Thursday, July 29, 2010

something something... jailhouse rock...

i love this take on the jailhouse rock song... KAJOL is SUPERB. i like very the much.

Friday, July 23, 2010

H.E.L.P

made you panic? hahaha... no lah, i dont need any help. this is the title of a new hindi horror movie. looks quite good. i hope it doesnt dissapoint. the movie stars Bobby Deol and Mughdha Godse.






Thursday, July 22, 2010

azan in the middle of banquet

ni bukan criter dongeng eh. ni criter benar. meh sini i story.

as usual, my wednesday routine is almost the same. i will knock off from work and make my way to Bugis as i have my arabic class every wednesday evening. if i can solat, i will do my solat asar at Masjid Sultan 1st, then go to Banquet to eat early dinner. if not, it will be straight to Banquet.

so yesterday, after buying my nasik ayam at Banquet Raffles Hospital, i chose a seat and was halfway through chomping when i heard the azan. clear and crisp, at 6 in the evening. i tot it was someone's handphone giving out the azan as a ringtone or something. but then it continued on. takkan ringtone lama nah?

and being the kepo that i am, i turned around and there i saw, this pakcik standing in front of the Banquet's door, on the staircase beside Spinelli's, with his right hand on his right ear and he was calling out the azan like a pro-muadzin. everyone was looking at him.

done with the azan, he actually started reciting verses from the surahs in the Al-Quran. He started with Al-Baqarah then a while later, he went out, to puff a cigarette (*wide-eyed*), then came back and stood at the same place. then he started again. i think i heard Al-Fatehah, then I heard Ayatul Kursi and donno what else.

seriously speaking, my hair was standing on its ends. ntahlah kenapa, tetiba mcm seram gitu. then i busied myself with my homework and i didnt hear him anymore. i didnt even realise when he made his way out of Banquet.

i always see this pakcik on every Wednesday at the same time. usually he will talk to himself. the 1st time i saw him, i tot he was speaking via a earpiece coz his hand was on his ear. but when he turned left and right, i saw no earpiece in either ear. usually he will be talking about "anak kurang ajar", "anak tak kenang budi", or "mak bapak tak tau ajar anak".

but yesterday was a different topic altogether. when he called out the azan, he really sounded like those muadzins you hear in Singapore masjids, i think he's better. and if he can read out quite a number of verses in the Quran, that shows he knows it quite well.

kesian jugak aku tengok pakcik ni. i've heard of people who goes "gila isim". meaning that dah tersalah bawak pelajaran agama. i think he might be one of those. last time when i was living in Pasir Panjang/Buona Vista, there were quite a number of people who are like these. they are very intelligent, but in a different way that no one understands them anymore.

i remember a man who used to live in the same area in Pasir Panjang. he was a student of some madrasah and then he went to pesantren or something. my mum said he correctly predicted that she will be the only one among her siblings who will marry a man of the same race ie Bangla. and i remember bumping into him in East Coast Park or something. he said that i am a budak susah nak jaga but dah besar nanti dia senangkan mak bapak dia tapi dia ada penyakit. senangkan mak bapak part im not sure, but inshallah, i am always striving towards that. but the penyakit part is true. and at that time, my illness hasnt even surfaced.

and he can spill the beans of your life even if you never tell him anything. kadang2 rahsia kita sumer dia bole bawak kuar, which is scary lah. coz rahsia is supposed to be rahsia what... hehehehe...!!

and usually when he says something, and we mcm percaya tak percaya gitu, he will ask, "percaya ke tak? tak percaya?" and he will knock his head with his palm, the bony area above the wrists. only when we say, "percaya." then he will stop knocking his head. you can actually see his temple and his forehead full of black marks/bruises. it's like he is being cursed with the knowledge of being able to see things beyond human ability.

interesting yet scary hor?

ok lah, i just hope the azan man will not do anything unusual again next week when im enjoying my dinner. kang tak pasal2 dia bersolat kat tengah2 Banquet, lagik lah sumer ternganga tengok dia mwahahahahaha...!!!

ok chows!

ilal liqaa'!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

14-17 July: Land of the Hornbills Day 4

woke up really early coz we have to be at the airpot at 6.45am. did our last minute packing and did our fajr prayers and we were on our way out.

got a cab to send us to kuching international airport. checked in luggage and got our boarding passes. our luggage was overweight by 8kg so we had to pay RM30 extra. the kuching airport was quite laxed coz our hand-carries werent weighed. which is good coz my backpack was overweight by 0.4kg hehehehe...!!

sat around at starbucks to drink coffee and then the mum wanted to buy some more souveniours and we were on our way to boarding the plane. we were made to run to the boarding gate, coz a final call announcement was made for our flight. but when we sampai at the boarding area, other passengers were still sitting around. cheat my feelings betol.

boarded the flight and we were on our way home!

reached changi at 10.15am and took a cab to nenek's house to leave the souveniors for the dad's side, had breakfast of lontong, talked a while and left for home.

the bro-in-law and sister was waiting at home. passed them their souveniors and ate some kek lapis. and we come to the end of my 4 days 3 nights holiday cum work trip in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia.

Review:

hotel location
the location of four points by sheraton chosen by the congress committee wasnt really a good choice. although it is very near to the airport, it was very far from the city centre. to get to the city, we have to take a cab. and it didnt help that the cab metres start at RM10.

food
because of the location of the hotel, halal food was very difficult to get. kuching is divided into two areas, the chinese area and the malay area. we were in the chinese area. so the food available around the hotel area were more for the chinese. and they were non-halal. if not for that lone indian coffeeshop, we would have eaten maggi all along.

transportation
like i said, it's RM10 sure shot when you enter a cab in Sarawak. to cut costs, they have passenger vans, where they collect 10 passengers at one time for a fee of RM3 person. but the downside of this is that the van will not move till they get 10 passengers. buses were available but they were not reliable. they change timings as and when and you may get stuck at the bus stop for hours wondering whether your bus will arrive.

taxis are also not available on the roads. so flagging a taxi by the roadside is an epic failure. you will only get cabs at hotel lobbies. in the whole of sarawak, there are only a few hundred taxis, so do your maths.

future planning
in case, the family wants to get a taste of real sarawak in the near future, we will get a hotel nearer to the central area. where halal food is easy to obtain and transportation is accessible.

we didnt get to go to the Sarawak Cultural Village, coz it's far from where we were residing. and also because we didnt have time.

we shall go to the kek lapis factory by perahu/sampan the next time round. if the sis is not willing to risk her life, we shall just leave her in the hotel room hehehehehehe....!!

that's about it. because this was more of a work trip, i didnt get to go to a lot of places. but alhamdulillah for the experience. if not for this work trip, i wouldnt have reached Bumi Kenyalang.

inshallah, when i have the rezeki, i will go Sarawak again, but with better planning.

ok chows!! till my next write!

ilal liqaa'!

14-17 July: Land of the Hornbills Day 3

the whole night i was thinking about the fact that i didnt get to strike a pose with the cat statue. so told my parents, today die2 must ask cab driver to bring us to the cat statue. hehehehe...!!






had breakfast. discovered a new dish today. it's called laksa sarawak. and the noodle itself is called kolo mee. it a specialty in Sarawak. it was so nice!!! i love it. if only i wasnt full, i would have asked for another serving hehehehe...!! here it is!



















left hotel around 10.30 and got into a cab. told cab driver we had a few places to go and he said he will drive us to all the places and be our personal driver hehehehe...!! yeay!



1st stop: CAT STATUE
yeayness!! got to strike a pose with it! i was told there were lots of cat statues in Kuching but the rest are not really easy to capture photos coz they are placed higher than ground. this one is just nice!




























2nd stop: MASJID JAMEK
yesterday we saw the masjid from far while walking around the main bazaar. i like the fact that it's in pink. very nice right, pink masjid. and the domes are so shiny in gold. so told the cab driver that we wanna snap photos at the masjid.






3rd stop: PASAR SATOK
my auntie kirim-ed ikan terubuk masin and telur ikan terubuk masin. aku kat singapore jarang masuk pasar. kerana nak memenuhkan permintaan auntie aku, terpaksa masuk pasar dan menahan bau2an yang sungguh menusuk idong. ikan terubuk is another specialty in Sarawak. it's expensive - RM10 a piece. and the telur is more expensive! if you buy it alone, it's RM88. if you buy with the fish it's RM40. *faints*

4th stop: The Spring Shopping Centre
did a walkabout in this rather upbeat shopping centre. a bit like our shopping centres in Spore. this one is more modern with Starbucks, Secret Recipe, Mango, Esprit and a lot more shops in it.

we wanted to watch a new horror movie - MANTRA - in the cinema there. but the timing was quite late. we were expecting the delivery of the kek lapis-es that we ordered yesterday. so takut terlambat, we had to forego the plan. sayangnya, coz that night we watched the making of MANTRA on TV3 and it's an amazing story. upset!

and we also bought lunch. break rekod number 2: abba wanted to eat ARAB RICE! coz why? he saw a lamb shank in the pics and he is a huge fan of lamb. so our lunch was arab rice and we also bought chicken rice from the chicken rice shop. aton bought donuts.




rested and slept a bit. it was nearing 6 and the kek lapis is still not delivered. pretty scared coz we tot that the lady we ordered from might have run away with our RM200 deposit. lucky thing i got her phone number and i called her. she said her guy is sending down and he's on his way. i think it was at 6.30 that the doorbell rang and our kek lapis-es have arrived. ALHAMDULILLAH.




did a little packing up after that coz we had an early morning flight to catch. went down to the reception to do early check-out and pay whatever we had to pay. back to hotel room and slept.

see you all in day 4!

ilal liqaa'!

Saturday, July 17, 2010

14-17 July: Land of the Hornbills Day 2

woke up for fajr prayers then golek2 on the bed for a while and then got ready to go for breakfast. we took room with breaky so tak yah lah nak gi luar carik breakfast. kedai mamak pun belum bukak aku rasa.

breakfast buffet was quite a spread. abba got his prata which is quite surprising coz i tot there's no such thing as roti canai in sarawak. and in the hotel buffet spread some more mwahahaha...!!



breaky done, we went to the main bazaar to get souveniors. the area of shops basically sold the same things. handicrafts and the works. got some buah tangan for some people.


i really wanted to get the kek lapis sarawak straight from the factory itself. but was told that we have to cross the sarawak river by boat. the sister has extreme fear of, well, a lot of things, so naik perahu/sampan atas air is of coz a big no-no! tried persuading her, but to no avail. she still tak nak berganjak.

no choice lor, had to buy from the street vendors. was told by dear friend Suhailah that it is not advisable to buy from them because of the lack of quality. but what to do. we approached a lady and she had her keks ready to be eaten and tested. we tested the keks, and i think, for me, the quality was acceptabale. since we wanted a lot of keks, she told us to leave our order with her and she will deliver the keks to our hotel the next day. tawakal je lah. handed her over the deposit and hope and pray she doesnt run away with the deposit.

after that, i wanted to take a pic with the big cat statue. we asked the kek lady and she said we had to walk a bit. but it was so freaking hot that i was halfway to becoming a madwoman, so we scrapped the idea. mission strike a pose with cat statue: status failed. upset!

went back by cab, had lunch. and oh, talking abt cabs, the cab metres in Sarawak starts at RM10. got a shock of my life the 1st time i entered a cab and the metre was showing RM10. but that's how they work. so don't say i never warn you hor. hehehehe...!!



slept a bit and woke up to prepare for my presentation. went down to congress floor and found my room. met the IT personnel to do some last minute fine-tuning. the 1st speaker done, then it was my turn to go up the stage. i started well. saw the boss down the ballroom, got a little nervous, actually blundered on 1 slide. but then, i was allright. even with two questions thrown to me, i was able to answer them properly. ALHAMDULILLAH.

finished my presentation and went back to my seat. after a while, i felt a tap on my shoulder. i turned and it was the boss. he pat me on my back and said, "you were very good!" ALHAMDULILLAH. and oh, no cameras were allowed, therefore i couldnt get myself snapped in action. upset!

done with my session, went up to hotel room and then went to get dinner. had dinner, watched a bit of tv, and was off to lalaland.

ok chiows. see you in day 3!

ilal liqaa'!


14 - 17 July: Land of the Hornbills Day 1

hello people!! i just came back from kuching, Sarawak. had to attend a work conference because i submitted a paper for oral presentation. because i am not fit to travel alone, i decided to make it a work cum holiday trip together with the parents and the sister.

so here we go! my travel-blog day one!

find my flight!












woke up early at 6 am. did the last minute packing and off we went out from the house at 7.15am. flagged a cab and reached airport nearly 8.15am. but we were very early because the check-in counter wasnt opened yet. so we just waited around and when the counter was opened, we checked in our luggage (only 1 actually) and got our boarding passes.

since it was very early and we had a whale of a time on hand, we decided to take the skytrain to T2 to get breakfast in Burger King. Break record number 1: Abba had BK breakfast. never ever have he said yes to having a breakfast which does not consist of prata mwahahahaha...!!








breaky done, we took the skytrain back to T1. while waiting for boarding, yours truly had this urge to visit the toilet for big business, mwahahahaha...!! so had to ask the family to give me some time while i rush to do my business. went in for security checks on hand luggage after that.

sat around the waiting area and boarded the plane at around 9.40am. the take-off was a bit delayed because there were apparently a lot of planes in queue for take off. while waiting, we joked around with the sis so that she wont be nervous. she was a wreck when she was told we were going by plane. well, she actually was scared when the plane was on take-off. muka pucat lesi, and she was grabbing to the armrests. but she was ok lah. no crying or anything like that. after a while, she forgot that she was in a plane. siap menjenguk luar tingkap lagik. chet, cheat my feelings betol budak nih!


because of the delayed take-off, we landed later than expected. reached Kuching at 12.25pm. did our check-out and luggage claim and we were stepping on Kuching soil already.

was driven in the hotel limousine to the Four Points by Sheraton hotel. This is where the congress was being held.











after checking-in to the room and settling down a bit, i went to the congress floor to register myself as a delegate and sent my presentation cd to the speaker preparation room. i love my name-tag. so pretty hor!














done with that, we went down for lunch. i donno why but the area was quite deserted. the hotel is near the airport but not in the city area. which is so not fun. so i asked the hotel staff, where is the tempat makan area around there. he said, there's one kedai india on the opposite. LUCKY! that one kedai mama is our frequent food provider throughout our stay there. what a strange place to hold an international congress!

so we went to have lunch at this kedai mama called Bombay Masala.



lunch done, back to hotel to take a rest and napped a bit. at 7pm made my way to the Opening Ceremony of the Congress. lucky thing i met an orthodontist i frequently work with so she was my dinner partner for that night. if not i would be this one selenger bacin girl from spore who will be sitting alone in a free-sitting buffet dinner.

opening ceremony was full of speeches. i expected some cultural dance for the opening welcome. but alas, we were given a stage full of young gerls wearing little somethings dancing to steps which reminded me of the 1990's rap group Feminin. then there was an orchestra with and opera singer. *faint!*

lucky thing the dinner was good. and it helped that i was sitted beside A REALLY GOOD-LOOKING MALAY MAN who shared the same phone as me! i think he could be well over 2metres tall. sayang betol he wasnt wearing his name-tag, if not i would have looked out for his name and attend his session if he was presenting. i didnt see him again after that. *sulk*

dinner done, back to hotel room, chatted a while with family and off to lalaland. ngantuk sey!

ok chiows. see you in day 2!

ilal liqaa...!!

Monday, July 12, 2010

lovely quote...

When I woke up this morning I asked myself: What are some of the secrets of success in life?

I found the answer right there in my very room.

The Fan said - Be cool.
The Roof said - Aim high.
The Window said - See the world.
The Clock said - Every minute is precious.
The Mirror said - Reflect before you act.
The Door said - Push hard for your goals.
And don't forget, the Carpet said - Kneel down and pray.

ilal liqaa'..!!

Friday, July 9, 2010

8 July 2010 - RIP Rami Chemali

my favorite Star Academy contestant, Rami Chemali has passed away. He was 22 years old.



reports said he was driving in Egypt with fellow contestant Mahmoud Shoukry and he crashed the car. he was killed and Mahmoud Shoukry is in critical condition in ICU. eyewitnesses said he might have been speeding.


Rami Chemali & Mahmoud Shoukry

i was literally shaking when i read the news. in fact, im still shaking as im typing this.. he was such a promising newcomer. heard that even Lebanese star Nancy Ajram wanted to produce his album. oh goodness. this is so a sad. very very sad. i donno what else to say.

the 1st vid of his that i watched. i instantly liked the smile and the voice.



RIP Rami Chemali. i will miss your smile, your eyes, your lovely voice. ah well, I WILL MISS YOU.


Monday, July 5, 2010

the black atlas moth...

this thing has been after me for quite some time now... and the great thing is dia macam tau aku phobia kat dia... asek carik aku je!


yes, im phobic towards it. butterflies, i love. black moth, i no like. you may ask, like, what is the freaking difference? I DONT KNOW. my fear is very selective lor.


aku pun tak tau sejak bila aku tak berkenan ngan dia. but i realised that whenever i see it, my hair will stand on its ends, and i will stand rooted, and i will automatically want to cry. even typing about it makes the hair on my tengkuk stand.


a few times these creatures came menyinggah at my corridor and lift-landing. kan aku ni step sumer brani, but if you want to see me scared, these are the moments. just put a black moth in front of my doorstep and i'll be scared shitless.


last saturday, dad wanted to get murtabak for dinner. as soon as he stepped out of the house, i heard him saying to mum, "wah, kupu2 besar!" terus aku mcm nak melalak coz i started visualising the big black monster in my mind. mum was like, "eh, nanti yun takot!" straightaway, the instructions from yours truly was to close door close windows. coz it was perched just atop the corridor. and i can see it when i watch tv. IT WAS LIKE VERY SCARY LOR.


and when the windows were closed, i could see its shadow, it was flying about outside the corridor. if i was outside during that moment, i swear i would have fainted there and then. even when i woke up to watch soccer, it was still flying about at the corridor. wahlao wey. creepy lah sey.


the sunday, i woke up late and mum said, the moth was still there when dad went to the market to get breakfast. kerana sayangkan anak dara dia yang ni, sanggup dia menghalaukan moth tu untuk aku tau. tu pasal aku sayang skali ngan abba aku mwahahahaha...!!


and i tot dah settle criter nya.


just now, before going home, i had this urge to eat Polar egg tarts. i saw them in the Cheers store. so i went to get the tarts and queued up to pay. the queue was very long. and suddenly i heard the cashiers screaming about.


and all of a sudden i saw A BLACK ATLAS MOTH, flying towards me. sumpah, it was straight out of a horror movie for me. i thought i heard the "Jaws" background music playing when it was flying towards me!


my knees went so weak and i nearly wanted to run off with the egg tarts without paying. but then, i took so much time thinking. it was already on its way towards me. lucky thing, otak cepat and i swatted it with the wallet. slamat wallet aku yang long type. pegang the ujung, and the other ujung was swatting it away. i could feel its weight on the wallet when i swatted it away. that thing is super huge, like dua tapak tangan aku lor.


and the thing actually flew out of the store. shit man. mata aku dah berair tau. tarik napas panjang2 and then i was okay. si mamat belakang aku pun tak leh harap. bukan nak tolong halaukan. dia pun takot gak nya. tsk. tsk.


i messaged mum on my way out. as usual the mum panicked and called me. coz she knows how i am super phobic towards it. but i told her i was okay. i told her im going home by cab. memang niat balik nak naik cab pun coz i was having flu symptoms. with this, lagiklah sepatotnya aku naik cab. kang tak pasal2 aku menurun kat tengah jalan kang, naudzubillah min zaalik.


gua pk gua terror. but gua takot dua benda. evil clowns and black atlas moth. so actually gua tak terror mana lah mwahahahaha...!!


mak kata agaknya orang nak datang minang aku kot, sampai dua kali dalam span dua hari si kupu-kupu itam ni dtg menyinggah kat aku. aku ameenkan je lah. doa baik per... ameenkan je lah... betul tak? hehehehe...!!


and to those yang tak tau apa tu Black Atlas Moth, ni dia. it can be very huge like dua tapak tangan Michael Jordon lor... this pic is by my sister Yan, she clicked it while we were in Desaru last year.


*squirming while uploading the pic*



Sunday, July 4, 2010

Germany will win it

another soccer/world cup post. i know some of you getting sick of soccer already. BUT, i will never get sick of soccer. although all my favorite teams are gone.

see, i watch soccer because i love the game. not because of some certain handsome guys. they are just bonus-es to spruce up my gatal-ness mwahahahahaha...!!! and getting eye-candy is not at all forbidden, right? hehehehe...!!!

anyway, back to the quarters. we saw lots of upsets, didn't we? mana brazil kalah ngan netherlands. mana argentina kalah ngan germany.

i wanna write up my own match analysis, can?

Uruguay vs Ghana
Uruguay had Diego Forlan. That says everything. That guy is revered in Atletico Madrid okay. Never mind if he was a flop when he was signed for Manchester United eons ago. Ghana was just unlucky lah. A penalty given at 120 min, and it had to go and hit the crossbar. They didnt master the Jabulani, me thinks. If that penalty was spot-on, Uruguay would have said bye-bye. But alas, the one who got more penalties got to go into the semi-finals. So, bye the pride of Africa. Next time. Congrats Uruguay!

Netherlands vs Brazil
Brazil had everything going for this game. Netherlands was nowhere in their bracket of standard. They were supposed to evoke terror once the 1st whistle went off. But when they were suppose to get another goal, what did they do? Played sloppishly and VIOLENTLY. They said Arjen Robben made meals out of every tackle. They should re-look their tapes. It was a miracle that Arjen Robben came out of the game in one piece.

Well, Brazil cracked under pressure. They let their tempers run high. And I blame Dunga, their coach - for that. He was like a mental case by the sidelines. Bapak borek anak rintik lah kan? Netherlands kept their cool and credits to them, it was a match worth celebrating. Congrats Netherlands! *and i love wesley sneijder. heh* And please, i hope Robin Van Persie
is not going to be fielded for the semis. He is very lousy. Like, very lousy tahap gaban punya. 

Argentina vs Germany
What went wrong for Argentina? Meh sini akak bilang. They were not really tested before this. They were against really weak teams during the group and round of 16 stages. yes, they had Lionel Messi. A really, really talented player. but apart form Messi, what else do they have? A VERY SLOPPY DEFENCE.

and this was where Germany won it. Koyak rabakkan dorang punyer back four. Gabriel Heinze and his team of defenders were exposed. And Germany has a really young strong team. They are here to play football, just football. No complaints, no excuses. Even when they were tackled, they get back on their feet and continue on play. Takde byk songeh. And that is discipline. Germany 4 Argentina 0 is not a small feat okay? Argentina were humiliated. Take a bow Germany. You were marvellous. Congrats Germany!

Paraguay vs Spain
And I thought the upsets will continue on. Not that I hate Spain, but I love Paraguay more. Diligent and they've got nothing to lose. They have never advanced further than the group stage in their previous World Cup outings. So to see them here in the quarter-finals is really refreshing. *and it helps that MY Roque Santa Cruz is playing for Paraguay. heh.*

I blame the messy refree for the outcome of this match. Spain was not worthy of the win, I must say. It was the most boring quarter-final match. They are the European Champs for goodness sakes. They could have easily bilis Paraquay so early in the game. But no, they had a very not fit Torres upfront. David Villa was shutdown-ed. It was a lucky 1 gol win, actually. But anyways, Congrats Spain.

Now for the semi-finals. Lemme do the predictions.

Uruguay vs Netherlands
Tough. Match could go either way. But I'll put my money on Netherlands (not literally lah, i dont gamble okay). Just don't play that Robin van Persie.

Germany vs Spain
Argentina was exposed and was streamrolled with 4 goals. If Spain played with Germany the way they played with Paraguay, THEY ARE ASKING FOR TROUBLE. 4 goals might be too little for the mighty Germans.

I put my money on Germany for this one.

Finals? Netherlands vs Germany. And I say Germany wins it. I was never a fan for Germany. Never ever. But this is the classiest Germany side I've ever seen since I started watching soccer in 1994. They have it in them to win it. World Cup 2010 will be Germany's.

Let's see if this turns true! Hehehehehe...!!

ilal liqaa'...!!