While I Was Gone

Sudah lebih dua minggu sejak kali terakhir aku post an entry on 'Life As It Is'. Main reason for absence of any new entry - work, work, work.....At times had to come very early to the office just to clear a few to-do list without interruptions. Rasa lega sebab one major report is out of the way after endlessly chasing a few people for information to complete the report. What have I been up to during this period? There were strings of events, incidents, revealations for the past 2 weeks - not sure where to start, how to start and where to begin but in random order :~

1. Had lunch with my 'jiejie', Helen and ex-boss, Kasuma at Bukhara Restaurant, KLCC last Wednesday. Kebetulan, Kasuma pun baru habiskan puasa enam, so it was kinda 'Raya' for both of us as aku pun baru habiskan puasa enam that Monday. It was my first hearty meal after Ramadhan. Both Kasuma and Helen ordered lamb and chicken beriyani which came in big serving. Luckily I did not order any main dish for myself but just vegetable with mushroom and fried prawn as side dishes. All of us decided to share the food so that we could have a taste of everything. Even that pun we all tak boleh habiskan semua. Anyway, Kasuma was generous enough to pick up the bill.

2. I lost weight during the Ramadhan month as I notice most of my clothes dah longgar especially my pants. I did not weigh myself until recently - 5kg gone. Nak beli entire new wardrobe, bankrup ler aku, maybe kena alter whichever I can. I am now at my ideal weight for my height. How I did it? I did not starve myself or resort to diet pills like some people I know. During Ramadhan month, berbuka dengan kuih-muih and ate rice only for sahur. Now I continue to eat moderately and avoid rice for dinner. Hopefully I could discipline myself to follow this routine so that I could maintain my weight.

3. Met 'Tan Sri' and S for dinner last Friday night. Dah lama juga tak jumpa 'Tan Sri' sampai he did not recognize me when I was sitting like 2 metres away waiting for him. We had dinner at House of Fishball in Subang Jaya before adjourned to Gazebo for drinks.

4. Relieved that after months of preparation for the company first annual dinner, it finally came and over and done with on November 10. The theme was 70s and 80s with a tagline 'The Funky Town'. Everybody had a good time and we received positive feedback from the employees especially on the entertainment lined up for that night. Other than performances by the employees themselves, we had Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson impersonators as well. Everybody dressed up according to the theme sampai aku tak kenal even my own boss. They really let their hair down especially on the dance floor. The dance floor was opened at 11.30 p.m. and we all danced till 1.00 in the morning. I had never danced the way I did that night from disco dance, twist, cha cha you named it. Had several dance partners, actually I tak kenal pun sebab I just joined the company about 5 months ago and I hardly knew all the 300 employees but there was one mamat ni yang jadi steady dance partner. He's a good dancer, our dance moves kinda synchronised easily as he twirled and swirled me on the dance floor. Dia ajak aku pergi hang out dekat club after that tapi I turned him down sebab aku dah letih organizing the annual dinner since early that day. Nak balik and tidur aje. Anyway, aku bukannya kaki clubbing.

5. I finally confirmed my travelling dates to Cairo ex Dubai. Called the travelling agency to issue the tickets. Asked them to charge to my credit card. Initially they said I will be charged 3% for that but the agent decided to waive that. Dapatlah save a few hundred ringgit. This time I decided to fly with Emirates Airline. Cukuplah pengalaman naik Gulf Air ke Dubai last May sampai stranded a few hours kat Muscat, Oman sebab nama tak listed for connecting flight to Dubai. I pinned up the flight itinerary at my working desk and counting the days to that trip. At least there's something to look forward to.

6. I collected my car after more than one month at the workshop. However, I had to send it back after one week. There was a rattling sound coming from the compressor and I asked a cousin to look into it. Obviously there are a few more other things which need to be rectified further inluding the absorber as a result of the accident. Nothing major though but I hope to get my car back in a week's time.

7. Received two calls from headhunters about job opportunities in Putrajaya and another in the city centre. Yang satu ni I flatly told them I was not interested to pursue esepcially when whether I am wearing a tudung or not became of the selection criteria. They prefer someone who is not wearing one and eventhough I don't, I find that offensive and I definitely do not want to work in an organization where one's religious beliefs and practices are more important than the person's ability and capability. Anyway, one day mungkin aku akan pakai tudung.

8. Have been having a few weird dreams. The only thing I could tell is, it's something to do with nakedness, baring it all... Itupun belum habis cerita, 'Tan Sri' dah teased teruk-teruk. So, terbantut nak cerita selanjutnya.....

I'll Be Here Tonite!

I was busy making final preparation for the company annual dinner yesterday morning which will be held that very night when when n ex-colleague called and said she has free tickets for the above play. We got good seats as one of the sponsors is my former employer. I have read about the play in the local newspaper and found it intriguing but just did not have the time find out more about the play and organize with the usual comrades to go and see the play due to my busy schedule with office work and personal matters. Not exactly a cultured person who religiously follow and watch whatever play which is on but once in while the usual comrades and I will just catch several interesting plays at these theatres. Below is the synopsis of the play:-

"Florence unexpectedly breaks up with her husband. Despondent, she determines to kill herself but is saved by her friend Olive. With nowhere else to go, Florence is urged by Olive to move in with her, at least for a while. The only problem is that Florence is anally retentive, neat, tidy and neurotic, whereas Olive is slovenly, casual and an absolute slob. In adapting this script from the play that made his career, Neil Simon investigates the conditions of friendship minus testosterone. The end result is this rare, side-splitting version of two completely opposite characters trying to share the same apartment"

What I think of this play......wait till I watch it tonight.

November 12, 2006 @ 9.22 a.m.

We arrived at KLPac just at the nick of time as when we left my friend's house after my Maghrib prayer only to find that there was a bit of jam on the road going out of Subang Jaya. The initial plan was to have dinner before the play but since we were running late, we skipped dinner and went into the theatre with empty stomachs. Dinner will have to wait.

Although I do not know how is the original version of this Neil Simmon's piece but obviously, the director has incorporated some local elements in the play. Yeah....it's funny and I particularly like Olive's witty character played by Bernie Chan and one of her kaki buddies, Veera, the sweet, naive and so 'duh' character played by Elaine Daly. I wouldn't consider it as a MUST SEE play but only if YOU-HAVE-NOTHING-BETTER-TO-DO. I'll give it three stars out of five.

Egyptian Dreams Come True

December 28, 2006 - January 1, 2007

Sebelum ini ada several travel plans yang telah dirancangkan pada hujung tahun ini termasuklah ke Sarawak dan Indonesia, tetapi kita yang merancang, Tuhan juga yang menentukan. Tempat yang langsung tiada dalam perancangan tahun ini yang bakal menjadi kenyataan - end of this year, tempat yang bakal aku jejaki ialah Kaherah, Mesir. Ini gara-gara ajakan dari Liza sebelum Syawal dahulu kerana dia dan rakan-rakannya termasuk A (ehem! ehem! bakal abang ipar aku ke?) telah merancang untuk ke sana pada hujung tahun ini. Liza memang sudah maklum hasrat aku untuk ke Mesir yang aku suarakan semasa aku ke Dubai Mei lalu tetapi tidak kesampaian sebab Liza pun masa itu sibuk dengan kerja. Lagipun, tidak selamat kalau wanita travels to Mesir alone. I of courselah, bagai pucuk dicita ulam mendatang terima pelawaan itu. Memandangkan January 1st is also Mak's birthday, aku ajak Mak sekali where all her trip expenses shall be borne by the children as birthday gift ler kiranya.

I will be flying to Dubai in Emirates on X'mas Day, spent a couple of nights there and then to Cairo on December 28. I will be in Cairo till January 1 and return to Kuala Lumpur on January 2. Sebelum buat booking, the travel agent said all flights to Cairo on December 28 were fulled and I asked to be on a waiting list. Alhamdulillah, the agent came back to me and said there are available seats on that day. Kalau tidak, I would have to fly there a day earlier. Dah memang rezeki aku agaknya. Cuti juga aku dah apply awal-awal dan telah diluluskan oleh boss.

Look forward to this trip and hope apa yang dirancang akan menjadi kenyataan.....

Open House @ Armanee

From left : Alymiey, Nurul, Rush, Airry

Alhamdulillah, syukur kerana majlis rumah terbuka yang diadakan pada Oktober 31, 2006 berjalan dengan lancar. Majlis diadakan di event hall Armanee Condominium, Damansara Damai where Liza (my eldest sister) has a condo unit. Kalau nak buat at her condominium herself or my apartment di Bukit Jelutong, Shah Alam memang tak muat to fill all the guests. I was very pleased that majoriti tetamu jemputan yang terdiri daripada close family and friends dan bloggers dapat hadir termasuk a Sarawakian friend yang dah about 3 years aku tak jumpa.

Early bird guests yang sampai were fellow bloggers - Rush, Xis and Rush's friends, Almiey and Airry (Hope I got their names right). I wasn't expecting guests to arrive till 8 p.m. tapi about 7.40 p.m. I received a call from Xis asking for direction as they were already nearby sedangkan aku masih tengah taking my own sweet time bersolek and yet to get dressed. By the time I reached the event hall, they were waiting in the car at the carpark. Felt so guilty making them wait instead of aku yang menyambut mereka. When they came out of the car, immediately, I could easily recognized Rush as he looked exactly like his pics, just that didn't expect him to be that tall. I couldn't tell which one was Xis and when I asked, Rush suruh aku main teka-teka pula. Sukar jugak nak cam sebab his pics on his blog tak terang and if I heard correctly, when Xis called he introduced himself as Nik. Itu yang confused sekejap.

Baru nak mula bersembang dengan mereka, aku sudah mula menerima panggilan telefon dari guests yang lain meminta road direction ke majlis open house dan had to leave the table several times untuk menyambut mereka. Terkilan juga sebab tak dapat hold decent conversations with them to get to know them better without being interrupted by calls from other guests asking for road directions. Tambahan pula, bila friends yang lain mula sampai, naturally banyaklah perkara yang nak diperbualkan dan layanan and attention pun had to be divided amongst all the guests. Hopefully, in future all of us including bloggers yang tidak dapat hadir dapat meet up and get to know each other better. Dalam pada itu, as I expected, timbul juga soalan cepumas dari a few relatives and friends. Those singles will know apa soalan cepumas itu. Eventhough I told them the honest truth pun, masih ada yang speculate juga.

Anyway, menu that night mainly consisted of typical Raya dishes - lemang and rendang, nasi impit with kuah lodeh and sambal, and other dishes - chinese fried rice, asam laksa, roti jala and kari ayam, satay and kuah kacang, cucur badak, fruit tartlet and kordial and tea as drinks. The food was catered from this caterer I hired whenever I organize functions which involved makan-makan in my previous company. I was relieved that the guests including my relatives commented that the food served was delicious although aku sempat merasa dua cucuk satay dan dua potong lemang dan rendang sahaja. Itu pun sempat makan bila most of guests dah pulang.

As Rush and the gang about to leave, I gave badam potong for Rush, Xis and Tyah seorang satu bekas as diorang pernah cakap nak merasa kuih tu. So, bila orang dah berhajat, aku cuba tunaikan mana yang mampu. Insyaallah, sampailah hajat Tyah nak merasa bila Rush pulang ke Miri nanti. Aku buat additional badam potong ni a day before I came back to KL/Shah Alam. Merata juga aku mencari a couple of bahan-bahan kuih ni di TI sebab dah out of stock at most kedai dan supermarket, maklumlah most of them do not replenish the stock selepas Ramadhan. Alhamdulillah, memang rezeki mereka, akhirnya aku jumpa bahan-bahan tu.

Majlis ended at around 11 p.m. and by the time I reached home it was almost 2 a.m. Aku ucapkan terima kasih kepada all the guests yang sudi hadir walaupun majlis diadakan in the middle of the week and most of them had to work the following day. To Helen, thank you sebab unexpectedly bagi ole-ole - I truly appreciate it. Aku juga ingin meyusun sepuluh jari meminta maaf kalau ada cacat cela, terkurang, terlebih, tersilap bicara atau terkasar bahasa sepanjang majlis yang tak seberapa tu.

Kepada Shahril, another blogger who was invited, I am touched with your politeness making courtesy call and sending SMSes apologizing for not being able to attend. To other bloggers yang tak dapat hadir juga, kalau panjang umur dan diizinkan Allah, insyaalah kita akan dapat bertemu suatu hari nanti.