festive mood! I called everyone in Kuching ... my mom, my sisters, my godmother, my GINAAAAAA (when we started calling each other "sibuk") and everyone seems to be cooking Itik Pak Lor (5 Spice Duck). Seriously ... I miss home! I miss Gina the most.

So here is my Gawai song for year 2011 .. And don't forget to read my last year's entry for Gawai as well. Just to help you to get into the Gawai mood. Happy Gawai Dayak everyone ... harap ka bala nuan, gerai nyamai lantang senang ... and yon bara madis, dingan ... doh kambot ku mun ngan man Pak Lor hehehe

Just Do It ...

Hahaha ... tiba-tiba terasa nak mengekspresikan perasaan yang terbuku di dada dalam Bahasa Melayu (or Anglo-Melayu). Lama ya tidak menghasilkan sebarang nukilan.. Terasa janggal pulak nak menulis dalam 100% Bahasa Inggeris ... "feeling" dia lain sikit. Well, memang pun 2-3 minggu ni penulis seems to be under the weather ... biasalah kan "climate change" makin teruk sekarang ni.

Sepi tidak bererti "senyap" yer tuan-tuan, puan-puan, Dato'-Dato', Datin-Datin ... Terlalu banyak yang berlaku sepanjang penyepian ini. Kalau rajin menjenguk Facebook ... tau lah apa yang berlaku. Hehehe

Sepanjang bulan April, penulis sebenarnya sangat-sangat tertekan dengan penganjuran Malaysia Books of Records untuk Persembahan Boria Teramai. Untuk makluman, tekanannya bukan sebab ia adalah penyertaan pertama tetapi disebabkan penulis dan team penulis kena pecahkan rekod sebelum ini iaitu 2020 peserta. And then semasa meeting, pengelola bersama Festival Boria, Jabatan Kebudayaan dan Keseniaan Negara dah awal-awal bagi tau peruntukan tak mencukupi dan set minimum peserta 2500. Mula-mula penulis agak tidak berpuas hati juga sebab peruntukan Festival pun datang dari Kementerian penulis tetapi entah mengapa, jauh di sudut hati penulis ... ada seakan suatu suara yang mengatakan .... "Just Do It" (ok .... perasaan ini tidak ditaja oleh Nike yer)

Dengan hati yang masih ragu dan sedikit tidak berpuas hati, penulis teruskan jugak dengan penganjuran acara tersebut. In fact, if i know it is not going to be easy ... awal-awal lagi I surrender. Dengan keadaan politik di Pulau Pinang yang sedikit berbaur perkauman, dan di kalangan yang sama kaum pulak berbaur keagamaan (dan wang)... penulis teruskan jugak sebab someone must show what it means to be 1Malaysia. As expected, a certain group of people that supposed to support us didn't even care actually (after we supported their event). But we get support from groups of people that I least expected ... local medias ... tak kira lah mainstream, tabloid, commercial, free circulation .... they seemed lebih excited and wonder .... could it work? Heard this idea was mooted many years ago.

Secara jujurnya, in between, penulis juga menghadapi tekanan dari pegawai-pegawai atasan. Mesyuarat, laporan, taklimat dan macam-macam karenah yang buat penulis menaikkan suara dalam satu mesyuarat sebab with the type of pressure that we are in penulis would prefer seniors yang accommodating rather than commanding.

Tetapi suara ini masih bermain lagi di fikiran penulis ... "Stop arguing! Just do it"

Memang sangat tertekan mengenangkan hari-hari menjelang Festival Boria. Syukur, rakan-rakan sepasukan di pejabat pada tahun ini memang sangat bagus. Sengaja penulis tak bagi semua terlibat dalam perancangan acara untuk membolehkan beberapa pegawai menjalani kursus dengan tenang, menghadiri mesyuarat dan melaksanakan tugas-tugas hakiki. Timbalan penulis juga seorang yang sangat berpengalaman dan "wise".

Sesungguhnya penulis tidak menyangka Festival Boria 1Malaysia mendapat sambutan yang di luar dugaan. Kalau pasukan penulis tidak stop pendaftaran pada jam 8.30 malam. Maunya mencecah 4000 penyertaan malam tu. Kami setuju rekod 2811 peserta. Penulis dengan pengarah Jabatan Kebudayaan dan Kesenian menangis kegembiraan malam tu. Betul ... we were soooooooo happy and relief.

Kalau dibandingkan dengan semua acara yang penulis pernah anjurkan sebelum ini, acara ini kecil saja tetapi kepuasan dan tekanannya memang luar biasa. Bila penulis dapat tahu "kesengsaraan" yang Pengarah Jabatan Kebudayaan dan Kesenian kena lalui selama 7 hari di lokasi acara ... baru lah penulis sedar mengapa penulis perlu main peranan supaya acara Malaysia Book of Records yang di bawah jagaan penulis perlu berjaya.

It was the heart of the whole festival.

Semalam masa di Perlis, penulis dapat tahu kemeriahan acara tu dah jadi topik hangat "other" Kementerian berbanding Kementerian penulis sendiri hehehehe sampai Menteri the "other" Ministry bangkit dalam post-cab (biar betul ... )

Anyway, this month pun pressure teruk jugak ... anyway ... Just Do It!

Festival Boria 1Malaysia Malaysia Book of Records Attempt!

Please support us in our effort to break the Largest Boria Performance record on 30 April 2011, 9.00 pm at Kampung Seronok, Bayan Baru, Penang. So here are the dance steps for you to practise! See you there!!!

Soul Cleansing First Quarter 2011

In my last entry I mentioned about life is getting tougher lately and that it took all my strength and energy to face all the obstacles. So I decided to loosen it a bit for my own sake ... with rigorous "soul cleansing" rituals that took place in the heart of KL. Yes, life is also too precious to be wasted.

Don't be deceived the sweet smiles ... the eye-bags couldn't hide the stressful life that we had.

My soul cleansing rituals started with a "coffee fix " at Pavillion's Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf with the girls. It had been quite a while since our last get together and every one was having hard time in the office (and top management). I had to be honest to them that even my current Ministry had loads of management problems that stem from people with "bad interest". My only consolation is that ... I learned more related new things.

This was just the warming up session .. Roy pun belum start tarik suara Amy Search!

Then we proceeded to next ritual - karaoke session at Redbox. Singing our heart out loud. We were joined by Datin Zaitun and Norzah's wonderful family plus Syu's hubby, Shafril. I had a blast ... shouting  at the top of my lung to Whitney Houston's I Had Nothing ... hehehe! I could feel all the stress and burden were flushed out from my body. We also had a singer in the house ... Lin who sang I Will Survive so beautifully! Norzah and Datin sang exactly like the Golden couple ... P.Ramlee and Saloma. Nostalgic ...

Datin Zaitun and Norzah ... the Golden couple.

For the following rituals I had to wait for Emel, who flew all the way from Kuching, Sarawak. Yea ... it has also been quite a while Emel and I had outings like this. The last time we met was during Chinese New Year but was mostly centred on my family events. By the way, Emel had nothing else in her mind the moment she stepped on the Kuala Lumpur soil except for Thiam Sang's Hokkien Mee and Lala (click for story). Luckily she had the courtesy to tapau my Kuching Kolo Mee as I was so hungry driving 4 hours straight from Penang.

The entrance to the cinema.

I think we were the only kids that didn't require supervision that day .. hehehe

The next following rituals were mainly revolved around our favourite activities; eating, massage and watching movie. We decided to station ourselves at Midvalley and the Gardens as there are many shops and outlets to choose from. We had sushi at Sushi Zanmai (click for story), followed by trying out the expensive but exclusive GSC Signature watching the movie HOP (we couldn't find better movie to watch), then a 90-minute Thai aromatherapy massage session at Thai Odyssey, followed later by a Thailicious meal at Flying Chillies.

Banyak angin dalam badan ... terpaksa tahan kentut during massage.

Emel with that "what to order look".

The next day ... Emel and myself decided to rediscover Bukit Bintang and getting reacquainted with the LRT and Monorail system. But before that we went to KESAS Highway via Bukit Jalil for a "simple" lunch of Nasi Ayam Kampung. Gosh ... I really wanted more but need to save some space for Lot 10 Hutong and The Loaf hehehe. By the way, we found a great place to chill out at Level 2 Lot 10 and found out that it belongs to Jackie Chan!!! In fact, one Caucasian guy bought a cup of coffee and dozed off there.

Mie relaxing with a cuppa.

We also went to the Pavillion and stopped by my favourite bakery ... The Loaf to get freshly baked buns or whatever that interest me. However, it seemed that they had so many customers that they ran out of so many items. Luckily, they had my Cream Pan ... and I bought two even though I was still full from Lot 10 Hutong eating spree.

I always love their Langkawi outlet.

My cream pan ... hey who ate my bun???

I really enjoyed the rigorous soul cleansing and hope to do it more often. I really recommend it to every one with acute "heart" and "head" problem. Felt relax and lighter (literally) when I returned to Penang the following day. Now ... it's time for all the belly and intestine cleansing hehehe

Feeling Suicidal?

A sad and horrific news yesterday prompted me to pen this entry. A second year student in one of the public universities in Sarawak committed suicide in the man made lake where my youngest sister used to take samples for her experiments. I don't know much about the deceased. But despite my religion teachings which against and condemn suicides, I pray to God for forgiveness of his sins and may his soul rest in peace. For whatever he did and what prompted him to do that, that will be between him and God. Best not to speculate, that the least we could do as a final respect.

I read the deceased blog and couldn't help but admire his writings. His English was superb. Actually 10 years ago, there was a similar incident happened in Kuching. Not far from my previous office in King Centre, a young Chinese guy around the age of 23 also commited suicide by inhaling exhaust fumes. Few days later, friends and family members published his writings - poems, songs which were beautifully written. And both in their last writings penned this down .... LIVING is HARD. It is sad that potential great writers like them decided to end their life stories with a tragic and devastating ending.

Note: Even scarier, Qing Ming is on April 5 this year. This news brought back a memory of another departing soul.

Again, though I disagree suicide as the final answer to one's misery but lately ... I too felt that life is getting tougher and harder to cope with. Keeping a positive (and sane) mind is taking too much energy and strength. Combine with  stress, insecurities, boredom and frustration is a clear recipe for potential suicidal concoction. Sometimes I wonder, am I the one complicating matters or people around me are just difficult (of course ... this is always the answer ... NEVER me but ALWAYS them hehehe).

2 days ago, a Singaporean tourist around the age of 70 came to my office, complaining that she was chased out from her hotel even though she paid her rentals. Then showed me police report that she lost her wallet and money. But when I offered to send her back to Singapore, she refused saying that she has a court case to attend. When I offered to call her family members, she refused saying that she doesn't want to trouble them.

Then she started crying telling us stories that she was being cheated by a property developer, then she fear for her safety as she felt some people want to kill her... the story went on and on and on. I had to stop her short ... rising my voice "So what do you want me to do?" 

"Actually, I don't know what and how you can help me?" was her answer.

To be honest ... this scene is nothing new to me. I saw family broken apart, blissful marriages ended up in ugly divorces, innocent men turned into murderers just because of abandoned housing projects. One time a man with parang came to my former office, just because his family threw him out because there was a delay in reviving his abandoned unit. My gut feelings told me ... there are more to it than just being thrown out of the hotel or stolen wallet.

Out of compassion, I called her niece in Singapore to confirm her mental state, then I called the tourist police to escort her to her hotel and get all her things, move her to another hotel, then I called her lawyer. It was from her lawyer that I got the whole picture and the source of her misery. Before the economic downturn in 1997 she invested about RM 300,000.00  in a timesharing program with a prominent Malaysian bank via their property arms in Penang. But then during the economic downturn, that saw the crashing of the Malaysian banking systems ...made her lost all her RM 300,000.00 investment. The property was later bought over by a new hotel company with new management. I don't know how about the buying over process but I was told that she was not listed as a creditor.

When I spoke to her niece, she told me that her aunt is a very independent woman. The last time she saw her, prior to her leaving for Penang, she seemed OK. However, the information that I got from hotels which allegedly kicked her out were the total opposite. She disturbed other guests, she always claimed her things were lost. There were times when we spoke ... she seemed OK and rational. But there were times when she broke down and keep repeating "Penang not good, Singapore better."

Deep down ... I knew that I am dealing with a very, very depress independent lady who has lost her mind over her back luck - money, property and maybe family. All alone ... in a foreign country.  Hmmm... truthfully I don't want to end up like her. Suddenly, I too felt that I should something with regards to my mental health.

Anyway, these are the findings on MENTAL HEALTH STATUS OF MALAYSIANS The 3rd National and Health Morbidity Survey (NHMS) from DHRRA website:

Findings :
•  Overall prevalence - 11.2% of adult population in Malaysia has some form of psychiatric morbidity, with the Chinese population experiencing the highest prevalence at 31.1%.
•  Gender - more females than males have psychiatric problems, with 55% of them females and 45% males.
•  Residence - psychiatric morbidity is higher among urban population than rural, 12.6% for urban population versus 8.5% for rural population.
•  Education level – it is higher among those with no education or primary education, 15-16% versus 10% for those with tertiary education.
•  Marital status – it is higher among the divorcees (13.6%); followed by singles (13.1%) widow/ widower (12.2%) and lastly those who are married (10.5%)
•    Suicidal ideation – overall prevalence of acute suicidal ideas of 6.4% with the highest among teenagers and young adults, aged 16-24 at about 11%.
•    Insomnia ( inability to sleep) – overall acute insomnia of 14% with those aged 70-74 having the highest prevalence of slightly over 20%.
 

The findings above, is an indication on state of mental health of adult population in Malaysia at the time of survey. It also does not pinpoint to any specific mental disorder. Measured over a longer period of time, the prevalence is much higher at 48.1% using the same screening tool ( chronic psychiatric morbidity). 

This measures the presence of symptoms over a continual or longer period of time. Chronic psychiatric morbidity is much higher among those with tertiary education and among senior officers and managers and among professionals. This could be due to the stress associated with heavier job responsibilities of these people.  (OMG!!!!)

Take care.

Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa (The Malay Chronicle: Bloodline)

I am not sure why I was so excited to watch this movie? Could it be because of Stephen Rahman Hughes (....of courseeeeee), or to satisfy my curiosity on why a Pan-Asian actor got the starring role. OR just to see whether KRU production manage to pull it off , you know, after my BIG disappointment with Puteri Gunung Ledang, despite the fact that they had nailed it with Cicakman and Cicakman 2.

Well, admittedly it is not really easy to bring an epic adventure story, usually based on oral history or folklore to the screen without making it either confusing or illogical. Plus delivering the story to the screen without adding some "sugar,salt and pepper" and a little imagination would make it rather tasteless. Ok ... I would not look at Hong Kong or Indian epic movies for comparison because of big cultural differences and historical relations. So my benchmark for this movie was Queen of Langkasuka by Nonzee Nimibutr (who also gave us Nang Nak and Suriyothai).

To be fair, I also watched Queen of Langkasuka because of Ananda Everingham (a Thai-English actor) and like Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa (HMM) ... I also don't know much about the legend of the Queens of ancient Pattani kingdom. Interestingly, some historical writings indicate that the Queens of the Pattani kingdom were descendants of Merong Mahawangsa from the fourth child (a daughter) of Merong Mahawangsa's son, Merong Mahapudisat. Okay, please refer HERE for the storyline.

To make the experience more special, I decided to watch the movie at the brand new TGV Cinema at Penang's newest shopping mall, 1st Avenue. I watched the 2pm show and sadly the cinema hall was 25% occupied. Okay ... another problem with regional epic movies ... not many followers. Another possible reason ... many Chinese don't watch Malay movies except Jaime Yeoh and other bananas. BTW, this new cinema will definitely be my new chill out place.

So ... my overall comment about the movie. A heavy mixture of LOVE and HATE. We are almost there but  still not there. Okay we know that KRU production spent RM 8 million for this movie. And to be honest, if they have another RM 14-15 million we (as in Malaysian movie) will be able to compete internationally and position ourselves in the international film industry.

First, I would like to congratulate KRU production and the movie writer Amir Hafizi on the storyline. Notably  in highlighting Geruda as the pirate tribe instead of the mythical bird. Well, to be honest, Langkasuka was said to be located somewhere between Mount Jerai and Muda River. In the real Merong Mahawangsa text, it is said you can see Jambul Island and Lada Island from kingdom city. Now when I went to Bangkok last year, I saw a display of an old map which belongs to an English/French traveller that marked Penang Island as Pulo Lada. Those days, Penang provided a sheltered harbour for Chinese, Indian, Arabian and European ships during the monsoon months; this, in turn, inevitably made it fertile hunting ground for pirates. In present day Penang, Mount Jerai is about 50km from Butterworth and is visible from town centre.

Taken at Museum Siam, Bangkok (my own photo)

However, I was a bit disappointed that HMM did not (or could not) incorporate some Hindu customs and traditions of the people during those time to make it more realistic. Though Amir Hafizi did explained why in his blog (another constraint of a local movie),  however tourismwise ... I saw this as a pulling factor for history lovers and historians all over the world. My point is ... long before the great kingdoms of Srivijaya, Ayuthya, Sukhothai or Pattani, there was this great kingdom of Langkasuka in the Malay Peninsula. 

Thai epic movies love to showcase how great their ancient kingdoms of Siam, but historians and linguists agreed that the Thais moved from their ancestral home in southern China into mainland southeast Asia around the 10th century AD. Prior to this, Indianized kingdowm such as the Mon, Khmer and Malay kingdoms ruled the region. Langkasuka probably the kingdom that gave birth to other great empires in Malay archipelago ... hehehe. From just tribal villages into a kingdom.

For this, I love Shuhaimi Baba's works such of Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam for incorporating traditional and cultural elements like the arts of kuda kepang, black magic, royal court dance etc...Though the storyline is almost there ... however HMM still need to brush up on the "kesinambungan" from one scene to another . I am still confuse what the director wanted to highlight ... the greatness of Merong Mahawangsa martial arts or his leadership in the battlewar or the startup of Langkasuka.

Hmmm ... there are few tiny details that I was not really happy with in this movie. Like the costumes of the Chinese princess and her hand maiden. Their Mandarin and dialogues especially Nell Ng's acting. Hmm ... despite being a royal princess hand maiden, Nell's acting is more like an Ah So! I know she might be the comedy element of this movie. But sorry ... the  Chinese royal imperial courts requires poise and gracefulness. Plus their Mandarin were heavily accented with Cantonese phonetics. I do agree that, most of the scenes were about the princess and her handmaiden travelling but looking at Queen of Langkasuka, the scenes where the princesses were in their travelling costumes and traditional costume of the imperial court made me awe in wonder. Plus, they made tengkolok, sampin and baju Melayu in songket looked so grand!

Another interesting detail which was just mentioned in passing, that the meeting point  of Rome prince and Chinese princess was to be made at the Golden Chersonese because of fengshui ... it is not wrong to explained that in the Chinese Admiral line on why that place was chosen fengshuiwise (another point to promote Langkasuka site and Penang will benefit from it too hehehe). Good thing they mentioned Golden Chersonese, but what so Golden Chersonese about it should actually be highlighted in the Goan scenes ...  or in the Chinese Admiral line ... you know despite being "a wild ground, with wild people". Just like how Merong advised Prince Marcus about the Chinese ("the Chinese had fought battles long before the Romans" ) haaa for that matter, we could take some idea from Pirates of the Carribean.

Stephen Rahman Hughes is a great actor, but because he doesn't speak or understand Malay, some of the punchlines and expressions were a bit off. Most of the Malay dialogues were beautifully written as "pantuns" and very poetic so it need some soul to express it in words (verbally). Perhaps with the soothing sound of traditional wind instruments in the background. However, I was sooooooo not comfortable with some secenes of Merong with Prince Marcus of Rome. Funny, I feel like Merong has more chemistry with Marcus than with Embok hahahaha (OMG).

Initially I was questioning on the choice of Ummi Nazirah for the part of Embok. Then there were certain "supposedly intimate scenes between Merong and Embok, I realised yes .... we should highlight on the  authentic Malay beauty ... the skin, the lips, the hair (bibir merah merekah, pipi bagai pauh dilayang, rambut mayang mengurai). If this is not a Malaysian movie ... definitely there will soft sex scenes. But then again ... I thought of The Adjustment Bureau ... Emily Blunt and Matt Damon played with their facial expression, body language (you know the restlessness), their eyes keep looking at each others lips - that was enough to make me feel uneasy on my seat. HOT!!!

But I still don't get it why Embok suddenly acting angry with Merong. Though it was explained later (she was raped by Kamawas) but still "kaku".I think Embok's part will be better if Embok initially gave cold shoulder to Merong but slowly she was attracted to him but being a "hero warrior" Merong was also admired by young ladies of the tribe which sparked some jealousy on the part of Embok, thus the "angry intimate" scene between Merong and Embok.

" jika pintu empangan sudah dibuka, manakan boleh ditahan airnya"- Kamawas

Khir Rahman was great as Kamawas. What can I say (I am speechless)! His acting was so natural (and blown me away) that I would say he deserved an award for his supporting role. Mantapppppp .... though his line (refer to the photo caption) where he was being "seduced" by Princess Meng Li-Hua is a bit XXX for Malaysian viewers but I think in Malaysian words ... "memang ngammmm"  with scene. That guy was so horny that time what...

I love Dato' Rahim Razali in this movie. His voice, his facial expression and the soul that he brought into the character of Kesum. Well, many of his lines were a bit poetic and looking at the way he expressed  it, sent shivers to my spine. Yes, like other "unpaid critics" ... I don't like the hair hehehe

I don't want to comment much on the cinematography - I am seeing a bit of 300, Gladiator and Troy. The CGI was superb but need some polishing as in some of the scenes, the ships looked so obvious like toy ships.

Hahahaha ... panjang pulak komen. But anyway, it is because we are almost there but still not there. However, I applaud the efforts and money spent on the making of this movie and most importantly ... I did not fell asleep (tu yang banyak komen hehehe).

Memoirs of Roy & Lin's Wedding

Years ago, I was not a big fan of weddings. I tried to avoid weddings as much as possible so that I could avoid being asked that big "mystery question" (or being lectured about the blissfulness and contentment of being married) by Good Samaritans and .... to be honest, seeing two souls being reunited as one in holy matrimony "was too much" for my then faint heart hahaha. That's why Emel, Jett and myself decided to give standard answer ... "December" (tiba-tiba si Taylor Swift polah lagu Back in December indah).

But as years gone by and maturity starts kicking in, I realised that weddings are indeed also stressful on the part of the brides and grooms (let alone parents) as much as the "unmarried" ladies attending it. They couldn't eat much, (nanti lipstick hilang), couldn't move much (nanti tiara jatuh) ... let alone "nak kentut" (nanti hilang glammmm). I remembered Nijah's wedding, even during "bersanding" she still gave instruction to her parents and aunties on the wedding cues.

Sate tulang ... one of Negeri Sembilan signature dishes.

So I started enjoying weddings ... on behalf of the brides and grooms. Tasting the food and wine (Tony's wedding was set in a very famous restaurant in Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur), enjoying the ambience of the banquet hall (Kazen's wedding was set in the latest hotel in Kuching, the 4-points), enjoying the marriage  of culture (Niejah's wedding incorporated a mix of Malay and Bajau tradition) ... and taking a point or two  (taknak bohonglah ..) for "any" future weddings. 

Roy and Lin.

Anyway, I guess this special wedding of Roy and Lin (the beautiful princess of Norzah and Datin Zaitun) deserve to be featured in my humble blog. All I can say is simple, creative and timeless. The wedding  reception on the bride side was set at the bride's residence in Taman Melawati. 

Kompang group leading the bride and groom's procession.

Traditional musical group.

These are not bridesmaid but more like ladies of the chamber and knights.

The gift bearers from the groom side.

The bride and groom on the ceremonial couch. Gifts from the groom were adorned with white flowers whereas from the bride were with bright coloured flowers.

Look at this very sporting and loving couple!

Actually, I knew Datin first when she was in KPKT with me and she was also the person responsible for pulling me to MOTOUR. Myself and Norzah only met for the first time (and briefly) in Langkawi but we bonded through our blogs and Facebook. Then Norzah bonded with Yoyop through my blog and Facebook, which then extended to my mum. Wah ... very the social network gitew.

My mum never attended a traditional Malay wedding in Peninsular Malaysia before. She had attended Indian wedding (when my foster brother Puvan got married last year where she even wore saree) and Chinese weddings. So when Norzah requested Princess Director to fly Pehin Datin Seri all the way from Kuching to attend the wedding, of courselah akan ditunaikan oleh Princess Director. 

My mum would love so much to meet Norzah and Datin (and in fact she did mentioned about wanting to meet them zillion times months ago). So ... untuk mengelakkan dari disumpah jadi batu (hahaha), I siap flew her to KL guna the brand new Firefly Boeing 737-800 aircraft. And when disatukan pulak dengan Cik Tipah .... memang happening!!!!

Actually Norzah, Tipah and myself were actually eyeing this one tall yummylicious looking guy ... Masa tu we all on the way nak masuk rumah nak tengok bride. Suddenly Tipah exclaimed, "Handsomenyer mamat tu Mieeeee"...  I pun dengan kepantasan luar biasa terus menoleh dan .... zasssssss pertembungan mata berlaku dan (quoting ayat feveret Niejah) "dada berombak ganas". Tapi Norzah recommended pulak geng-geng "overtime" dia yang eligible dan available sampai I ngan Tipah tak tau nak kata apa tengok "uncle-uncle" semua tercengang. Hahahahahaha

Sekadar gambar hiasan. Actually I took this photo because it was so 1Malaysia.

I think the best part of Roy and Lin's wedding was the phototaking sessions at the photo booth corner. We all had a good laugh there. But hold on a second .... wah apa nie???? PANASSSSSSS

Alamakkkkkkk .... kantoiiiii