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

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

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

Tiada Demokrasi Dalam Cinta

Baru-baru ni salah seorang kawan akak telah "menyelar" akak dengan jelasnya melalui blog beliau bahawa akak cuba merampas Abang R dari rangkulannya. Akak pun .... helllooooooo ... Abang R yang "nak" kat I and siap add I lagi dalam FB dier. Bukan salah akak kan ... don't hate me coz I am beautiful baby...

Lepas tu kan .... kawan akak ni terusssssss taknak kalah dengan akak. Siap buat rawatan "kesantekan" seluruh badan ... Akak pun wah wah wah ... lawan tokey nampak. Anyway akak pun agak tak puas hati sikit dengan seorang Puan A ni ... aihh ... dia pun ada hati rupanya dengan Abang R and siap pesan ... "jangan bagi tau laki aku"... amboi-amboi Puan A, perkara ke-4 tu nak kena jaga jugak ... taknak masuk syurga ker?

Tapi akak nak crita kat sini, akak sebenarnya gerammm dengan kawan akak nie. Sebenarnya beberapa bulan yang lalu, kami "akak-akak" yang single lagi suci murni ni mintaklah kawan akak ni untuk mendoakan kami di Jabbal Rahmah semoga dipertemukan dengan jodoh yang dari kalangan golongan yang beriman (hehehe ... sebenarnya ada juga mohon dapat jodoh yang ganteng) hahahah

Within hours selepas beliau mendoakan kami dan dirinya maka bertemu lah beliau dengan sang arjuna yang mempunyai potensi yang besar untuk memberikan title Puan kat beliau. Duit ada, rupa pun ada, bisnes ada dan paling penting veryyyyy gentleman ... i likeeee. Tapi ye lah, kawan akak ni despite telah dibukakan jalan yang lurus untuk mengakhiri penantiannya selama ini ... nak jugak terus diuji. Jangan tak tahu ... akak siap buat simulasi lagi apa yang dibualkan semasa kenduri kawin.

(Kenduri kawen di sebuah kampung di utara tanah air)
Orang kampung: Seman (bukan nama sebenar) ... mana hang jumpa bini hang tu?
Seman: Di Mekah Pak Mat ...
Orang kampung: oooooooo .... tu dia!

And of course lah .... pengantin perempuan tu akan dipuji-puji oleh satu kampung ye tak dan akan menjadi kisah cinta yang lebih hebat dari filem Ayat-Ayat Cinta. Walaupun akak AFUNDI lah Abang R ni untuk kawan akak, tapi bak kata Norzah ... janganlah ... nanti tiada demokrasi dalam cinta. Hehehe

Tapi jauh di lubuk hati, akak masih mengharapkan kawan akak ni jangan lah menolak "salam cinta" dari Abang R. Or else ... kita akan mendengar perbualan ini di satu kenduri kawen di sebuah negeri di utara tanah air.

Orang kampung: Seman, mana hang jumpa bini hang tu? Lawa pulak tu. (Hehehehe)
Seman: Oh ... masa kat Mekah, kawan bini saya doakan untuk bini saya agar dipertemukan jodoh. Sekali, lepas tu jumpa dengan saya and dia pun introduce lah.
Orang kampung: oooooooo .... tu dia.

Kepada orang tu ... sanggup ke?

Dedikasi Khas Buat Gadis Resah

Baru-baru ini Kak Sri Siantan (bukan nama sebenar hehehe) telah menelefon Gadis Resah (juga bukan nama sebenar) untuk mengucapkan Selamat Hari Raya sambil-sambil menyibuk tentang persiapan Gadis Resah menyambut seseorang yang mungkin memberikan sinar harapan menerangi hari-hari yang suram dan menyirami jiwanya yang penuh kegersangan .... (awww sangat ayat-ayat nie).

Kesian jugak Kak Sri Siantan mendengar keluhan Gadis Resah mengenangkan sang arjuna pujaan yang ditunggu selama 16 tahun mungkin tak dapat balik menyambut lebaran bersama. Takpelah Gadis Resah .... kalau 16 tahun sanggup ditunggu apalah sangat 2-3 hari. Macam Kak Sri Siantan, yang ditunggu langsung tak kunjung tiba. Lagi haru gitew ...

Anyway, sedang enak Kak Sri Siantan melayan drama Korea yang tengah ngetop sekarang nie di Korea ... King of Baking Kim Tak Goo, Kak Sri terdengarlah satu soundtrack yang menusuk kalbu menikam jiwa dari seorang penyanyi muda yang amat diminati ramai termasuk Kak Sri sendiri iaitu KyuHun dari Kumpulan Super Junior. Masa konsert Super Junior Kak Sri banyak ambik KyuHun nie ... sambil menjerit-jerit manja hahaha


Lantas, Kak Sri pun carilah klip video lagu nie serta terjemahannya. Mak aiiii ... the lyric is beautifully written. Buat Gadis Resah, moga bait-bait lagu ini bisa mengubat luka dan kerinduan itu ya... Hayati lah ...

It doesn’t matter if I get lonely,
When I think about you a smile spread across my face,
It doesn’t matter if there are hard times,
Whenever you are happy
My heart will be filled with joy

The world that I walk through today
Even if it’s not easy
If I close my eyes I could see your face once again
The dream that continues around me
Has turned from my side to you

Chorus

Everyday my life is like a dream
Being with you and loving you has allowed me to stand firm again
To me, the precious memories of our happiness
Will stay warm even during the hard times
Hope is a dream that never sleep

Like a shadow that’s by my side
Silently you come to me
Regardless if I am in pain, whether there are lonely days you come to me

I don’t mind if the world will make me cry
Because you are always with me
Like dust, will memories dissipate?
I smile a little just to comfort my own heart

Chorus

Everyday my life is like a dream
Being with you and loving you has allowed me to stand firm again
To me, the precious memories of our happiness
Will stay warm even during the hard times
Hope is a dream that never sleep

Bridge

Numerous times I have stumble and fall
But I continue to stand back up
There’s only one heart of mine
During hard times, you become my strength
My heart is with you forever

I will swallow all my hurt
And show you my smiling face
From now on I will not be in pain anymore
Regardless of what, I’ll embrace hope and realise our hope together
I’ll try calling out to you in a place where I cannot reach
I will use my whole heart to love only you

Happy Birthday Ladies!

This entry is specially dedicated to my wonderful friends ... Suhaila Subi aka Si Yoyop, Anijah Miril aka nieja the legend and Sunariya Abdullah aka ShU Na Lya.. Happy 16th Birthday ladies ... And sempena hari baik bulan baik nie I pun try something different by writing this entry guna Blackberry aka Babe at Secret Recipe Jalan Ipoh KL.

To my mum, Happy Mother's Day and Happy Teacher's Day. Semoga teruskan passion dalam dunia perguruan. Don't be sad all the time. Let me settle all my things and we go for holidays. Yalah ur anak bongsu pun tiba2 jak ada money issue time dekat Gawai. Hehehe

Actually it was my late grandpa's birthday and death anniversary this month. May God Bless Ur Soul.Amen.

My Best Friend's Wedding

Sorry lah yer for the late update. Banyak halangan dan rintangan yang perlu I tempuhi semata-mata nak update blog nie. First balik dari KK, body ache all over selepas diurut oleh Auntie Lisa masa buat rawatan resdung. Tido pulak selalu lambat (pillow talks kan) but bangun pagi awal sebab the sun rise earlier in KK ... Pukul 7 dah rasa macam pukul 8 ... ala-ala daylight saving pulak hehehe.

Anyway, my trip to KK this time was twofolds - to attend Niejah's wedding and to unwind after a stressful Taskforce Meeting after Deepavali. Furthermore, Niejah kira pembuka tirai untuk bekas gadis-gadis Litar Lumba "Karabau" Formula 1 Kem Paradise, Kota Belud yang semuanya (kecuali Helena) masih Young, Single & Searching. Percaturan dan spekulasi selama lebih 9 tahun oleh media tempatan dan antarabangsa on who's gonna be the first di kalangan gadis-gadis litar tersebut yang menamatkan zaman daranya telah terjawab pada Hari Tamu Kota Belud 2009.

Niejah's wedding was mix-match between modern Bajau/Malay tradition and military protocols. Ada acara nyanyi2 memuji "kesantekkan" pengantin perempuan, acara tutup-tutup muka dengan kipas sate, acara jelingan di sebalik tabir pelamin, acara jalan bawah pedang. Hebat-hebat ... selama nie I yang mendambakan "jalan bawah pedang" tapi akhirnya Niejah jugak yang dapat. Huhuhu.

Personally I pun sedih that my best friend dah jumpa "best friend" baru (and roommate lagi) though jauh di sudut hati I know it might take all her willpower untuk mencintai "best friend" baru sebelum ini. Bayangkan 6 bulan I elak jumpa dia so that masa-masa yang terluang dapat dimanfaatkan untuk mengenali dan mencintai bakal suami. Tambahan pulak time tu dia tgh kursus G3. Only 2 weeks sebelum wedding I culik Niejah for a day at the spa untuk memanjakan kulit supaya ia mulus dan bersinar-sinar supaya suami jadi geram hehehe.

Niejah to me bukan setakat best friend tapi macam first cousin rapat lah (nak kata makcik atau kakak adalah aku kena maki nanti). Kami sama-sama datang ke KL sebagai "perisik" in 2002. And as women dalam dunia yang didominasi oleh lelaki ditambah pulak dengan "askar-askar" nie pun tak kurang hebat dalam bermain dengan hati dan perasaan wanita, I dengan Niejah memang back to back lah cover each other dari anasir-anasir jahat. Kini tiba giliran Yahya Rizuan untuk melindungi gadis "genit" Kota Belud ini dan "mengisi malam-malamnya yang sunyi" selama ini. Auwwww ....

Sebagai "seorang first cousin yang rapat" I memang tak mengharapkan "grand wedding" mcm Datuk Siti Nurhaliza's . Cukuplah hendak dilaporkan di sini disebabkan kenduri kahwin Anijah anak bongsu Pak Miril, Tamu Kota Belud 2009 kurang mendapat sambutan kerana semua pengunjung berduyun-duyun nak tgk Niejah kawin. Julung-julung sekali nie hehehe

Sehingga mamarazi merangkap penyanyi kenduri kawin yang diimport khas dari KL terpaksa naik atas kerusi nak ambik gambar. "Bergagar" jugak kepala lutut masa nak tangkap gambar Niejah dengan lensa zoom itew ... hehehe. Kebanyakan gambar I dah upload dalam Facebook kalau nak tgk. Sebelum berangkat pulang, I sempat jugak mendedikasikan sebuah lagu untuk pengantin baru dari Kumpulan Spider- Relaku Pujuk (walaupun pada ketika itew ada seseorang tgh emosi terganggu nak ke Taman Sierra). Sebenarnya lagu itu ada maksud tersendiri antara aku, Nijah dan Wan ... betullah kata orang ... time bertunang memang banyak dugaan. Yang pastinya segalanya telah berakhir dengan "kebahagiaan" dan "kepuasan" (hehehe ... ni dah diconfirm malam tadi)

Sepanjang perjalanan pulang ke KK, I mengambil peluang merakamkan keindahan tempat-tempat menarik di Kota Belud dari kenderaan empat roda yang membawa rombongan Che Kiah ke KB. Leka mengambil gambar tiba-tiba kedengaran suara Farid berkata "alamak, ada kepala orang pulak". Sekali I tgk kamera I, I dah rakam keseluruhan "the culprit" motorist yang mungkin tidak menyedari telah mengganggu penggambaran kami hehehe. Tiap kali tgk gambar nie ... I mesti nak ketawa terkenang reaksi Farid.

A Night At The Karaoke

I am currently experimenting with this new interest of mine ... Movie Making. And guess who are the artists featured in this clip? Hehehe ...

17 Again ...

Contrary to the title of this entry, I have always felt 17 - my outlook in life that is! And lately I do felt 17 with my best friends (and a new BFF) during secondary school came for a visit, turning my humble abode and life upside down. Biasa lah hooo ... belum agik sidak nangga perangai kita time kolej dolok!

However, never in my wildest imagination that I would bumped unto one of my gang karas in Kolej Abdillah, Kevin Matthew, whom had been MIA for the last 15 years at the Kuching International Airport. Luckily we were still "recognisable" to each other. And it made my day when he said apart from my chubbier cheek and simplified image, I don't change much. He didn't change much too ... other than enlarge facial pores and slightly taller.

Bukan apa, meeting Kevin reminded me of the good laugh and shock that I had more than a year ago when I started my Facebook. I saw how some of the hunkiest, cutest or hottest guys in my school before looked like now. Ada yang boroi, ada yang botak, ada yang hilang gigi hahaha ... Kevin used to be among the cutest ( and shortest hehehe) and two of my closest friends had a huge crush on him. Plus we were roommates so pagi petang siang malam they talked nothing but him.

I still remember that time when these two girls used the 20 sen pencil sharpener with mirror to "curi-curi intai" him who was seated at the back row in class and lab. Anyway, Kevin was not my type but his friend was hehehe ... I admit, I pun ada curi2 intai "his friend" time lab hehehe

Looking back, we girls never gave our male classmates a glance when we were in Form 1. Yelah, rupa pun masih budak, suara pun mcm Upin and Ipin hahaha. When I was in Form 1, there was this one guy in Form 3 whom we all had a crush on ... his good look (masa tu lah) a mix of Bollywood and Orang Putih ... when he kirim salam to me one evening via a messenger, aduhhhhh rasa mauk guguk (jatuh) jantung ...

Most of my male classmates sure grew up into good looking guys only when they were in Form 3 and by the time they were in Form 5 (and later some in Form 6), some of them ala-ala F4 of Boys Over Flowers with girls going ga-ga over them. To me, that was the motivating factor nak kelas.

Ok ok ... back to Kevin ... aiya I couldn't find our Form 5 picture. Anyway, I sent MMS of us at the airport to one oh his former admirers ... hmm with no feedback ... Aduh Bin, nampaknya u are officially OUT of her system. Tu lah, sapa ask you to control cute gilak! ( that's one thing about him that never changed)

Anyway Bin, it was so good to meet you again. Our outing that day was a blast! Anyway, u and Emel made a cute couple lah in this pic hehehehe ... (wink wink)

The Exorcism of Hafizzzzzzzzzzzzzz ... (Final-The Moment of Truth)

DEDICATION

To Hafiz, you know the best place to park your Honda Accord.

To Kazen Davidson and Jet, thanks for inviting me into your Hafizzzzzzzzz world.

To Emel, what's next in the list?

To Suna, I may pay your wage low but with benefits. Wat did our mum teach us about running away with "foreigners"?

To everyone, thanks for supporting this blog. I need a sleep!

THE MOMENT OF TRUTH

By 7.00 pm, Stadium Bukit Jalil had turned to a battlefield of the fan clubs. Some came in blue, some in green, some in black and white, some in black and some in red. I began to worry when Kazen Davidson called out to some fellow Hafizians strange names ... like "eh you GI Joe1234 kah? or "you must be Cutegirl1977". Sounded so Illuminati to me. Anyway it marvelled me that ordinary people who were complete strangers as first later became "geng karas" due to an idol.

OK, the carnival didn't live up to my expectation, the ticket sales on the other hand was beyond my expectation. Never expected to see so many AF7 fans or recently converted to fans - most of whom lompat parti or just wanna join the fun. Jet and I saw Tomok on our way to the arena in Isma's FC green T-shirt. We waved our "Hafiz fans" at him and he waved back. I never thought that he is tall and cute in real life. Yummy!

We met more Hafizians in the Arena but from different "doctrines". There are PTPL Hafizians, KLang Valley Hafizians and Kuching Mali Hafizians. Another rare Hafizians is the Afro Hafizians. It tickled my heart when I read Jet's comment on his FB pics that the reason why he wore Hafiz cap that nite was to avoid kutu from the AFros.

The ritual started with the organiser's rep giving instruction on the do's and don't during the live telecast, prohibition on the camera and handphones during concerts and of course voice check ... "sapa peminat Hafizzz kat sini?" Waaa.. responses could be heard from all corners and Kazen Davidson and Jet were shouting, jumping and waving Hafiz banners in excitement.

Hafiz first performance that night was a bit shaky (sorry no pics) and I could understand the pressure of being the first one to perform. He did his best, but Fizzz ... you need certain kind of charisma and groove to sing that song. Your vocal and diction maybe OK for the song, but u need to inject some cheekiness. But come the 2nd song, that song was soooooo youuuu ... everytime you reached the high notes, or the flat notes during the bridge or chorus ... gosh I lost count of how many standing ovations and cheers I did for you. Kazen Davidson was speechless!

Anyway Kazen, I have to be true to myself. Admittedly Hafiz had been consistent in all in perfomances. But the reason why I voted Claudia before and admired Akim performances that nite was I valued good live performances. Anyway, Hafiz wins in his 2nd song for originality and "penghayatan". And Aflin was wrong about Akim's performance was original - Faizal Tahir did that before. Sorry to Akim's fans out there, even if Akim won that nite he will always be compared to Faizal Tahir.

The highlight of the "exorcism" was the seconds before AC Mizal announced the winner of AF7. I shuddered at thought of wat Kazen Davidson will do if Aril was announced the winner. For sure somebody will turned into an Incredible Hulk. Hehehe ... to mine and Jet's amazement, the minute Hafizz was announced the winner, Kazen Davidson was in tears! Goodness Zen...

I was so touched when all Hafizians, regardless whether we know each or not hugged and hi-five each other. The stadium was filled with echoes of Hafizians rejoice.



I quickly made a dash to the stage so that I could get best snapshots with my DSLR ... Then when I saw media people with their high-end SLRs with expensive zoon lenses, I felt sooooo small. Wat the heck, I climbed onto a chair and shouted to Hafiz and Datin Tiara to look at my direction (as usual). Geramnya when some photographers blocked my view and in the end this was my best shot. Sorry Fiz!

Was the exorcism successful? This is an excerpt from Kazen's latest entry ...

"As the MC announce the 3rd to the 5th place, everyone were shouting Hafiz’s name. I was the loudest to shout, I think so lah. Finally when he announced that Hafiz is the champion, people shouted, people screamed, jumped, clapped hands, run here and there while me, I cried at my place. I cried like a baby.. huk huk huk… hehehe.. Well, it was the moment I would never ever forget!!! I was satisfied with the result. No more votes needed. No more AFUNDI.. no more diary after this and no more Saturdays concerts. As what one of Hafiz cousin said No more AF after this. I Agree! I like Hafiz and his attitude." ...

PICTORIALS

Why u don't vote for Hafiz? Don't mess with a Hafizian ...

With Hafiz cute and adorable sisters.

For more pics, check out my FB...