Life As It Is

A Woman Over 30

2008-08-22T12:22:00.003+08:00

A woman over 30 will never wake you in the middle

of the night to ask, "What are you thinking?" She
doesn't care what you think.

If a woman over 30 doesn't want to watch the
game, she doesn't sit around whining about it. She does
something she wants to do. And, it's usually
something more interesting.

A woman over 30 knows herself well enough to be
assured in who she is, what she is, what she
wants and from whom. Few women past the age of 30 give a
damn what you might think about her or what she's
doing.

Women over 30 are dignified. They seldom have a
screaming match with you at the opera or in the
middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course, if you
deserve it, they won't hesitate to shoot you, if they
think they can get away with it.

Older women are generous with praise, often
undeserved. They know what it's like to be unappreciated.

A woman over 30 has the self-assurance to
introduce you to her women friends.
A younger woman with a man will often ignore even her best friend because
she doesn't trust the guy with other women.

Women over 30 couldn't care less if you're attracted to her
friends because she knows her friends won't betray her.
Women get psychic as they age. You never have to
confess your sins to a woman over 30. They always
know.

A woman over 30 looks good wearing bright red
lipstick. This is not true of younger women.
Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over
30 is far sexier than her younger counterpart.

Older women are forthright and honest. They'll
tell you right off if you are a jerk if you are acting
like one! You don't ever have to wonder where you
stand with her.

Yes, we praise women over 30 for a multitude of
reasons. Unfortunately, it's not reciprocal. For
every stunning, smart, well-coiffed hot woman of 30+,
there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a
fool of himself with some 22-year-old waitress.

Whilst Right Here Waiting

2008-08-13T22:19:00.010+08:00

Sementara menunggu ketibaan flight EK352 with The BF on it, saja isi masa to write this entry. Tumbuhan dalam gambar di atas ni aku nampak dijual di pasar malam Philippines semasa aku di KK baru-baru ini. Aku macam tak percaya bila my brother in law beritahu bahawa tumbuhan ini sebenarnya spirulina. My brother in law bought it at a price of 50 cent selonggok. Rasanya pada aku tasteless tapi syok bila mengunyah biji-biji seperi anggur itu. Untuk menambah rasa dicadangkan dicicah dengan jus limau nipis dan cili padi. It has to be eaten fresh dan memang tidak boleh disimpan.

Aku dulu pernah makan pil spirulina yang dikatakan baik untuk kesihatan dan boleh membantu menguruskan badan sebab seseorang itu akan merasa kenyang selepas mengambil pil tersebut. Mungkin betul sebab aku yang sebelum itu lapar terasa kenyang selepas meratahnya....no dinner that night.

Untuk mengetahui dengan lebih lanjut tentang kebaikan spirulina ni, click here

Orang Baru

2008-08-12T20:01:00.006+08:00

Selalunya aku tak berapa ambil peduli dan tatak heran dengan the so-called auspicious dates ni but pada tahun ini tarikh 08.08.08 mempunyai makna yang besar buat keluarga aku. Seawal pagi Jumaat pada hari tersebut aku terima sms dari my brother in law di KK, kembar aku telah selamat melahirkan baby boy tempat pada pukul 0720. Kalau sebelum ini kedua-dua anak kembar aku dilahirkan secara normal birth, anaknya yang ketiga kali ini dilahirkan secara Ceaserian. Ini setelah dinasihatkan oleh doktor kerana kecederaan di tulang belakangnya akibat jatuh 2 minggu sebelumnya.

Tepat pukul 2125 malam pula, aku dan mak terbang ke KK. Sampai sahaja di airport, sudah tidak sabar untuk menatap wajah ahli keluarga baru kami ini lalu kami terus ke hospital walaupun waktu melawat sudah berakhir. Wajahnya saling tak tumpah dengan anak buah lelaki aku, Noah semasa kecil. Pada hari Ahadnya, kembar aku dibenarkan pulang. Dapat aku menghabiskan masa dan memandikan anak buah baru aku sebelum aku pulang ke KL pada malam harinya. Sempat juga dia kencing atas aku semasa menunggu air mandiannya siap.

Buat masa ini, belum ada nama yang ditetapkan walaupun ada beberapa cadangan telah diberikan. My brother in law mahu mengekalkan nama Noah di pangkalnya. Jenuh perah otak memikirkan nama yang sesuai. Aku jokingly cadangkan nama Olympus Benji sempena dengan hari pembukaan Olimpik 2008 yang sudah semestinya ditolak mentah-mentah. But seriously aku proposed nama Noah Queshairy sementara ada yang cadangkan nama Noah Naquiyuddin, Noah Ilham dan Noah Esfahan. Terpulanglah kepada the parents to decide. So for now we all panggil dia baby ajelah. Kalau ada sesiapa yang nak cadangkan nama untuk anak buah aku ini, you are most welcome.

4 Days 3 Nights : Hanoi & Halong Bay, Vietnam

2008-04-09T21:10:00.002+08:00

Hasrat ke Vietnam yang sudah sejak tahun lalu lagi dalam perancangan akhirnya menjadi realiti. Pada 18 Mac lalu dengan menaiki penerbangan pertama Airasia, aku tiba di Noi Bai International Aiport, Hanoi untuk percutian 4 hari 3 malam di sana. Untuk percutian kali ini aku tak perlu pening kepala buat flight and accommodation arrangement atau mengatur itinerari kerana segalanya telah diuruskan. I was told to just pack my bag and go. Main objective bukan untuk menjejak tourist spots but more untuk bersantai. Walau bagaimanapun, buku Lonely Planet tetap tidak ditinggalkan and proven again to be useful there.

Ketibaan di Hanoi disambut dengan cuaca mendung dan hujan renyai-renyai as expected around that time of the year. Sebaik menaiki teksi, pemandu tersebut terus berkomunikasi dengan aku dalam bahasa Vietnam buat aku terpinga-pinga sekejap. Aku geleng kepala and said "I don't understand". Dia ingat aku orang Vietnam ke apa. Sukar juga pada awalnya untuk berkomunikasi dengan pemandu teksi tersebut kerana dia tidak fasih berbahasa Inggeris. Aku terpaksa menunjukkan peta dari buku Lonely Planet (never travel without it) untuk memintanya membawa kami ke hotel penginapan, Intercontinental Hotel yang terletak di Ho Tay atau Westlake. A few times aku perasan dia dok perhati aku dari cermin hingga akhirnya dia bertanya asal aku. Apabila mengetahui aku dari Malaysia, dia terus berbahasa Melayu. Rupa-rupanya dia pernah bekerja di sebuah kilang di Puchong selama 2 tahun.

A few things I instantly noticed about Hanoi or maybe Vietnam ialah kenderaan utama di sini ialah motorsikal, there is no proper traffic flow sebab kenderaan datang dari semua arah making crossing the road ala kamikaze ditambah pula dengan bunyi bingit daripada pekikan hon oleh pengguna jalanrayanya samada kereta atau motorsikal. Walaupun tiada halangan di hadapan pun, mereka akan membunyikan hon, it's like telling others "I'm coming, get out of my way". If you think Malaysian drivers are bad, here is even worse making me drew to a conclusion, if you can drive in Hanoi, you can drive anywhere else.

Tempat pertama yang dituju ialan Ngoc Son Temple yang terletak di Hoan Kiem Lake. Tempat ini became a landmark everytime we tell the taxi driver to take us from the hotel to the Old Quarter. Dari segi struktur, this temple looks like any other typical temples tapi suasana persekitaran temple ini yang dihubungkan dengan jambatan yang dicat merah memang menyamankan memandangkan ia dikelilingi ioleh air dan pepohon hijau yang rendang. Terlupa sebentar we were actually in the middle of the bustling city of Hanoi. Seterusnya kami ke Municipal Water Puppet Theatre yang terletak tidak jauh dari Ngoc Son Temple untuk menonton water puppet show. There was a note at the ticket counter that tickets were sold out until March 23. A little dissappointed but we decided to stay in the queue and tried our luck. We were advised to come back for the next show just in case there was a no show.

Next on the agenda, kami menyusuri streets di Old Quarter, the best shopping area in Hanoi, yang menjual pelbagai barangan terutamanya silk, paintings, lacquereware, embroidery, handicrafts dan macam-macam lagi benda yang menarik. We agreed not to buy anything that day tapi cuci mata and recce dulu aje. Kesempatan itu juga diambil untuk singgah di one of many travel agencies there, Halong Travel untuk inquire dan membuat booking for Halong Bay cruise. Nasib baik tak buat apa-apa booking sebelum tiba di Hanoi kerana kalau buat booking di sini ada lebih banyak pilihan untuk buat price comparison dan harganya lebih murah. Harga yang diquote semasa inquire sebelum ini was USD100 more than what was quoted there. Tambahan pula semasa tu low season, chance to secure a reservation memang tinggi, kalau peak season mungkin sukar juga. Pilihan pertama kami ialah menggunakan boat operator Annam Junk dengan harga USD140 per person tapi sebab sudah full we had to settle with the next best option which was Bhaya Cruise dengan harga mahal sedikit iaitu USD180 per person termasuk transfer to and from Hanoi.

Kerana terlalu leka melewati dari satu kedai ke satu kedai, tidak sedar waktu makan tengahari sudah lama berlalu sehingga perut mula berkeroncong. Bermulalah misi to locate several halal restaurants yang aku googled sebelum ke Hanoi antaranya Shalimar Restaurant, Nisa Restaurant dan Malaysia in Hanoi. Mula-mula tu confusing juga mencari arah tetapi we noticed the road name signs and just followed it based on the address I jotted down di samping bantuan dari penduduk tempatan. Walaupun berjaya locate the first 2 restaurants, tetapi kedua-dua restoran tersebut telah ditutup. Hendak ke fast food restaurant pun, samada McDonald, Pizza Hut atau KFC memang tiada. Perut pula sudah terlalu lapar, jadi we decided mengalas perut dengan vegetable pizza dan tuna sandwhich at a cafe near Ngoc Son Temple.

We went back to the Municipal Water Puppet Theatre and got lucky when were told there were seats available. Walaupun terlepas the first 15 minutes of the show, it was good enough for us. The show went on for the next 30 minutes. Ada persembahan yang aku fahami which was based on the giant golden tortoise of Hoan Kiem Lake dan juga everyday life of the local farmers etc. Yang paling aku tertarik ialah lagu yang didendangkan sepanjang persembahan, walaupun dalam bahasa Vietnam, memang asyik mendengar lagu-lagunya.

Keesokan paginya, seperti yang dijanjikan tepat pukul 8.00 pagi, transport untuk membawa kami ke Halong Bay tiba. Perjalanan ke Halong Bay ditemani oleh 3 orang pelancong wanita dari Australia dan UK. Perjalanan memang tidak membosankan kerana mereka memang ramah ditambah pula dengan co-driver juga tidak jemu melayan kami. Sepanjang perjalanan, kami dihidangkan dengan pemandangan petani-petani yang gigih menanam benih padi dan yang klisenya terdapat banyak kilang-kilang sedang dibina atau beroperasi di antara sawah padi. Ia sebagai tanda Hanoi sedang pesat membangun dan menjadi tumpuan untuk manufacturers menjadikan Hanoi tempat ideal untuk beroperasi mungkin kerana kos operasinya dan tenaga buruh yang murah. Kami singgah sebentar di sebuah pusat kraftangan dan terus menuju ke cafe di situ memenuhi kehendak perut yang minta diisi. Kerana waktu persinggahan singkat, tidak sempat untuk meninjau barangan yang dijual di situ but I suspected that the price is much much more expensive than Hanoi.

Selepas 3 jam setengah, kami tiba di Halong Bay di mana kami dibawa menaiki transfer boat menuju ke junk yang berlabuh tidak jauh dari persisiran. Being in Halong Bay was a total change from the bustling city of Hanoi, total peace and quiet. It was pretty chilly tapi the view memang magnificient beyond words. Our 2 days 1 night itinerary whilst cruising amongst the small islands in Halong Bay included exploring the Cave of Surprise, visiting the Van Gia Fishing Village, cooking demonstration by the chef, kayaking and at night watched a romantic movie called Indochina yang difilemkan di Halong Bay. The rest of the time, we just sat at the deck enjoying the view and the sunset. Yang bestnya, the number of people on the cruise tak ramai, cuma ada 5 couples sahaja inclusive. Aku juga sempat had 30 minutes of shoulder and back message at the deck for only USD15. Semasa cruising near the Fishing Village, there were a few small boats which approached our junk with the locals especially children selling shells and sundry goods. They were very relentless menimbulkan rasa kasihan dengan mereka. We just gave some money without buying anything.

Sekembali ke Hanoi pada lewat petang, kami bertukar angin menginap di Somerset Westlake pula. Selepas freshened up, aku menyambung mission untuk mencari halal restaurant and my only option was Malaysia in Hanoi Restaurant. Alhamdulillah, rasa lega apabila panggilan telefon aku dijawab oleh pemiliknya bernama Aspalela. Tidak sukar mencari restoran ini kerana ia terletak berhadapan dengan Truc Bach Lake. Malam itu aku makan sepuas-puasnya Nasi Goreng Kampung with Spicy Beef yang dimasak oleh tukang masak dari Malaysia siap kena perli, "do you want a takeaway". Memang authentic Malaysian cuisine. Sempat juga beramah mesra dengan Kak Aspalela sambil mendengar kisah bagaimana dia membuka restoran ini pada November 2007. Sesiapa yang ke Hanoi bolehlah singgah di restoran ini yang terletak di 136 E, Tran Vu, Truc Bach Lake, Ba Dinh, Hanoi atau hubungi di no. telefon (844) 715 2512 atau e-mail malaysia.in.hanoi@gmail.com.

Selepas dinner, kami menaiki trickshaw for a one-hour ride around Old Quarter. Mula-mula kami diberitahu harganya ialah USD5 tetapi apabila dihulur wang at the end of the ride, kami diberitahu harga sebenar ialah USD5 seorang. Memang terasa tertipu and we decided to pay him additionally 50,000 Vietnam Dong only. Sebelum pulang ke hotel, kami singgah di Highland Coffee yang terletak di tepi Tasik Ho Tay (Westlake). Franchise coffee ini memang kami lihat di merata tempat di Hanoi, kiranya seperti setaraf Starbuck atau Dome di Malaysialah. Kami duduk sebentar di situ menikmati angin malam di tepi tasik over hot latte sebelum pulang ke hotel. Hari terakhir di Hanoi dimulakan dengan melawat Hanoi Opera House located at a more posh area of Hanoi di mana terdapat banyak designer boutiques di situ. Thought that we could watch a show only to find out that it's only on weekends. We decided to head to Paris Deli for breakfast and after that doing what we saved for last, shopping at Old Quarter. Sudah kebiasaan di sini kena pandai tawar-menawar harga but the price memanglah cheap for tourist. Cuma mereka lebih gemar guna USD and kalau guna Vietnam Dong, mesti markup by 2,000 Vietnam Dong compared to the actual exchange rate. Someone shopped more than I did sampai had to pay for excess baggage when we checked in at the airport.

Hit The Road, Jack!

2008-02-18T22:56:00.001+08:00

This is not addressed to The BF. We are ok and going strong each day in spite of the distance. I am referring to a caller from mobile phone no. +019369xxxx. It all started last Saturday night when a text message from this unfamiliar number came in:-

February 16, 2008

+6019369xxxx : Malam ni futsal tau

Me : Who is this?

+6019369xxxx : Ni orng putih ke..sorry la...! Sy orng malaysia tau (Eh, buat lawak yang tak lawak pulak!)

Me : Ni siapa? Klu x bgtau malas nak layan

+6019369xxxx : Name sy badrul..silap no la! U ni siapa?

At this point, aku malas nak reply coz I don't know anyone by that name. But within the next 10 minutes, there were 3 incoming calls from the number. Aku just pressed button busy rejecting the calls followed by a text message.

Me : Tlg jgn call sy. Sy x kenal sesiapa nama badrul

+6019369xxxx : Ye la..sy tahu 2! Sy pun x knl awak, sy ni bkan suka ganggu org 2 pn kebetulan je

+6019369xxxx : Sy nk tel awak skrg ni leh x! lpas 2 sy x akan ganggu awak tau k

Me : Untuk apa? Jgnlah buang masa awk. Sy x berminat. (This was the last text message from me)

+6019369xxxx : Ape la awak ni! Sy pun mcm 2 jugak tau..lgi pn bkan nk jumpa, cuma tel je salah ke

+6019369xxxx : Bleh la ye saudari..sy tel awak ea.

+6019369xxxx : Ye la sy ankat kaki la..sy ingat awak ni anak tan seri ke d'tuk

Aku hidup-hidup ingatkan dia betul-betul dah angkat kaki but half an hour later around 11 p.m. he called. I ignored the call and let the phone rang until it stopped.

Just when I thought that would be the last time I would hear from him......

February 17, 2008

+6019369xxxx : Askum (An hour later)

+6019369xxxx : Happy morning

Wah...sungguh persistent betul Mamat ni

February 18, 2008

+6019369xxxx : Hi happy morning, have a nice day pls don't get angrey! As a friend it normal. Las pls forget it k by. new friends.

Honestly I don't know what was he talking about but I hope it means adios! But at noon, I received a picture message of a rose from him. ???????

Some people just don't get it. When someone says no, it's a NOlah! I didn't think I misled him or give him the wrong impression. Tang mana yang tak faham tu entahlah. Nak kena cakap NO in 14 different languages ke, baru nak faham! But I have to give him credit for his persistence though he is just wasting his time and money. Kalau aku reply makin galak pula dia, so I am going to continue ignoring his text messages and calls. Hopefully he got fed up and give up.........

Heavenly Blessed....

2008-02-14T22:33:00.005+08:00

It has been more than a week now since The BF left. Kalau tidak kerana sudah komited dengan boss to work on CNY, sudah lama aku terima ajakan The BF to go with him to Dubai where he stopped on business. Then, we would have a few more days together. But 5 days was what we had and we made most of it, dining at KLCC, Bora Ombak, Starhill and tapao the famous Nasi Beriyani from Taman Tun. After dinner, we caught a couple of comedy movies, Meet The Spartans and Gameplan. Anybody who really need a good laugh memang amat-amat direkomenkan menonton Meet The Spartans. Memang tak kering gusi menonton movie based on the movie '300' ni.

The BF generously showered me with several gifts this time. On the day he arrived, he gave me a traditional shawl from Pakistan, where he is temporarily based at called ajrak. A couple of days later whilst walking in KLCC, he pulled me into a lingerie shop called Inner Secrets and bought me a bra. Macamlah he will get to see me in it. Shop ni memang sebelum ini aku takkan jejak punya sebab harga satu bra aje aku boleh beli 5 - 6 helai bra di La Senza. The last night he was here, he bought 2 similar Starbuck Mugs in my favorite color, orange and gave me one.

Bila difikirkan balik, ada juga baiknya long distance relationship (LDR). Memanglah tak boleh berkepit 24 jam macam other couples tapi bila sesekali berjumpa, the time spent lebih meaningful dan digunakan sebaiknya. Memang tiada ruang nak menimbulkan isu yang boleh membawa kepada perselisihan faham kerana masa yang ada terhad. Those yang nak terjebak dalam LDR haruslah matang, jujur dan saling percaya-mempercayai pasangan masing-masing. Perasaan syak wasangka harus dijauhi sebab kalau dibiarkan merasuki perasaan, boleh menghancurkan perhubungan. Aku bukannya expert tapi pengalaman lalu dan orang di sekeliling banyak menjadi pengajaran dan pedoman for me to make this relationship work and last.

Another lucky gal yang dapat expensive gift is Mak. Tahun ini Mak memang dapat antara hadiah harijadi yang paling mahal, dari getaway di Serendah, dinner at Mum's Place and finally arrived from Dubai, a Louis Vuitton handbag. Aku ke Renaissance Hotel last Sunday to collect the handbag from Liza's friend, a pilot with Emirates. Sempat juga Mamat tu buat lawak yang dia ke Petaling Street beli yang imitation to exchange with the original.

Hadiah ni belum lagi sampai ke tangan Mak sebab Mak baru sahaja a few days earlier pulang ke Teluk Intan. Sebelum ni masa aku bawa Mak shopping, dia dok belek-belek beg tangan tapi aku bagi pelbagai alasan telling her not to buy first. Hopefully she will like this one. Jadi Mak Datin lah Mak aku lepas nih. Doakan semoga anak-anaknya dimurahkan rezeki supaya dapat shower Mak with many more expensive treats.

Background Song : Semoga Abadi by Misha Omar

Two Blissful Weekends

2008-02-01T23:03:00.000+08:00

Last Friday my 2 little darling, apples of my eye was in town for 4 days 3 nights. Sudah agak lama tidak berjumpa dengan mereka. Sebelum ini hanya mendengar cerita dari kakak aku their latest antics and peel. Kali ini aku tidak dapat mengambil mereka di LCCT kerana mereka tiba semasa waktu aku bekerja sehingga merajuk Ashin dibuatnya. Sempena dengan kunjungan mereka di sini memang plan nak ke Zoo Negara dan Petrosains tetapi Noah pula demam on and off, terpaksalah batal rancangan tersebut. Sebagai ganti aku pun bawalah depa berendam dan bermain kat swimming pool sementara aku practice my swimming. Saban hari memang tidak jemu melayan keletah dan menjawab soalan-soalan perah otak dari mereka. Yalah, bebudak memang curious segala. Terubat juga rindu dengan kehadiran mereka......

This weekend will be another blissful one. The BF will be arriving at KLIA tomorrow afternoon and will be here for at least 5 day. From this moment, that's another 15 hours to go and counting

Background Song : Get Here by Oleta Adams

Officially Taken

2008-01-23T23:15:00.000+08:00

I turned lucky number 33 last Thursday.
Unlike previous years, my birthday this year was a memorable one.
23 red roses was delivered to my office
followed by 3 amazing days with The Sender
who flew in just for my Birthday.

One of my favorite songs finally means something....

WANITA YANG KAU PILIH

Malam selalu panjang
Di waktu aku merindukanmu
Kau bisa menjaga aku
Hingga diriku merasa teduh

Aku seperti kamu
Menginginkan dan memerlukanmu
Karena kita tak mampu
Untuk selalu pergi menjauh

Kau jadikan aku ini
Wanita yang kau pilih
Untuk jadi kekasihmu

Dan kau pun tlah aku minta
Setia seperti aku
Sehingga waktunya tiba

Aku percaya penuh
Kau kan buat aku bahagia
Karena cinta tercipta
Datangnya dari dalam hatiku

By Rossa

A Birthday Retreat

2007-12-26T22:14:00.000+08:00

Aku mula merancang birthday retreat ni sejak awal Disember lagi dan insan yang diraikan tidak lain tidak bukan, insan yang satu, tiada duplicate - MAK. I called it a birthday retreat because we actually 'kidnapped' Mak to a private retreat to a place called Sekeping Serendah for a weekend. Mak was clueless all the way to KL from Teluk Intan until my bro, Shahrul made an exit at Rawang where we were already waiting for them. But still Mak had no idea it was to celebrate her birthday since her birthday is on January 1. My initial plan was to do it on December 31 so that we could celebrate it that night tapi kena buat a week earlier sebab the place was fully booked pula on that day.

Sekeping Serendah ni is a private retreat surrounded by lush greenery nature located in the town of Serendah. Ada 3 types of houses called sheds - 2 glass sheds, 2 mud sheds and the newest, 1 timber shed. Getting there was a bit tricky sebab memang tiada proper or visible signboards. Even some locals kat pekan Rawang and Serendah pun blur about this place. After passing through pekan baru Rawang and Serendah, kena melalui Perkampungan Orang Asli Serendah dan jalan tanah merah hingga ke pintu masuk tempat ini. Aku dah suspense masa melihat keadaan jalan dan sekeliling semasa menuju ke sini. Takut juga jadi kes tipah tertipu sebab bila tengok photo gallery in the website nampak tempat ini memang cantik. Bummer - there goes my plan for Mak's birthday. But as soon as we went through the front entrance, aku rasa lega ya amat sebab the place memang seindah seperti pics in the website.

Masa mula-mula learnt about this place, memang dah teruja nak tinggal di glass shed tapi bila called nak buat reservation, fully booked pula. Time tu pula cuti sekolah, public holiday and that type of shed pula ada 2 aje. So, had to settle with the next best thing - the timber shed. It may be the most expensive but the biggest with 2 bedrooms. Staying at the timber shed banyak mengingatkan aku kepada zaman kanak-kanak. Bunyi insects dan lantai kayu apabila berjalan di atasnya reminded me semasa tinggal di rumah kampung Opah dan Tok aku di Manong, begitu juga kelambu yang tergantung di katil. The last time aku tidur berkelambu ialah semasa Onyang masih hidup. Everytime tidur di rumah Onyang, memang wajib gantung kelambu. Yang paling menarik tentang tempat ini is all the sheds here has open-concept including the shower area yang berbumbungkan langit dan pepohon hijau. Everytime bersiram, memang paranoid juga tengok atas kut-kut ada Mat Skodeng menyorok di celah-celah pokok. Facilities here very basic and not lavish. Other than a fridge, microwave and cooking stove, there is no tv, telephone nor mobile network coverage here. Because there are only 5 sheds, memang boleh expect a lot of privacy.

We spent the day of arrival recce kawasan keliling, then spent some time at the waterfall about 5 minutes drive for brunch. In the afternoon, we headed to the Serendah International Orchid Farm about 15 minutes drive. Ke sini juga tiada signboard langsung that we had to stop twice to ask some locals. Tempat ini terletak di atas bukit dan dari menara tinjau di atas, memang boleh lihat pemandangan pekan Serendah dan kawasan sekelilingnya. Unfortunately around this time tidak banyak orkid yang berbunga but Kema and Mak beli a few to take home.

Mak's advanced birthday celebration dibuat pada malamnya. BBQ chicken and marshmallow by the pool side with simple dishes which we have pre-prepared and brought from home, hanya diterangi dengan scented candles. We had the pool all to ourselves. It was almost perfect if it was not for the cake yang melt sedikit masa on the way ke sini di siang harinya. Although rupanya dah terjejas sikit but the cake named Desire which we bought at Barkezin, Bangsar Village II memang sinfully sedap. It's a combination of white and dark chocolate with crunchy caramel almond. Tengok aje pic ni, tempting and cantik kan? After dinner, my youngest bro, Rizal terjun ke dalam pool. Sorang-sorang dialah cepak cepuk berenang ke sana sini tengah-tengah malam. The rest of us jadi 'pemerhati PBB' by the pool side sambil continuing with our dinner and BBQ.

The following day after breakfast, all of us spent the entire morning at the pool. Aku ambil kesempatan crash course belajar berenang from Rizal starting from learning to float and within a short period of time, I can already do some short strokes. I was either a fast learner or Rizal was a good teacher. Lepas ni, dah teruja nak pergi practice swimming di Armanee which has a resort-like pool. By noon, we checked-out but already talking about returning to this place for a family gathering. This time, kena plan and book awal-awal for the glass sheds.

For those who are seeking for a short escape from the hustle and bustle of city life, this is just the perfect hideout for relaxing and enjoying the tranquility of the natural environment. Visit http://www.serendah.com/ to find out more info and photos about this place.

What A Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong

Jalan-Jalan Cari Makan @ House + Co

2007-12-14T22:37:00.000+08:00

Lunch today was with my kakis from my former workplace. Venue this time was House + Co at Bangsar Shopping Centre. This place has become one of my favorite dining places since another friend introduced it to me some time middle of this year. Uniknya about this place is, it is located inside a shop selling furnitures, home decor and houseware. Dari luar nobody would have known there is a restaurant inside. From the interior decor of the restaurant, one would have expected menu dia mesti fancy international western menu yang sampai tergeliat lidah nak sebut. On the contrary, there are only 9 common dishes on the menu . I could even list them all here:-

APPETIZER

Edamame - Japanese soya bean dusted in sea salt

SALADS

Kurt's Grape & Pine Nut Salad - Fresh crunchy vegetables, grapes and pine nuts tossed in light creamy dressing
Caesar Salad - Crispy lettuce tossed in a cheesy dressing topped off with croutons prepared in olive oil

SANDWICHES

Tuna Walnut Pita - Toasted whole meal pita bread stuffed with peppery tuna, crunchy walnuts, lettuce and carrots.

Beef Rendang Pita - Toasted whole meal pita bread stuffed with spicy and tender beef rendang, lettuce and carrots

Chicken Pita - Toasted whole meal pita bread stuffed with poached chicken and toasted pecans, lettuce and carrots

MAIN COURSE

Nasi Lemak - Fluffy basmati rice cook in coconut milk and served with sambal, acar, nuts, anchovies and choice of beef/chicken/sotong

Kim Lien's Kway Teow Soup - Soft flat rice noodles served with prawns, poached chicken, bean sprouts and 'chai sim' in pipping hot chicken soup

Nyonya Curry Laksa - Your choice of noodles served served in hot spicy coconut creamy gravy with poached chicken, prawns, bean sprouts, tofu and cabbage

Prices range from RM6 - RM15.

Today, Roza, Elle and I ordered Beef Rendang Pita and Chicken Pita whilst Tress and Mel ordered Nyonya Curry Laksa. The dishes sound plain but what make them special is the food arrangement and garnishing other than rasanya yang sedap. My favorite here is the Nasi Lemak Sotong especially the sambal. The next time aku datang sini, I'll post a pic of the Nasi Lemak which has an equally interesting food presentation. 4 stars out of 5 for this place.

Walimatul Urus I

2007-12-09T20:39:00.000+08:00

Sabtu lepas telah berlangsung sebuah majlis pertunangan di Teluk Intan. Aku pulang pada hari Jumaat selepas kerja kerana tidak dapat ambil cuti kerana baru sangat mula bekerja di tempat baru. Awal pagi lagi, di luar dan dalam rumah, ramai saudara-mara dan jiran tetangga sedang rancak membuat persiapan terakhir terutama sekali lauk-pauk untuk dihidangkan untuk rombongan dari pihak lelaki dan para tetamu. Walaupun lauk-pauk catered tetapi hidang-menghidang dilakukan sendiri dengan bantuan saudara-mara dan jiran tetangga. Masih kuat masyarakat di sini berpegang kepada semangat gotong-royong dan bersepakat dalam hal-hal kenduri-kendara ini. Lauk-pauk yang dihidangkan kebanyakannya masakan kampung - gulai lemak nangka, rendang tok, kerabu, ayam goreng berempah, kacang botol dan sudah pasti tidak ketinggalan, sambal tempoyak (lepas gian aku makan sambal tempoyak!).

Hantaran bertemakan rona hijau sudah sedia tersusun di atas katil kecuali tepak sirih dan gubahan sejadah. Semuanya ada 11 hantaran dari pihak perempuan. Semasa sedang meneliti barangan hantaran satu persatu, terperasan pulak pada salah satu hantaran iaitu sebuah kek yang tertulis Selamat Bertunang, nama pihak lelaki di atas kek disalah eja - Erwin (pronounced as air-wind) menjadi Arvin. Perkara itu menjadi bahan gurauan - jangan pula tiba-tiba yang datang nanti a/l instead of bin....

By noon, everything seemed to be all set to go, hanya menunggu ketibaan rombongan dari pihak lelaki. Then somebody asked, "mana tepak sirih dengan gubahan sejadahnya?". Bergegas salah seorang cousin aku ke rumah jiran yang sepelaung sahaja untuk mengambil barang-barang tersebut untuk melengkapkan hantaran. Anyways, upacara merisik dan perbincangan di antara kedua belah pihak berjalan dengan lancar, diikuti dengan upacara menyarung cincin merisik dan cincin pertunangan sebagai tanda janji telah dimeterai.

Alhamdulillah, majlis yang boleh dikatakan planned and happened in short notice telah selesai, kecildan sederhana tetapi tetap meriah. Tahniah kepada cousin aku, Liana yang akhirnya telah ketemui in realiti jejaka dalam bluesnya, Erwin. Didoakan semoga alam pertunangan ditempuhi dengan penuh kekuatan iman dan jiwa sehingga melangkah ke gerbang perkahwinan pada 1 Zulhijjah depan.

Background Song : Wanita Yang Kau Pilih by Rossa

Dr Sheikh Spotted Again!

2007-12-01T08:29:00.000+08:00

On Fridays we get 2 hours lunch. Whilst the male colleagues go for Friday prayers, the females apalagi pergi galavanting, shopping ke or drive out lunching at places away from the office. I pulak took Dee to Rebung for lunch. She moved from Miri to KL when she joined my current employer 2 months ago. I got to know her when attending system training in my 2nd week of joining and we clicked instantly. Since she's kinda new here, I jadi ala-ala Tengku Maria Sabri JJCM introducing to her places to dine in KL, pasni maybe Ronda 360 degrees jalan-jalan makan angin di tempat menarik di Semenanjung. I told her about Rebung etc etc. It must have been her lucky day as when were about to leave, Dr Sheikh Muszaphar showed up. If it was not because of another car blocked my car, we would have left sooner and Dee would have missed the opportunity to meet Doc face to face. Bukti ada hikmah di sebalik setiap kejadian atau ketentuanNya. It was brief but we managed to snap a couple of pics together. Dee is on Cloud 9 these few days....On the way back to the office, I realized it was Mokhzani Mahathir whom I asked to snap our pic. Absolutely cool public figures.....

Background Song : Gembira Hidup Ini by Farah AF2

Untuk Sesuap Nasi....Is It Worth It?

2007-11-12T20:58:00.000+08:00

One of the personal things I never share in this blog is what I actually do for a living. Well, this summarizes is all.....

It was never made to be a job, it's a vocation. A career. Like priesthood or the nunnery, you have to be selfless. before yourself, others first. You must be self-secured, composed and self-assured. You must have self-respect. You cannot be bought.

Never fall in envy if others will be higher than you in kind. Never sob for there will be no word of compliment for you. You must never fail to teach, to bring forth the best in people. twenty-four hours a day work will never be enough. yet you still bear the burden of faults.

Smile even if it pains inside. Be resilient and strong. Exude a fresh and happy disposition. Be the sunshine to all. And when all else fails....be the pillar of strength.

Honor any information given to you. Keep it and know how to handle what others tell you. You must be trusted. Keep your doors open so people can see you. So people can talk to you.

Never show you tears. Freeze them. There is never a day-off in your career. You must learn to bring your office problems to bed. Color it if you must, so your dreams will be interesting. You will never be served. You must be tireless. You will not rest.

You will say "NO" when everyone says "YES!". When everyone actually wants to say "NO" but was afraid to say so. You chose a career that must sell and serve. So die if you must.

In this career, you will never be king or queen. But, you will be the MAKER.

THOSE INTERESTED MAY WRITE-IN COMPLETE WITH DETAILED RESUME.

ANYONE?

Crossroad

2007-11-11T23:12:00.000+08:00

I was at a crossroad for several months before arriving to this decision. It was a decision made with serious thoughts and consideration especially when it was never my intention to make a career move this soon and I was quite happy with where I was. It was even more difficult when I told my boss my decision to leave 3 weeks before my intended last day. During those 3 weeks, I went through several sessions with my boss which lasted at least an hour each asking me to reconsider my decision. He approached some colleagues who were close to me asking them to coax me into staying.

I am truly honored the things he was willing to do to make me stay and the high regards he had for me as well as the praises and compliments for my work during the last 16 months. I am also grateful that he has made an offer that at anytime I want to come back, there’s always a place for me there. But I have made up my mind and it was final. I could finally talk openly about me leaving a few days before my last day starting by sending an e-mail to my Sports & Social Club committee members a day before followed by a farewell note the following morning to colleagues and friends whom I worked closely with and interacted socially.

My last day coincides with the last event I organized for the staff as the President of the Sports & Social Club. It was supposed to be done the previous Friday but since the MD was not around on that date, it was postponed to October 31. I personally took lead of this project and I decided to do it on a bigger scale and differently not only because it was the first joint celebration of Hari Raya and Diwali and I had a bigger budget to play with but it was my last contribution to the employees. Unlike the past festival celebrations with only catered dinner served, this time, there was Rangoli and Ketupat Weaving contests, door gifts for all employees and cultural performances namely Malay and Indian dances.

I was the ‘pengacara diva’ that night, something I have not done for a very long time. It was a memorable night, for me at least. After all has ended, I went back to my desk, the emotions started to kick in. I realized that I am going to miss a lot of things, the wonderful teammates who have been very supportive, my bosses who valued my individuality allowing me to speak my mind freely although my thoughts and opinions may differ from them and most importantly I found some great friends here. Friends who added color into my life - there was never a dull moment when we were together. I stayed at the office until 2 a.m., chatting with some colleagues, we hugged each other, there was never once we said farewell or goodbye. I packed my personal belongings and left some momentos to a couple of them.

On my first day at the new workplace, I received smses from some former colleagues but this particular one from Roza cum my companion whenever we had to work late nights made me so sebak - “Saya nak tujukan lagu ‘Tak Akan Melupakanmu’ ini untuk mak, ayah yang disayangi yang kini berada di kampung, buat cinta hati yang baru pulang dari bulan, juga salam mesra dan tahniah untuk sahabat yang paling cun dan tetap tabah walau tewas menganyam ketupat semalam dan juga untuk sahabat yang terhangat di pasaran dan akan menempuh alam persekolahan baru hari ini..dengan ucapan fahamilah senikata lagu ini, I luv u guys…”.

Gosh! I miss them already....

Mushy Mushy Day

2007-10-31T15:18:00.000+08:00

Today is a special day. Ramai yang all dressed up, siap berdandan ke pejabat. Terlalu sibuk ke hulu ke hilir, tidak terasa lagi nak rasa mushy mushy. Tak tahulah malam nanti or sudah nak akhir-akhir nanti, kut-kut ada empangan pecah. Today is also a sad and happy day for me. Mereka yang tahu dan mendengar khabar angin datang to confirm the desas-desus dan wished me. Sejak dua tiga hari lalu memang dah terasa sayu dah...sob...sob

Lunch hari ini pun special, kat Sakae Sushi di Bangsar Village 2. Sebab we all semua dah all dressed up for the big night tonight, apa lagi snappy sana sini.

Breaking The Silence

2007-10-28T13:12:00.000+08:00

How time flies......Pejam, celik, pejam celik, Ramadhan sudah lama ditinggalkan dan tidak lama lagi Syawal bakal melabuhkan tirai. Sudah lebih sebulan lamanya laman ini 'dormant' tapi ini tidak bermakna empunyanya juga 'dormant'. Malah hari-hari yang telah dilalui memang warna-warni samada berkenaan hal-hal kerja atau peribadi sehingga sukar mencuri masa memastikan ada paparan terbaru di laman ini. What I have been up to all this while? Sedikit sebanyak inilah yang dapat diringkaskan dan rated-U, sesuai untuk tatapan semua lapisan masyarakat.

Cerita Syawal

Tiada berbeza dengan tahun-tahun lepas, Syawal disambut dalam kesederhanaan dikelilingi oleh keluarga dan saudara-mara terdekat. Walaupun sederhana dan tanpa keluarga kembar aku yang beraya di kampung mentuanya di Tawau, tetapi tetap meriah especially ada anak-anak cousins aku yang bertanggak di rumah aku. Terubat juga rasa rindu kepada Ashin dan Noah dengan kehadiran mereka. Yang menariknya, Syawal tahun ini secara kebetulan didominasi dengan theme hijau, jadi theme tahun ini ala-ala lagu Zainal Abidin "Hijau' lah. Sejuk mata memandang...By the 3rd Syawal, aku sudah pulang ke Kuala Lumpur untuk memulakan tugas pada keesokan harinya. Ada banyak desakan tugas yang perlu dibereskan. Memang heaven pergi balik ke tempat kerja during the rest of the week kerana trafik tersangatlah smoothnya dan pejabat juga lengang. Dapatlah aku siapkan kerja dengan aman damai tanpa gangguan.

Pada hari Ahad pula, aku lunch dengan Dirtypap selepas menerima sms darinya yang dia akan turun ke KL sebelum pulang ke Labuan. Kami bertiga termasuk rakannya, Mardi had lunch di Piccolo Mondo, Midvalley. Aku sebenarnya bekerja pada hari itu and should return back to the office, tetapi sebab terlalu leka bersembang, dekat 5 jamlah kami di situ. Harap-harap kali ini perancangan Dirtypap untuk bekerja di Semenanjung menjadi kenyataan. Aku doa-doakan sesangat. Adalah nanti mangkin buat teman aku jogging, kan Pap?

Seminggu selepas Raya pula aku kena cold and flu. Feverish, badan rasa weak and achy and continuous headache. My nose was blocked with mucus making it difficult to eat or talk because I had to breathe through my mouth. Tapi tetap jadi iron lady, gagah perkasa juga pergi kerja. It has been over 2 weeks now and I have been to 2 doctors. Unlike the first doctor who only gave me Panadol for pain and tablets yang entah apa, the second doctor gave me more medication including antibiotics, Clarinase and Menthol Crystal. Now my mucus pun dah dried up, just have to finish the medication especially the antibiotics. Itulah aku, memang jarang sakit tapi kalau once kena, mesti teruk and lama nak recover.

Yesterday, I had breakfast with Zeyn at Bawang Merah Cafe in Subang Jaya. Both of us had Nasi Lemak and Teh Tarik. We chat about the normal stuff from one topic to another. After that, he tagged along with me going around Subang Jaya looking for queue stands to cordone the Rangoli Decor. I did not find what I was looking for but I settled with something similar, garden fences which I bought at Giant Shah Alam. Anyways, thanks to Zeyn for the Kek Lapis and Cheese Cake.

Office Buzz!!!

Sebab lain why my cuti Raya aku tidak panjang adalah kerana ada beberapa persiapan yang harus aku buat untuk aktiviti sampingan di pejabat. My additional responsibility sebagai President Sports & Social Club, memerlukan aku turun padang untuk memastikan plan for our next activity berjalan dengan lancar. One of them was to decorate the office bersempena dengan the upcoming Diwali. Unlike last year yang lowkey, this year we went all out termasuk menjemput artiste untuk membuat hiasan Rangoli atau lebih dikenali sebagai Kolam di reception area. I was impressed to see how fast he finished such a complicated (to me lah!) peacock design in less than half an hour. Lihatlah hasilnya!

On the way to the office after my rendezvous with Zeyn, I decided to stop by at Speedway Plus Karting Circuit where the German Society of Kuala Lumpur organized a Go Kart Competition. Since my company ni is a German company, we sent 3 teams as contestants. Terasa macam kat German pula masa kat situ sebab majority yang attend and participate pun them. At that stage one of my participating colleagues qualified to go to the final. Mamat ni yang on that day itself diberi nama gelaran "Mangkuk Tingkat" (tidak kena mengena dengan sebab dia qualify to final) ni kiranya macam Underdog sebab memang tak pernah masuk Go-Kart and dapat masuk final. Although minorities, we were the ones yang paling kuat bersorak and cheering for him. Yang paling best, si Mangkuk Tingkat ni dapat 3rd place! Riuh sekampung we all bersorak. We all yang ala-ala gadis litar masuk interframe ambil gambar masa penyampaian sijil dan medal. Tumpang glamour katanya...

What's Next?

Here is a sneak preview. Buah tangan untuk jemputan seramai 400 orang. Small and intimate. Belum boleh sit back and relax. Loads more needs to be done!

When Friends Meet - Get Well Soon, Mum!

2007-09-24T00:22:00.000+08:00

Sebenarnya sudah beberapa kali membuat perancangan berjumpa dengan beberapa rakan over dinner tetapi selalu sahaja tertunda atau terpaksa dibatalkan kerana jadual kerja dan peribadi masing-masing selalu clash. Alhamdulillah, sempena bulan Ramadhan ini, Jumaat lepas kami dapat meluangkan masa untuk berbuka puasa bersama walaupun tempat untuk berbuka beberapa kali bertukar dari Bangsar Seafood ke Rebung dan akhirnya settled with KL Convention Centre. Initially, there were supposed to be 7 of us - Hazura, Helen, Stephanie, Kasuma, Mohar and wife tapi at the 11th hour, Stephanie had to take a raincheck. All of us used to be colleagues and have known each other between 5 - 7 years and after we went our separate ways about one year and a half ago, we still remain in contact.

Aku tiba di KLCC sejam lebih awal dari waktu berbuka untuk berjumpa dengan Helen for some private and personal conversation. Sempat juga menjengah sales di I-Setan exclusive for its members. Setengah jam sebelum waktu berbuka, seorang demi seorang tiba di tempat yang dijanjikan iaitu di Exhibtion Hall 5 of KL Convention Centre. Walau terdapat a little mixed up with our reservation, alhamdulillah kami mendapat meja yang terletak berdekatan dengan tempat juadah yang disediakan. Cara hidangan adalah secara buffet dengan konsep gerai-gerai yang terletak di tengah-tengah hall. Juadah yang disediakan terdiri daripada makanan tempatan dan 2 gerai yang menyediakan makanan Jepun dan Arab. Aku menjamah sedikit sebanyak beberapa juadah dari lamb kuzi, murtabak, ketam bakar, mee goreng mamak, banana fritters, Japanese food amongst a few. Semasa makan, tetamu turut dihiburkan oleh lagu-lagu Melayu asli yang dimainkan oleh secara live oleh beberapa pemuzik di atas pentas. Tidak seperti di hotel, di sini tidak perlu bersesak-sesak dan bergesel bahu untuk mengambil makanan kerana jumlah meja yang available for reservation terhad membuat orang tidak ramai ditambah pula dengan ruang hall yang besar.

Sambil makan, kami bersembang dari satu topik ke satu topik. Banyak benar yang diceritakan dan dikongsi terutama update each other tentang perkembangan some of our mutual friends and acquaintances. Ada yang bernasib baik, ada yang tidak, ada cerita sedih, ada cerita gembira dan ada juga cerita yang menjadi pengajaran termasuk berbincang tentang some business opportunities. Kerana terlalu leka bersembang, tidak sedar waktu sudah 10 p.m. iaitu the end of the buffet dinner. Kami merupakan tetamu yang terakhir beredar sementara pekerja-pekerja sudah mula mengemas meja dan clearing the food.

Keesokan paginya, aku ke sebuah klinik di PJ untuk membuat pemeriksaan kesihatan. Suatu yang perlu aku lakukan untuk memenuhi requirement pihak tertentu. Nasib baik semua ujian kesihatan berjalan dengan lancar dan selesai dalam satu setengah jam. Keputusan ujian akan diketahui dalam masa seminggu. Dalam itu sempat juga berkenalan dan bersembang dengan a few people yang membuat pemeriksaan kesihatan dengan tujuan yang sama. The main question we asked each other was when is the D-Day.

By noon, aku bertolak ke Teluk Intan accompanied by my aunt. Sepatutnya kakak aku, Kema ikut bersama tetapi di saat akhir dia diarahkan ke India atas urusan kerja. Monyok sahaja muka dia semasa aku singgah sebentar mengambil kek untuk Mak di condonya pada malam sebelumnya kerana terpaksa ke India. Sebab utama aku pulang adalah untuk berbuka dengan Mak. Kebetulan pula beberapa hari sebelum itu adik aku menghantar berita Mak kurang sihat, muscle di bahagian pinggang lari semasa gardening. Walaupun sudah berjumpa doktor dan diberi ubat, masih terasa lagi sakitnya. Selepas ini, kalau dalam seminggu ini masih tidak pulih, aku bercadang hendak membawa Mak ke SJMC. Tambahan pula Mak akan ke Kota Kinabalu seminggu selepas Raya ditemani Liza dan Kema untuk menjenguk cucu-cucunya dan meraikan their belated birthdays kerana kembar aku sekeluarga akan beraya di Tawau tahun ini. Aku pula tidak pasti samada aku boleh turut serta atau tidak kerana banyak perkara yang harus aku selesaikan. Harapan dan doa aku agar Mak akan beransur pulih by Raya dan dapat melawat cucu-cucunya, insyaallah.

Turkey : Pamukkale - Ephesus - Cappadocia - Istanbul

2007-09-02T06:41:00.000+08:00

Click on words bold in BLUE for more information on the subject.

Semasa di Istanbul, aku mengambil keputusan untuk menggunakan khidmat travel agency untuk membuat arrangement melawat Pamukkale dan Ephesus. Memandangkan it was a peak season, I learnt that it is going to be difficult to get a ticket bus and lodging. Tambahan pula I only have limited number of days to cover all these places and couldn't afford to take a risk stranded disebabkan tiada tiket bas untuk pulang ke Istanbul. The travel agency arranged for everything termasuk lodging, lunch, transportation dan tour. Perkhidmatan coach percuma juga disediakan oleh syarikat bas untuk membawa passengers ke bus terminal yang terletak lebih kurang 30 minit perjalanan dari Sultanahmet .

Perjalanan 12 jam ke Selcuk, sebuah bandar yang terletak tidak jauh dari Ephesus menaiki bas express memang amat selesa. Bukan sahaja basnya bersih dengan tempat duduk yang empuk, terdapat juga steward yang menghidangkan minuman dan kek. Bas express tersebut berhenti beberapa kali samada untuk mengambil penumpang atau makan. Tempat-tempat perhentiannya kebanyakkannya di kawasan R&R di mana terdapat foodstalls atau restoran yang turut menjual cenderamata. Even at wee hours of the morning tempat-tempat ini full of activity dan meriah. Perjalanan menaiki bas bukan sahaja terhad di darat tetapi juga merentasi Sea of Marmara dengan menaiki feri selama setengah jam. Kesempatan itu ku ambil untuk turun dari bas express ke dek feri. Walaupun tiada pemandangan dapat dilihat kerana malam memang pekat tetapi sekurang-kurangnya dapat mengambil angin malam yang sebenarnya sejuk hingga ke tulang.

Pamukkale

Setelah freshened up dan menukar pakaian, dari Selcuk perjalanan diteruskan menaiki coach selama 3 jam ke Pamukkale melalui Denizli. Dari kejauhan sudah kelihatan suatu kawasan permukaan bukit yang memutih seperti dilitupi salji. Coach membawa kami hingga ke atas dan dari dekat baru kelihatan thermal pools yang bertingkat-tingkat dan dikatakan mempunyai khasiat mengubati penyakit. Aku mengambil keputusan untuk melewati tinggalan sejarah kota Hierapolis di kawasan sekeliling termasuk tanah perkuburan golongan bangsawan dan theatre dahulu. Memang meletihkan memanjat bukit dan berjalan di bawah panas terik matahari. Dah pakai sunblock pun masih tak memadai, kulit tetap menjadi gelap. Selepas itu, baru aku menghabiskan masa menikmati pemandangan di 'cotton castle' dan merendamkan kaki di dalam air. Airnya hanya suam-suam kuku sahaja, tidak sepanas yang aku sangka. Niat untuk berendam di dalam kolam terpaksa aku batalkan sahaja bila melihat betapa ramainya pelancong yang membanjiri kolam-kolam di situ samada di Ancient Pool atau the public pool. Untuk memasuki Ancient Pool, ada bayaran yang dikenakan, kalau tak silap aku YTL10.

Kusadasi

Penginapan malam itu adalah di Hotel Ilayda di Kusadasi yang terletak tidak jauh dari Ephesus, tempat tujuan keesokan harinya. For a 2-star hotel and the room rate charged, the condition of the room and hotel service are beyond my expectation. Memang highly recommended. Walaupun aku tidak mendapat bilik yang berhadapan dengan Kusadasi Bay, tetapi keesokan pagi, sebelum coach tiba, aku mengambil peluang berjalan dan bersantai di tepi pantai menikmati pemandangan laut yang biru. Terasa macam di Greece pula sekejap dan bertambah gelap lagilah kulit aku dek panahan sang suria.

Ephesus

Selain daripada Ancient City of Ephesus, lawatan ke Ephesus turut termasuk lawatan ke Temple of Artemis dan House of Virgin Mary. Kalau dilihat gambar struktur asal temple Roman ini, tidak banyak yang tinggal melainkan a column dan bongkah-bongkah batu yang bertaburan di sana sini yang menjadi peninggalan dan bukti kewujudan temple yang disenaraikan sebagai one of the seven ancient wonders of the world (Wah! Kiranya setakat ini, aku sudah melawat 2 ancient wonders of the world selain daripada Pyramids of Giza). Dikatakan kebanyakan bahagian dari temple ini telah diambil dan digunakan untuk pembinaan bangunan-bangunan bersejarah lain termasuklah Medusa Heads yang digunakan sebagai asas column untuk pembinaan Basilica Cistern di Istanbul (refer to my previous entry on Istanbul). Tidak jauh dari kawasan temple nun di atas bukit ialah Gereja St. John dan Isabey Mosque tetapi aku tidak melawat kedua-dua tempat ini kerana kesuntukan masa. Hanya melihat dari jauh dan mendengar sejarahnya daripada tour guide.

House of Virgin Mary yang terletak di Bulbul Mountain dikelilingi oleh pokok-pokok yang menghijau mewujudkan suasana yang cooling dan redup sememangnya melegakan setelah a couple of days berada di bawah terik matahari. Shrine di mana Virgin Mary dipercayai menghabiskan usianya ini is as important and sacred to the Moslem as it is to the Christians. Rumah ini sebenarnya kecil sahaja di mana terdapat prayer altar untuk pengunjung yang beragama Kristian bersembahyang. Di kawasan luar, terdapat bekas kolam air di mana upacara pembaptisan diadakan, mass area, prayer wall yang dipenuhi wish notes dalam pelbagai bahasa dari pengunjung serta holy water dari water taps. Actually aku pun tidak tahu dari mana datangnya air ini tetapi menurut kata our tour guide, the water runs under the shrine. Anyways, for Moslems - Awas! Jangan pula mengambil air dari sini untuk dibuat minum. Aku diberitahu di sini tiada public transport selain daripada teksi or kalau larat, cubalah berjalan kaki.

Ancient city of Ephesus ini actually quite a huge place. Yup, your talking about one of the great Greek cities in the ancient time housing the largest amphitheatre in the world. Nak cover the whole place kena ada kudrat and energy untuk berjalan with good shoes especially when walking on the marble street under the hot blazing summer sun. We were briefed by the tour guide a little bit of history about the city. Sukar juga nak follow sambil trying to relate nama-nama dari sejarah Greek but as we went along visiting from one ruin to another, boleh juga faham. Among a few significant monuments di sini mainly Temple of Hadrian, Library of Celsus, The Great Theatre, and what believed to be the first indoor flushed toilet. The Great Theatre is still being used till to date for concerts, plays, gatherings and I was told that Sting once had his concert here. I had to breakaway from the tour group earlier because I was leaving for Cappadocia that afternoon, a slight detour from my original plan. I decided to go to Cappadocia the day before after hearing so much about it from a few travelers I met.

Cappadocia

Untuk ke Cappadocia aku menaiki overnight bus selama 14 jam melalui bandar Nevsehir di mana aku switched to a coach untuk ke bandar Urgup. Actually, one can also head to bandar Goreme kerana Cappadocia sebenarnya bukanlah sebuah bandar seperti yang mula-mula aku sangkakan tetapi sebuah kawasan yang dikelilingi a few towns termasuk Goreme dan Urgup. Kedua-dua bandar ini adalah bandar yang menjadi tumpuan pelancong untuk menginap sekiranya hendak melawat Cappadocia. Di sini, aku menginap di Melis Hotel yang merupakan sebuah rumah Greek yang berusia 300 tahun. Hotel ini menawarkan bilik-bilik yang bercirikan Ottoman style, Greek style dan cave house. Pada mulanya aku bercadang hendak merasa duduk di dalam cave house tetapi aku bertukar kepada Ottoman style yang terletak di hadapan swimming pool kerana rasa stuffy pula bila berada di dalam cave house.

Pada hari pertama aku, I had the whole day to myself. Aku menghabiskan masa berjalan di sekitar bandar Urgup sambil melihat masyarakat tempatan menjalani kehidupan harian. Di suatu sudut berdekatan dengan masjid, sekumpulan lelaki-lelaki tua sedang duduk bersembang sambil menghisap rokok. Di sebuah lorong pula di bawah pepohon anggur, beberapa lelaki bermain boardgame yang seakan-akan mahjung. Aku mendekati mereka untuk melihat dari dekat boardgame tersebut dan as usual ditawarkan Turkish tea di dalam gelas berbentuk tulip sambil berbual dengan salah seorang daripada mereka yang boleh berbahasa Inggeris. Sememangnya sudah menjadi tradisi di Turki, tetamu dihidangkan Turkish tea which means 40-years of friendship. Memang sejak tiba di Turki, I have lost count berapa gelas aku dah minum but it doesn't matter sebab aku memang suka minum teh.

Keistimewaan Cappadocia ialah bentuk mukabuminya yang unik, terhasil daripada larva gunung berapi. Hakisan angin dan air beribu-ribu tahun lama membentuk chimney rock atau dikenali sebagai fairy chimneys. Cappadocia juga terkenal dengan cave houses dan rock churches yang menjadi penempatan Christians yang lari daripada penindasan Romans. Lawatan di sini benar-benar menguji ketahanan fizikal aku kerana banyak aktiviti mendaki turun naik bukit. Tambahan pula aku tidak memakai kasut yang sesuai menjadikan perjalanan aku lebih perlahan terutama sekali semasa menuruni cerun-cerun bukit. Yang menyeronokkan juga semasa lawatan ini adalah mencari dan meneka shapes yang menyerupai binatang, isyarat tangan dan sebagainya yang terbentuk secara semulajadi. Termasuk dalam itinerari di Cappadocia ialah lawatan ke kilang pembuatan pottery. Selain demo tentang cara-cara pottery dibuat, terdapat bilik pameran dipenuhi barangan daripada pinggan, pasu, bowls, jug air, dan pelbagai lagi untuk kegunaan harian atau hiasan.

Bentuk-bentuk binatang & isyarat tangan di Cappadocia

Back in Istanbul

Malam itu aku menaiki bas pulang ke Istanbul yang memakan masa 13 jam. Sebaik tiba di Istanbul, aku terus menuju ke Eminonu untuk berbaris mendapatkan tiket menaiki Bosphorus Cruise. Cruise bermula pada pukul 10.30 a.m. dari Galata Bridge sehingga ke perhentian terakhir di Rumeli Kavagi. Aku bukan sahaja dapat melihat beberapa monumen seperti Dolmabahce Palace & Mosque, Ciragan Palace yang terdapat di sepanjang Bosphorus tetapi juga bangunan-bangunan dan rumah-rumah yang cantik rekabentuknya. Keseluruhan cruise took about 6 hours termasuk 3 jam menunggu di the second last stop - Anadolu Kavagi sebelum menaiki feri pulang ke Galata Bridge. Anadolu Kavagi is a fishing village with loads of Balik Restaurants (Fish Restaurants). Masa 3 jam itu aku habiskan mendaki ke Yoros Kalesi, a ruined castle on the hill where from there one can have a great view of the Black Sea with ships passing by.

Selepas checked-in semula di Hotel Sultanahmet, aku bergegas ke Sirkeci Railway Station untuk menyaksikan Whirling Devrish ceremony. Persembahan ini hanya ada pada hari-hari tertentu sahaja dan tiket boleh didapati di most hotels di Istanbul. Just make sure it is bought in advanced sebab memang cepat habis especially during peak season. Semasa upacara ini, aku terfikir samada the whirling devrishes ini betul-betul berada di tahap ecstasy sewaktu mempertontonkannya kepada pelancong kerana instead of menjadi a religious ceremony, it has been commercialized. Adakah unsur mistik dan kekusyukan kepada pengamalnya? Wallahualam...

Perancangan keesokan harinya was to do a little shopping di Kapali Carsi atau Grand Bazaar, beli barang yang dipesan Mak di Egyptian Bazaar dan selepas itu buat Turkish Bath. Normally kalau pergi travel, shopping is not my main agenda and I will do this last depends kalau ada extra money to spare. Memang pelbagai barang yang dijual dan boleh rambang mata untuk memilih. I ended buying only a few souvenier items sebagai kenangan di Turki dan hadiah untuk adik-adik aku termasuk tulip-shaped tea sets untuk Mak. Selepas itu, aku ke Egyptian Bazaar untuk mencari lotus oil yang dipesan Mak. Mak menggemari bau lotus oil ini semasa melawat Cairo tahun lalu. Mahal juga harga lotus oil di sini berbanding dengan di Cairo. Sempat juga singgah di sebuah kedai yang menjual scarves sebagai hadiah untuk Mak and my sisters. Satu perkara yang aku notice, barang-barang di Egyptian Bazaar lebih murah daripada di Kapali Carsi. So, it's better to buy some items seperti T-Shirts, accessories, shawl dan souvenier items di Egyptian Bazaar.

Rancangan untuk buat Turkish Bath terpaksa aku batalkan kerana kesuntukan masa dan aku harus bertolak ke airport to catch my flight back to Dubai. Nevertheless, I am happy with how this trip went and ended. Walau ada juga a few unpleasant incidents yang menguji keimanan aku tetapi banyak juga pengalaman manis yang memang sukar dilupakan.

The People I Met

Turkey : Istanbul

2007-08-22T08:04:00.000+08:00

My first experience travelling solo to the farthest place I have traveled to date did not just went smoothly but it surpassed what I imagined it would be. I hardly felt lonely but made more friends than when I traveled accompanied, I discovered a few things about myself and more importantly I found kindness in strangers.

Aku rasa tidak perlu aku menceritakan sejarah dan latarbelakang tempat-tempat yang telah aku lawati kerana semua maklumat ini mudah didapati dari travel books dan internet. Aku rasa lebih praktikal kalau aku berkongsi my travel itinerary, travel tips dan pengalaman menarik sepanjang aku berada di sana buat panduan sesiapa yang ingin menjejaki kaki ke sana.

Di Istanbul, aku menginap di Sultanahmet Hotel. At EUR30 for B&B, it is quite reasonable for a clean 2-bedded room with a sink, tv, hair dryer and a stand fan although the bathroom is unattached but it's just across my room. Tambahan pula waktu itu peak season, hotel rate lebih mahal dari biasa and kalau single traveler, memang expected kena bayar lebih sikit. The published rate at the frontdesk was EUR50 for single tetapi aku mendapat rate EUR20 cheaper dengan bantuan dari seorang local Turk guy I met yang kebetulan bekerja di travel agency. I was lucky to get a room facing the street with a view of a mosque across the street.

Malam pertama selepas membersihkan diri, aku keluar berjalan menyusuri the main street yang menjadi laluan tram untuk meninjau kawasan berdekatan dan mencari makan malam. Belum pun jauh dari hotel, aku sudah dihampiri oleh seorang lelaki tempatan memulakan perbualan kosong bertanyakan asal dan nama aku etc. Aku ada terbaca mengenai perkara ini di dalam buku Lonely Planet : Istanbul di mana lelaki tempatan gemar mendekati foreign female travellers for very obvious reason (takkan nak cerita kut? Faham-faham sendiri!). We had casual conversation mainly telling each other a few things about each other. He insisted on paying for my dinner when I stopped at a food kiosk and we eventually took a taxi to Taksim for a drink at a club. Taksim is supposedly to be a happening place in Istanbul sebab kat sini banyak clubs, pubs and bars tetapi tempat yang kami pergi ni ada a few patrons with a few scantily dressed girls dancing on the dance platform. Aku ni bukan jenis suka clubbing and loud music, so after an hour, I decided to call it a night and returned to my hotel.

The following morning, breakfast was at the terrace garden of the hotel. Just a simple typical Turkish breakfast - olive, bread, homemade jam, hard-boiled egg and cheese. Dari terrace garden sambil menikmati sarapan, aku dapat melihat dari kejauhan Blue Mosque, hati sudah teruja dan melonjak-lonjak tidak sabar untuk menuju ke sana. Berbekalkan buku Lonely Planet dan travel map Istanbul, aku mula menjejaki the main tourist sites bermula dengan Hippodrome, Blue Mosque dan Ayasofya pada sebelah pagi dan for the entire afternoon aku melawat Topkapi Palace. Kesemua tempat ini terletak just a walking distance from each other and from my hotel di Sultanahmet. Terdapat 4 monumen di Hipprodrome iaitu Obelisk of Theodosius, Serpent Column, Rough-Stone Obelisk dan Fountain of Kaiser Wilhem II yang mengambil masa tidak lebih 30 minit to cover all of them.

Seperti yang disarankan di dalam Lonely Planet, aku memasuki Blue Mosque melalui pintu masuk dari Hippodrome kerana melalui arah inilah cara terbaik untuk truly appreciate the grandeur and beauty of the Blue Mosque. Memang asyik dan terpegun melihat keindahan masjid ini especially di dalam prayer hall. Rasa bersyukur kerana masjid ini tidak mengalami nasib seperti Ayasofya dan terus digunakan sehingga ke hari ini sebagai tempat ibadat umat Islam. Ada juga rasa terkilan sebab tidak dapat melihat dari dekat mimbar masjid dan Black Stone dari Mekah kerana para pengunjung dibenarkan berada pada suatu had sahaja yang agak jauh dari mimbar. Tidak seperti masjid-masjid di Cairo, Masjid Biru malah semua masjid-masjid di sini berjaga dan amat bersih.

Cara terbaik untuk melawat Ayasofya ialah bermula dengan galeri atas di mana terletaknya floor plan menunjukkan lokasi potret mozek ikon-ikon atau peristiwa yang berkaitan dengan Christianity. Bukti Ayasofya pernah menjadi tempat ibadat umat Islam tidak ditunjukkan di dalam floor plan ini tetapi yang paling ketara kelihatan ialah medalions dengan tulisan kaligrafi Allah s.w.t., Muhammad s.a.w, Saidina Ali dan Saidina Abu Bakar dan Perpustakaan Sultan Mahmut I. Dari tingkap berdekatan dengan kubur Henrico Dandolo, one can capture a nice pic of Blue Mosque in a distance. Unlike Masjid Biru, bayaran masuk sebanyak YTL10 dikenakan untuk melawat Ayasofya.

I spent the entire afternoon melawat Topkapi Palace kerana kawasannya yang luas dan banyak artifak dan exhibits yang dipamerkan di ruang-ruang bilik di sini. Aku cuma terkilan sebab tidak dapat melawat Sacred Safekeeping Room yang menempatkan antaranya rambut, janggut, tapak kaki, pedang dan gigi Nabi Muhammad s.a.w. Aku dapati kerja-kerja baikpulih sedang dilakukan di ruang pameran itu dan ia hanya dibuka di dalam bulan Ramadhan sahaja. Bayaran masuk ke Topkapi Palace adalah sebanyak YTL10 dan untuk memasuki Topkapi Harem, dikenakan bayaran tambahan sebanyak YTL10. Selepas letih berjalan selama beberapa jam, aku mengambil kesempatan berehat di taman di Courtyard 1 yang mempunyai rumput dan pokok yang menghijau. Tambahan dengan cuaca yang panas, nyaman dapat berehat di kawasan yang redup dan berangin as long as tidak duduk di atas rumputnya sebab memang tidak dibenarkan.

Keesokan paginya bermula dengan lawatan ke Basilica Cistern yang hanya 5 minutes walk from my hotel. Terasa sejuk bila memasuki tempat ini memandangkan ia berada di bawah tanah dan asalnya adalah tempat penyimpanan air. Lawatan di sini mengambil masa kurang dari 30 minit tetapi bayaran masuknya YTL10 which to me a bit pricy considering that there is not much to see except 2 medusa heads which formed the bases of 2 columns in here. Selepas itu aku berjalan mengikuti laluan tramway, berhenti sekejap di Sirkeci Railway Station, recce tempat di mana performance whirling dervishes diadakan dan seterusnya ke Eminonu a few minutes away, berdekatan dengan Galata Bridge yang menghubungkan bahagian Europe dan Asia of Turkey. Di sini aku melawat Eminonu Yeni Camii (Masjid Eminonu) yang mempunyai rekabentuk yang seakan-akan Masjid Biru tetapi lebih kecil saiznya. Di hadapan masjid ini ada banyak burung merpati and one can feed the pigeons here. Bimbang juga kalau-kalau terkena najis burung.

Di sebelah masjid ini ialah Egyptian Bazaar yang menjual barangan keperluan harian, rempah-ratus, household items and utensils, pakaian, Pashmina shawls dan scarves, pokok bunga, jewelleries, barangan seramik dan macam-macam lagi. Di sini aku terjumpa sebuah kedai yang menjual scarves yang cantik-cantik dengan harga yang berpatutan. Memang sejak tiba di sini, aku notice scarves yang dipakai oleh wanita Turki memang cantik-cantik coraknya.On the way pulang ke Sultanahmet, aku menyusuri lorong-lorong di sini dan melawat beberapa mouselum beberapa Sultan serta kaum kerabat mereka dan tokoh sejarah Turki. Memang banyak sampai tak terlawat tetapi aku sempat menghadiahkan Al-Fatihah di beberapa tempat yang aku singgah.

Kaki pun dah lenguh berjalan sepanjang hari, jadi aku pun ke Sultanahmet Park yang terletak di antara Masjid Biru dan Ayasofya untuk berehat sekejap dan grabbed dinner. Dalam perjalanan ke sini, sekali lagi aku dihampiri oleh lelaki Turki who introduced himself as Metin. Dia walked with me sampai ke Sultanahmet Park. Actually, bagus juga dia ada sebab tolong aku snapped pics dan cerita sedikit sebanyak tentang budaya masyarakat tempatan. Disebabkan hari tersebut hari minggu, memang ramai warga Istanbul beristirehat dan menghabiskan hari minggu mereka di sini.

Semasa sedang duduk watching the visitors at the park, ternampak a few boys in costumes with their parents. Metin memberitahu aku yang kanak-kanak ni pergi upacara bersunat and for this occasion, they are dressed up in costumes of a king or commander. Memang adorable tengok a bunch of them all in costumes. Aku juga diberitahu, either on Saturday or Sunday evening around 6.30 pm ada performance pancaragam di sini tetapi aku tak berpeluang menyaksikannya because I had to check out of my hotel and leave Istanbul for Selcuk that evening. So, that night I spent 12 hours in the bus making my way to my next destination. It was an interesting bus ride but I am saving it for my next entry.

Next entry - Pamukkale, Ephesus, Cappadocia

I Am OK!

2007-08-20T13:28:00.000+08:00

Hari ini genap seminggu aku pulang dari percutian selama lebih seminggu ke Turki. Entry mengenai Turki is still Work In Progress. Sejak pulang ke tempat kerja last Wednesday, banyak yang kena catch up including hundreds of e-mails yang masih belum dibaca. Nak sahaja delete all the e-mails in my inbox whilst I was away. Luckily internal audit scheduled today tidak jadi. Sia-sia sahaja aku kerja di office sehari suntuk on Sunday just to make sure all documents are in order for the audit. Lagipun, I am still sorting out my Turkey pics, all over 600 of them and selecting yang mana sesuai untuk tatapan umum of all ages.

The first question asked by my colleagues when I returned to work - "how's your trip?". I must say it was wonderful. I am glad I went for this trip alone. Other than meeting a lot of people be it locals or travelers from other parts of the world, I had all the time to myself to sort out my thoughts and feelings about someting that has been bothering me. I may not be able to erase it from my mind or life but I have accepted the reality that this is what it meant to be. Hope things will get better, if it doesn't, I know I am still going to be ok.

Menghapus Jejakmu - Peterpan

Ku terus melangkah melupakanmu
Lelah hati perhatikan sikapmu
Jalan pikiranmu buatku ragu
Tak mungkin ini tetap bertahan

Belahan mimpi terasa mengganggu
Ku coba untuk terus menjauh
Belahan hati ku terbelenggu
Ku coba untuk lanjutkan hidup

Engkau bukanlah segala ku
Bukan tempat tuk hentikan langkahku
Usai sudah semua berlalu
Biar hujan menghapus jejakmu

Lepaskan segalanya
Lepaskan segalanya

Turkey! Here I Come!

2007-08-03T14:39:00.000+08:00

Aku sekarang ni di Dubai, transit for 9-hours before continuing my journey to Istanbul. Dapat jugak aku mandi, bersihkan diri dan tukar pakaian sebab aku terus ke KLIA dari ofis. So, kira sehari suntuklah tak mandi, tapi takde bau occay. Sebelum ke KL Sentral, sempat lagi pergi hantar 3 kain ke tailor di SS2, PJ untuk dibuat baju hari raya. Kalau aku hantar lepas aku balik dari Istanbul, takut dah lambat dan tailor tu tak nak terima pulak. Semalam juga, on the way ke tailor which was already late evening, aku terima panggilan telefon dari sebuah oil & gas company yang namanya dan logonya adalah dot.dot.dot.dot.dot. about a job opportunity. Menarik juga position tu tapi aku minta pemanggil itu e-mail job description for me to read and consider whether aku nak pursue or not. Di KLIA, aku terpaksa buang Kaya yang dipesan oleh Liza because of the new regulation about hand-carrying liquid items. Ingatkan aku boleh check out my backpack kat Dubai Airport tapi aku tak dibenarkan berbuat demikian after checked-in kat KLIA. So, kempunanlah agaknya Liza nak makan Kaya, hanya roti Gardenia Jumbo size aje yang aku boleh bawa untuk dia.

Back to my Istanbul trip, petang ni pukul 2.30 p.m. (6.30 p.m Malaysian time) aku sambung 4 hours flight ke Istanbul. Aku akan berada di Turki selama 8 hari. Rancangan aku bukan sahaja restricted di Istanbul sahaja tapi I also plan to spend a few days outside of Istanbul covering Ephesus, City of Aphrodite dan Pamukkale by bus. Hopefully, menjadilah...Trip aku kali ini lain dari yang sebelumnya sebab for the first time, aku mengembara berseorangan unlike my previous trips ditemani oleh keluarga dan rakan-rakan. Keputusan aku untuk ke Istanbul 5 months ago pun memang spontaneous and bila MATTA Fair aje, aku terus book my flight tickets without telling anybody. Bila fikirkan balik, sometimes I suprise myself by my own actions tapi semakin dekat trip ni, I realize maybe being alone in an unfamiliar place surrounded with strangers is what I need to do right now especially after something happened recently yang membuatkan aku meragui kejujuran dan keikhlasan seseorang. Most importantly, maybe I'll discover more about myself, finding courage and overcoming fear to do things I thought I could and will never do.It's a bit thrilling actually and maybe after this I will look back and can proudly say hey! I have done that, been there etc... It may not be a big deal to some people but it is to me.

Dalam hati ada juga rasa bersalah kerana tidak berterus-terang kepada Mak hingga saat ini bahawa aku akan mengembara tanpa ditemani oleh sesiapapun. Semasa di KL Sentral menunggu ERL, aku called Mak again. Bila dia tanya pergi dengan siapa especially dia terdengar ada suara di belakang, dia ingat aku pergi dengan rakan-rakan. Aku tidak menidakkan atau mengiyakannya but quickly changed the subject. Bukan niat aku untuk menyembunyikannya daripada Mak tapi aku tidak mahu dia bimbang. Selama ini pun kalau aku travel dengan rakan-rakan pun dia melahirkan kebimbangan, apatah lagi kalau dia tahu aku akan berseorangan. I just told my siblings and told them not to tell Mak. Harap-harap Mak tidak akan berkecil hati dengan aku dan maafkan aku bila dia tahu perkara sebenarnya.

I hope just like my previous trips, I will learn a thing or two from this trip, not only about the places I am visiting, the people I will be seeing etc but also about myself . If things go well, selamat perjalananku pergi dan balik, insyaallah, adalah entry about Turkey ni nanti.

Magical Fun Day

2007-07-22T21:01:00.000+08:00

Last Saturday, the event that took more than 3 months of planning and prepration was finally executed. It's the largest event for my company's Sports & Social Club headed by yours truly since it involved not only our employees but their family members as well. This kind of event is commonly known as Family Day but as not to offend our single employees, we decided to name it Magical Fun Day instead. Our event took up the entire LG Floor of Cineleisure, Mutiara Damansara to accomodate nearly 600 people.

Loads of fun-filled activities and entertainment were made available for adults and kids from Walk Hunt, game stalls, petting zoo and stage games with over 200 prizes given away on that day. Celebrity MC on that day, Naz of My Australian Advanture tv program did a great job coordinating the stage games and the crowd entertained but what I noticed the most was his peculiar laugh. I am already considering him as MC for our Annual Dinner & Dance in November.

All photos are by Roland Hashim

The finale of the day was watching movies Harry Potter and Surf's Up where 3 cinema halls was reserved for this. I am never a fan of Harry Potter, the book series what more the movies, so I opted to take a nap during the remaining one and half hour of the movie. After the movie ended, we revealed the last surprise to the employees and their families. We had placed lucky draw envelopes under the movie seats and I remembered the suprise look on their faces when we asked them to remain in their seats at the end of the movie and check for an envelope under their seats. It was absolutely thrilling.....

I am relief this is over after sleepless nights worrying about the event. But I am thankful for the support and commitment given by my committee members in making realizing this event. Although there were some issues cropped up at the last minute especially from the Cineleisure Management who decided to impose some ridiculous restrictions and requests at the last minute at our expense, we managed to iron it out. Although this is over, I am now already working on the project timeline for our next event, Motor Hunt which is about a month away. Since I will be on leave for more than a week next month, got to leave some 'amanat' to my committee members to do the follow ups. We have unofficially informed the employees about this upcominng event and they are excited about it. Hopefully this one will be another success for our Sports & Social Club.

IT Humor

2007-07-13T14:40:00.000+08:00

A Noble Cause

2007-07-11T22:30:00.000+08:00

I got to know some time last week I have been tagged. Alamak....not again! But when I saw the purpose of this tag is for a noble charitable cause, I decided to do my bit - the least I could do. This project is the brainchild of Blogger Idham where he will donate RM127 to Darul Izzah Orphanage, Bangi on behalf of every person who completes this meme no later than August 26.

The Rule

If you are tagged, you need to write an entry related to the meme. At the end of the entry, you just need to tag as many person as you like. You will then leave a comment in their blog to let them know they have been tagged. And to include this message, "By doing this meme you are contributing RM127 to the Darul Izzah Orphanage". Then please copy and paste this rule somewhere in your entry.

The meme is about completing at least 17 out of the following 27 sentences.....

1. A person is only as good as SHE OR HE GETS

2. Friendship is always UNCONDITIONAL ONLY WHEN IT STARTS WITH SINCERETY AT HEART

3. To love is TO ACCEPT SOMEONE WITH HIS OR HER IMPERFECTIONS

4. Money makes me WORK HARD BECAUSE "SEE #19"

5. I miss MY LATE ABAH AND ONYANG

6. My way of saying I care is by BEING THERE DURING GOOD AND ESPECIALLY BAD TIMES

7. I try to spread love and happiness by LOVING AND HAPPY WITH MYSELF FIRST

8. Pick the flowers when IT IS FOR A GOOD REASON

9. To love someone is to SHOW IT MORE THAN JUST SAYING THE 3 WORDS

10. Beauty is IN EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING, JUST FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES

11. When I was 13, what I remember the most - INAPPROPRIATE TO TELL BUT IT WAS A SIGNIFICANT MILESTONE IN MY LIFE

12. When I was 21, I remember RECEVING MY FIRTS MARRIAGE PROPOSAL

13. I am most happy when THINGS GO MY WAY

14. Nothing makes me happier than KNOWING THAT I HAVE CONTRIBUTED OR PART OF SOMETHING GOOD

15. If I can change one thing, I will not change NOT ONE SINGLE THING

16. If smiles were AS CONTAGIOUS AS LAUGHTER, then I WILL SPREAD IT LIKE WILDFIRE

17. Wouldn't it be nice if we could BE LESS JUGDEMENTAL OF OTHERS DIFFERENT FROM US

18. If you want to have INNER PEACE, then STOP FRETTING ON SMALL STUFFS

19. Money is not everything but EVERYTHING NEEDS MONEY

20. The most touching moment I have experienced was WHEN MY LOVED ONES ABANDONED THEIR PLANS AND WHATEVER THEY WERE DOING TO BE WITH ME AT THE HOSPITAL AND I WAS THERE MERELY FOR A MEDICAL CHECK UP AFTER A CAR ACCIDENT

21. I smile when MY HEART SMILES

22. When I am happy, I SUGGEST YOU TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ME

23. If only I don't have to BE ACCOUNTABLE FOR MY OWN ACTION, then SOMEONE ELSE WILL BE IN DEEP TROUBLE.

24. The best thing I did yesterday was LENDING MY EARS TO SOME FRIENDS AND LISTENING TO THEIR PROBLEMS

25. If I ever write a book, I will give it this title, "DAMSEL NOT IN DISTRESS"

26. One thing I must do before I die is to live EACH DAY AS IF IT WERE MY LAST

27. Doing this meme, I feel like "SEE #14"

To keep the ball rolling, I am selecting the following bloggers to do their bit of "Tagged For Charity". So folks, the ball is now in your court:-

1. Bila Pena Menari

2. Scusi! Sono Smaritto

3. Shahril Aley

The Week That Was

2007-07-01T23:39:00.000+08:00

Khamis lalu aku ke Rebung sekali lagi tetapi, bukan untuk 'mengintai' si Abang Astronaut tetapi untuk dinner dengan seorang former blogger, Dirtypap. Ini pun secara kebetulan apabila aku menghantar sms kepadanya minggu sebelumnya untuk bertanya khabar after he decided to put his blog "Perjalanan Hidup" to rest dan memberitahu aku dia berada di Johor pada waktu itu dan akan ke KL a few days later for a seminar. So, we agreed to meet and this time, I invited Xis, Bila Pena Menari to join us menjadikan dia blogger yang kedua bertemu dengan Dirtypap in flesh selepas yours truly. From my office building, where headed to Rebung in Xis's car. Instead of buffet dinner, this time I opted for ala carte Nasi Goreng Kampung (spicy one) sementara Xis dan Dirtypap ordered Nasi Goreng Special Rebung. Pilihan ala carte sememangnya tak banyak tetapi yang menarik di sini nama-nama air minumannya memang unik, Janda Pulang, Mayang Sari and a few more tetapi aku dan Xis chose Syrup Sarbat with cinnamon whilst Pap settled with a more common drink, Iced Lemon Tea. Geram juga aku dengan mereka berdua ni tak adventurous mencuba buffet dinner. Yang seorang berdiet dan seorang lagi memang jenis tak makan banyak. Haiyoooo....Both of them skipped desert but I had pengat pisang. Memang dah lama nak makan pengat pisang but everytime datang ke sini, pengat lain yang ada. It was a lucky night for Xis as Rebung played Kak Pah's songs that night although in between adalah suara-suara sumbang dari guests yang menyanyi karaoke till at a point we literally covered our ears...pitching lari ler....

Soalan cepumas yang ditanya kepada Pap of courselah kenapa dia decided to put blog 'Perjalanan Hidup'nya to rest. Alasannya tiada apa yang nak diceritakan. Xis dan aku 'lectured' Pap kalau ya pun takkan sampai delete, at least change permission setting tu just in case tiba-tiba terasa nak sambung aktiviti blogging. Sayang effort yang dah dibuat menulis dan merias blog tu. Anyhow, rice dah jadi porridge, nak buat camna. Jenuh bersembang dan berbual dari satu topik ke satu topik, tak sedar waktu berlalu hingga hampir 12 malam. Cashier pun dah datang minta bayaran sebab nak tutup buku dan start serve nasi lemak panas (Pada hari Khamis hingga Sabtu dari pukul 11 p.m. hingga 2 a.m., di Rebung, nasi lemak panas dan teh tarik available at hawker's price - promote ler ni). We dropped by at KL Sentral for Pap to pick up his bags and after Xis sent us back to my car parked near the office, aku menghantar Pap ke condo rakannya di Vista Angkasa. I felt sorry for Pap juga sebab perancangannya untuk menyambung Masters di UM dan move back to KL tidak kesampaian. Mungkin khidmat murninya masih diperlukan oleh penduduk Labuan....sabar dan tawakal aje Pap. Ada hikmah di sebaliknya.....

On Saturday night, aku menghadiri wedding adik colleague aku di Brickfields. Another Indian wedding tetapi kali ini tiada wedding rituals, hanya wedding reception sahaja. Mula-mula tu bercadang nak pakai sari yang dihadiahkan oleh seorang rakan dari Chennai tetapi tak sempat pula nak menghantar sari itu untuk dijahit. Last-last pakai sahaja dress dan kebaya dari Thai silk yang sudah lama terperap dalam wardrobe. Nasib baik muat lagi though I have put on a couple of kilos. My colleagues and I car pooled from our office and arrived at the wedding venue, a hall in the compound of Buddhist Temple about 9 pm. Bila kami sampai sahaja, terasa overdressed pula sebab ramai juga guests yang dressed so casually in jeans and T-shirts especially Cha Ya Nun Alif. Isykh...macam tak hormat the host aje those yang do not bother to dress appropriately ke majlis orang. Anyways, selepas makan nasi beriyani yang sememangnya sedap walaupun aku hanya jamah sedikit sebab dah had dinner earlier, kami beredar dalam pukul 10 pm. On the way balik, ada pula yang suggest singgah di mamak for teh tarik. Hilang akal agaknya diorang ni pergi ke mamak in those attire!

On Sunday pula, around 10 am aku dah ke The Curve mencari buah tangan untuk housewarming a friend di Cheras. Dah terlalu lama tak bersua muka dengan rakan aku ni, hanya occasional phone calls dan e-mails sahaja menjadi penghubung. So, when I received an e-mail invitation from her to a housewarming at her newly built house, aku luangkan masa untuk hadir walaupun aku sebenarnya memang tak tahu jalan ke Cheras. So there I was making my way to Cheras based on the direction she gave, main bulldozed aje. I finally arrived at a 3-storey bungalow house, the one and only there and gave her a call just to make sure I was at the right house. Alhamdulillah, begitu murah rezeki dia sekeluarga, dari duduk di apartment, sudah mampu membina rumah bungalow. After a tour of the bungalow dan menjamah makanan yang sedap, siap ada sambal tempoyak yang dibuat oleh ibu mentua kawan aku ini, aku meminta diri untuk temujanji with Hazura di Dome, Subang Parade. We had casual chat over drinks about the latest updates and gossips continued with dinner at Gazebo. We all jumpa agak often juga tapi still masih banyak yang nak dicerita-ceriti. It was already almost 9 pm by the time we knocked off for the day.

It has been an eventful week with too much excitement tetapi tidak sunyi dari dugaan dan kesedihan. Tomorrow is the start of another working week.....God knows what's in store for me....

No Ordinary Luncheon

2007-06-26T23:33:00.000+08:00

Sememangnya kadang-kala aku dan rakan sekerja yang lain membuat perancangan makan tengahari in advance terutama sekali sekiranya tempatnya special sedikit dari kebiasaan. Pada hari ini venuenya adalah di Restoran Rebung yang terletak di Lorong Maarof, Bangsar kurang 15 minit dari our office. Restoran Rebung ini dimiliki oleh celebrity chef, Chef Ismail dan Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor (the latter name rings any bell?). Malaysia's first astronaut lor and recently listed as salah seorang daripada 30 lelaki yang digilai dalam majalah Wanita bulan Jun 2007). At RM28 for buffet lunch, harga memang berpatutan considering the wide buffet spread from gulai-gulai masakan kampung to the Malay traditional kuih-muih.

Kami berenam adalah pelanggan yang pertama pada hari itu dan yang paling mengejutkan bukan kerana personally disambut oleh the ever bubbly Chef Ismail himself tetapi siap dengan paluan gendang dan loceng oleh beliau. Sudah beberapa kali aku ke sini sebelum ini, tak pernah pula disambut sebegitu walaupun sudah beberapa kali berjumpa dengan Chef Ismail. Selepas kami mengambil makanan, Chef joined us at our table and had his lunch. Apalagi riuh meja kami dengan Chef yang sememangnya peramah, ditambah pula kami yang asyik melayan. Dalam bergurau-senda gelak ketawa tu, Chef sempat berkongsi perancangannya untuk restoran tersebut termasuk membuat cultural show with kampong style set up. Sepanjang kami menjamu selera, kami dihiburkan dengan dendangan lagu-lagu Kak Pah membuatkan aku teringat kepada seorang rakan yang amat meminati beliau. Kalaulah dia ada di sini, mesti dia enjoy the food and ambience sambil dihiburkan oleh penyanyi pujaannya.

We also unexpectedly berpeluang bertemu dengan Sheikh Muszaphar yang pulang bercuti for 3 weeks. Aku hampir-hampir tak mengenalinya sebab the last time I saw him at Rebung was before he started his training and he was much much fairer and berisi sedikit. Now a little darker and thinner maybe because of all the training. Selepas kami habis makan, he came and sat at our table dan peluang tidak dilepaskan untuk bergambar dengannya. There we were squeezing into the 3-seater sofa which was absolutely fine with us ladies (*grinning*). Sempat juga aku bertanya perkembangan terbaru and wished him all the best.

Pulang ke pejabat, kami berkongsi cerita dengan a few colleagues tentang our encounter with Sheikh Muszaphar. Kebetulan pula salah seorang daripada rakan wanita aku was admiring him in the Wanita magazine the day before. She could only looked at us with her mouth opened and "green with envy’.

Anyway, I will be going to Rebung again in a couple of days to meet some bloggers but that will be another story……….

Cuti D'Langkawi

2007-06-13T06:49:00.000+08:00

Destinasi percutian keluarga aku kali ini adalah ke pulau lagenda, Langkawi. Kami sekeluarga seramai 9 orang ke Langkawi menaiki pesawat Airasia dan tempat penginapan yang dipilih ialah Mutiara Burau Bay Beach Resort yang terletak lebih kurang 15 minit dari Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Langkawi. Walaupun terpaksa menunggu sehingga lebih 30 minit semasa check-in, itu semua berbaloi apabila melihat pemandangan pantai dan laut yang mengasyikkan dari beranda Burau Suite dua bilik sementara dua adik lelaki aku pula menginap di cabana dengan katil berkembar yang terletak bersebelahan.

Walaupun ini adalah kali pertama aku menjejaki kaki ke Langkawi, aku tidak membuat perancangan untuk menerokai seluruh pulau. Tujuan aku ke sini lebih untuk merehatkan minda dan badan tanpa memikirkan soal kerja di samping meluangkan masa bersama ahli keluarga. Pada hari ketibaan, kami meluangkan masa berehat di cabana sambil melayan anak-anak buah aku berendam di dalam jacuzzi tab di beranda cabana dan bersantai di tepi pantai hingga lewat petang. Pada hari kedua selepas mandi laut di waktu pagi, baru kami ke beberapa tempat menarik di Langkawi menaiki kereta yang kami sewa dengan kadar RM100 sehari untuk 2 buah kereta Wira. Kadar ini jauh lebih murah dari kadar yang dipamerkan di lapangan terbang.

Tempat menarik yang dilawati ialah Langkawi Oriental Village di mana terletaknya Kereta Kabel dan Curved Suspension Bridge, lebih kurang 10 minit dari resort. Pemandangan sepanjang perjalanan ke atas menaiki kereta kabel memang menyejukkan mata dengan kehijauan hutan dara Hutan Simpanan Gunung Machincang, Air Terjun Telaga Tujuh dan sayup mata memandang, gunug-ganang, pantai serta pulau-pulau yang mengeliling Langkawi. Apabila melihat ke bawah, ngeri membayangkan bagaimana kalau kereta kabel yang kami naiki ini jatuh ke dalam hutan di bawah. Kebetulan pula kakak aku, Kema sebut pula mengenai peristiwa kemalangan di sebuah negara jiran di mana sebuah kereta kabel jatuh. Memang tak sayang mulut betul kakak aku ni!

Sewaktu kami menghampiri hentian pertama, aku terpegun melihat Curved Suspension Bridge yang merentangi banjaran Gunung Machincang. Seperti Gunung Machincang yang mistik, jambatan tersebut bagi aku seperti suatu ilusi dan fantasi yang mengingatkan aku akan filem Lord Of The Rings. Salah satu perkara menarik tentang jambatan ini adalah seluruh strukturnya disokong oleh sebuah menara tinggi yang ditanam jauh di bawah antara lembah gunung ini. Aku kagum bukan sahaja kerana jambatan ini dibina pada paras ketinggian hampir 700 meter tetapi juga bagaimana bahan-bahan binaannya dibawa ke ketinggian tersebut memandangkan tiada jalan dari kaki gunung sehingga ke puncak. Sebaik sahaja tiba di Hentian Ke-2, kami merintis jalan denai bertangga menuruni ke jambatan tersebut. Semasa berdiri dan meniti laluan ke hujung jambatan, terasa jambatan tersebut berbuai-buai walaupun angin bertiup lembut. Aku tidak berani melihat ke bawah tetapi sekadar menikmati pemandangan indah di sekitar. Terasa seperti di awang-awangan pula.

Pada hari ke-3, pada sebelah pagi kami ke Padang Matsirat di mana terletaknya kawasan Beras Terbakar. Di kiri kanan jalan menuju ke kawasan ini, penuh dengan deretan kedai menjual pakaian, barangan handikraf, cenderahati dan ubat-ubatan terutama yang diperbuat dari gamat. Kawasan beras terbakar ini hanyalah sebuah kawasan kecil yang dipagari. Puas juga menguis tanah dari tepi pagar mencari beras terbakar tetapi hampa. Yang ada hanyalah beras terbakar di dalam botol yang dipamerkan di hadapan kawasan tersebut. Aku tidak lama di sini dan langsung menuju ke Kota Mahsuri sementara kembar aku sekeluarga membeli-belah di kedai-kedai tersebut.

Selain daripada terdapat makam dan perigi Mahsuri, tempat Mahsuri dikatakan dikebumikan ini telah dibangunkan menjadi sebuah kompleks yang agar luas dengan replika rumah-rumah tradisional Melayu, mini muzium yang mempamerkan barangan artifak berkaitan cerita Mahsuri di samping kedai-kedai menjual cenderahati. Terdapat juga pohon kekabu yang lebat berdekatan dengan makam dan beberapa ekor burung di dalam sangkar. Aku sempat juga meminta seorang pelukis melakarkan potret aku di sini pada harga yang agak berpatutan. Kami langsung ke Pekan Kuah untuk makan tengahari dan membeli-belah di kedai-kedai bebas cukai di sini. Aku hanya membeli fridge magnet Langkawi sebagai kenangan dan coklat untuk dibawa pulang. Aku tidak lama di sini kerana bagi aku tiada barang-barang yang menarik hati aku untuk dibeli walaupun kulihat berpusu-pusu orang memborong pelbagai jenis barang terutamanya pinggan mangkuk. Kembar aku terus sakan membeli-belah sehingga malam baru pulang ke resort sedangkan aku awal-awal lagi sudah pulang. Pada keesokan harinya sebelum pulang ke KL pada sebelah petang pun dia sempat menyambung aktiviti membeli-belahnya di Padang Matsirat sehingga anak buah aku, Ashin merungut tidak akan mengikut Mamanya membeli-belah lagi.

Di Langkawi juga aku terserempak dengan beberapa orang yang aku kenali. Semasa membeli tiket untuk menaiki kereta kabel, aku terjumpa dengan Khairil sekeluarga yang merupakan ahli rombongan semasa percutian aku ke Kaherah pada akhir tahun lalu. Lalu berlakulah adegan jejak kasih kerana sejak percutian tersebut, kami tidak lagi berjumpa. Aku juga terserempak dengan seorang mamat yang aku kenali di kedai Sony Style, Subang Parade semasa aku sedang membelek kamera digital di situ. Dia yang menyarankan aku membeli kamera digital jenama Sony berbanding dengan Canon dan Nikon, antara jenama lain yang dalam pertimbangan aku. Aku terima saranan beliau lalu membeli kamera digital Sony Cybershot T20 berwarna merah jambu. Sememangnya aku berpuas hati dengan ciri-ciri kamera tersebut dan hasil gambarnya. Kebetulan yang lebih mengejutkan ialah, mamat ni atau namanya Ouch tinggal di cabana bersebelahan dengan cabana aku. Peliknya kami tidak pernah bertembung di resort. Jemputan untuk makan malam darinya di cafe resort pada malam itu terpaksa aku tolak kerana pada waktu itu aku dalam perjalanan bersama keluarga untuk makan malam dan malam itu adalah malam terakhir aku di Langkawi. Memang kecil dunia ini.......

Walaupun ini adalah kali pertama aku menjejaki kaki ke Langkawi, tetapi pastinya bukanlah kali terakhir. Aku berhasrat untuk pulang ke pulau lagenda ini untuk melawat tempat-tempat lain yang menarik.....insyaallah....

Inspirational Quotes

2007-05-31T03:59:00.000+08:00

Kebaya Day

2007-05-26T16:43:00.000+08:00

Kehadapan sahabat kami yang dikasihi dan diingati selalu

Gadis ayu jalan berlenggang
Sungguh manis memakai kebaya
E-mail ini untuk mengundang
Ke jamuan kami di kafetaria

Bukan gunting dalam lipatan
Sekadar memberi peringatan
Bukan majlis besar-besaran
Sekadar ringkas kecil-kecilan

Sungguh harum bunga hiasan
Harum lagi bau kasturi
Jangan lupa jika kelapangan
Jumpa di sana jam 12 tengahari

Yang mengundang
Elis, Nurul & Roza

Finalists Ratu Kebaya (boleh?)

Pantun di atas adalah hasil nukilan kreatif rakan sekerja aku, Roza Lawa sebagai undangan eksklusif kepada rakan-rakan sekerja untuk hadir ke majlis makan-makan yang diadakan pada Jumaat lepas bertempat di 'Sky Garden' my office. Segalanya bermula dengan satu pakatan dengan beberapa rakan sekerja untuk memakai our best kebaya on a Friday. Plan ni dah beberapa kali tertunda kerana ada yang kata nak kuruskan badan supaya boleh fit into their kebayas dan ada pula yang hendak menempah kebaya baru. Kebaya pink yang aku sarungkan tu dibuat untuk Aidilfitri tahun lalu.

As the D-Day approached and excitement built up, timbul pula rancangan untuk mengadakan a small party over lunch to celebrate a few occasions, personal and work-related. Menu asal pada mulanya hanyalah pulut kuning beserta rendang tetapi apabila at the last minute we decided to invite a few other colleagues, a few more dishes were added including fried meehoon yang ditempah dari food court, chocolate muffin yang dibuat oleh Roza dan cupcakes yang aku tempah dari a fellow blogger, P-nut siap dengan names of a few of our colleagues on the cupcakes. Nasib baik Pnut dapat buat on short notice dan dapat personally deliver the cupcakes to my office.

Ocean 11
(Not in the pic - Shearnilicious, the photographer)

Pada hari tersebut, kami yang all dressed up in our kebayas awal-awal pagi sudah ditegur oleh other colleagues yang curious mengapa a bunch of us memakai kebaya. Tambahan pula dua rakan, Joyce dan Roza sememangnya tidak pernah memakai kebaya di ofis. Tepat jam 12 tengahari, we set up the table at the 'Sky Garden'. 'Sky Garden' ni is an open air area at 24th floor of our office building with a spectacular view of KL city skyscrapers and the view gets better at night. Memang sesuai untuk majlis seperti ini. All our invitees started to come a little after 12 walau ada yang sedikit kelewatan disebabkan kerja dan meeting termasuklah my lady boss yang sememangnya sporting dan turut memakai kebaya at my request. Kesempatan get-to-gether seperti inilah we talked about other than work dan memandangkan inilah member-member office yang 'sekepala', majlis makan memang meriah dengan usik-mengusik, bergurau-senda dan gelak ketawa.

From left (clockwise) : Elis Cun, Roza Lawa, Syamsul, Adeline+Jonaes,
Adeline, Elis Cun+Anne, Jonaes, Yat, Lin, Joyce, Rozita

Majlis ended when the lunch hour ended but some of us were still hype from the excitement continued to pose and snapped pics in the office. So vain, kan? Anyways, we the hostesses were so glad that everybody had fun. We received thank you notes from our friends for organizing this event.Aku rasa walaupun sesibuk mana atau sestress mana pun bekerja, such little little things yang dibuat to create a little fun and excitement at work boleh membuatkan tempat bekerja a fun place to be. All work and no play, makes Jack or Jill a dull boy or girl.

From left : Jonaes, Anne, Roza Lawa, Shearnilicious

Definitely this will not be the last but the beginning of more to come. We are determined to do this more often and are already planning to have the next one in July. Hopefully it will materialize, insyaallah....

Soal Hati

2007-05-05T23:45:00.000+08:00

Sebelum ini aku tidak pernah endah untuk mengambil tahu siapa gerangannya. Tambahan pula kesibukan kerja sudah cukup to keep my mind occupied daripada memikirkan hal ini. Namun baru-baru ini a remark made by a friend sewaktu kami bersama, walaupun berkias sudah cukup membuatkan aku tergamam. Dia kulihat terpaku dengan muka yang merah padam sebelum dengan pantas meminta diri dan berlalu.

Sejak itu dia mengelak dari bertemu atau melarikan pandangannya bila bertembung, seakan malu . Mungkin dia sudah dapat mengagak isi hatinya yang sekian lamanya terpendam bukan lagi rahsia padaku. Pada mulanya aku fikir perubahan sikapnya mungkin imaginasi aku tetapi seorang rakan turut merasakan perubahan pada dirinya, lebih banyak berdiam dan menjauhkan diri.

Separuh daripada aku berharap dia terus berdiam diri daripada menyatakan isi hatinya kerana jawapanku bakal mengecewakannya. Tetapi jikalau dia memberanikan diri bersemuka denganku, aku harus berterus terang dan menolaknya dengan baik. Mungkin itu lebih baik agar dia berhenti berharap dan tidak terus dilambung angan.

Sememangnya tiada cacat-celanya dia di pandangan mata, tapi sudah puas hati diselami jika dia boleh kuterima lebih dari seorang teman. Namun tiada sekelumit pun rasa tertarik apatah lagi cinta kepadanya melainkan hanya sebagai teman biasa. Angkuhkah aku atau cerewet memilih? Tidak sekali. Ini soal hati. Memang sukar diduga dan dipaksa. Mungkin benar walaupun seseorang itu memiliki ciri-ciri dan budi pekerti yang diidamkan dalam pasangan, tetapi kalau tiada chemistry hati tidak akan terpaut juga walau sesempurna manapun si dia.

Either way, aku harus bersedia menghadapai kemungkinan reaksi dari dia. Aku masih mahu dan boleh meneruskan persahabatan tetapi jika itu sukar baginya untuk menerima, aku redha.

Semoga Kau Mengerti By Gya Anandini

Breakaway

2007-03-27T16:27:00.000+08:00

I was absolutely thrilled when my flight ticket to my next holiday destination which I booked at the recent MATTA Fair arrived today. Another dream holiday came true within a short span of time. The last one month has been a hectic month for me having to work long hours till late nights and on weekends and this holiday is something I very much look forward to - away from work and to rejuvenate.

My preference was to look for a free and easy package rather than a tour package. Unfortunately, most of the travel agents offered tour packages with very packed itineraries for a 9-day tour. One thing I learnt from this kind of package is, one will not have the opportunity to enjoy and truly appreciate each places as the tourist guide will hurry you to keep with the time and itinerary. MAS Golden Holiday offered a free and easy package but the travel period was up to May 31 and it’s way too soon for me.

After collecting and reading a whole lot of travel flyers and brochures, I stopped at several booths to enquire further about airfare and flight availability to this destination. I was a bit panicky when a few travel agents told me that there was no more seat available on the dates or even the month I planned travel. Alamak…and it was only the 2nd day of the MATTA Fair. They told me I should’ve have come the day before. It was quite understandable as April to October is high season as it will be summer there. An agent at one particular booth was very helpful enough to check all airlines to this destination from MAS, Qatar Airways, Emirates and even Uzbekistan Airline, nada.

I was very disappointed but I thought I should just make one more stop and tried my luck at one particular booth offering attractive airfares from Emirates. Probably their quota for low fare seats is still available. I let out a sigh of relieve when the agent told me that there’s available seat in early August. It may be a month later than my original planned date but I decided to grab it. Furthermore, I like traveling in Emirates not only because of their excellent in flight services and good food but also the variety of tv, movie and radio channels to choose from.

So, from August 3 – 11, I will be at City of The World’s Desire marveling at the beauty of Aya Sofya, The Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace and exploring the Grand Bazaar, just to name a few. I will stopover at Dubai for 2 nights before heading home on August 13. This will be my 3rd visit to Dubai and I am planning to take the opportunity to try out skiing at Emirates Mall which I did not do during my last 2 visits. Gee, it’s like I know I’ll be coming back to this part of the world…

Now that my flight ticket has been confirmed, what’s left to do is to make hotel arrangement and planning my itineraries at Istanbul. If any of you fellow bloggers out there have been to Istanbul, Turkey, I would be most grateful if you could share your experience and provide some tips and info to help me plan my holiday. .

Night of Ala Bollywood Wedding

2007-02-25T12:36:00.000+08:00

Yesterday evening I attended an Indian wedding for the very first time. The wedding reception was held at a community hall in Kerinchi. The bride's our colleague of Singh-Chinese parentage. Earlier me and some of my colleagues met at our office building and car-pooled together to the wedding venue. Once we entered the hall, the wedding ritual has already started with the groom sitting under a canopy called mandap set on the stage together with the bride's relative next to him, the priest and close family members close by observing the ceremony. At the centre of the mandap were the sacred fire and other ritual items such as coconut, flower garlands, pots of water, rice among a few, visible from where I was sitting. After the groom left the mandap it was the bride's turn to go through the ceremony with the priest and eventually both bride and groom went through the ceremony together. It was definitely a long wedding ritual and prayers because even after we have finished eating, the ceremony was still going on. Luckily we did not have to wait for the ceremony to end to eat. I was starving as I did not have anything for lunch that day.

The ceremony came to an end when the mangalsutra necklace was put around the bride's neck, the bride and groom exchanged garlands and the family members threw rice and flowers towards the bride and groom. I was in awe observing how symbolistic each ritual was and how even the family members were very much involved and have a very important part in the ceremony. The finale was for the guests to walk up to the mandap where everybody were required to take their shoes off before entering the mandap to congratulate the bride and groom and give them their wedding presents.

Flanked by some of our colleagues who were clad in beautiful sarees

Another interesting obervation was to see some of our colleagues dressed in sarees. It felt like a Bollywood wedding especially with some other guests in their beautiful sarees and mixed of Hindi and Indian songs playing in the background. If only I knew they were planning to wear sarees, I would have joined the bandwagon. So, everybody made a pack to wear sarees in the next Indian wedding which will probably be some time in June.

Background Song : Dil Ne Yeh Kaha Hai Dil Se from Dhadkan

I Have Been Tagged ! For The First Time

2007-02-22T22:23:00.000+08:00

I was first tagged by ShahrilAley like months ago. Honestly, some of the questions were quite tough and got me to think how much do I know myself. Hope I do not have to do this again.

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire :
1 ~ Pay tithe
2 ~ Give some to mum and my siblings
3 ~ Donate to the needy particularly to sekolah pondok
4 ~ Buy a piece of land and build a house in Africa
5 ~ Travel around the world starting with the exotic places

5 bad habits :
1 ~ Keep stuff which I do not actually need anymore thinking I would need them in future. Lama-lama accumulate junks.
2 ~ Not getting enough sleep
3 ~ Work too hard till sometimes misses lunch
4 ~ Often perform solat 2 in 1
5 ~ If I really really do not like someone tahap Gaban, I can't help but let my feelings show. At least, tahu where to draw the line and tak hipokrit bila kena interact.

5 things I hate doing :
1 ~ Folding clothes
2 ~ Reprimanding my niece and nephew
3 ~ The long wait to see a specialist at SJMC even with appointment
4 ~ Doing cardio on walker or stepper
5 ~ Reading manuals on how to assemble or operate things

5 things I'll never do :
1 ~ PMS
2 ~ Smoke or consume alchohol
3 ~ Keep long fingernails
4 ~ Compromise my integrity at any cost
5 ~ Emigrate to another country or give up my citizenship

5 things I regret doing :
I believe in blessing in disguise....no regrets to what I have done, didn't do or experienced in the past.

5 fave toys or thing :
1 ~ A gold ring, gift from someone 10 years ago which I wear till now
2 ~ An antic table fan bought at Jonker Street, Malacca
3 ~ An antic brooch given by late Great Grandma before she passed away
4 ~ My book collection
5 ~ A Bohemian crystal bowl, a gift from a dear friend.

5 people I choose to do this :
I choose not to tag anyone.....consider yourself lucky!

Background Song : Aku Ada Karena Kau Ada by Radja

Tagged By Zeyn

2007-02-22T20:25:00.000+08:00

6 weirdest thing about SPK......here it goes.............

1. SPK does not eat durian but like any true Perakian, she eats tempoyak. Pelik tapi benar. Kalau buat tempoyak ikan masin lagi best especially yang my late great grandma buat!!!!!!!!!!

2. SPK geli kalau makan beansprout yang tak buang ekor. Sanggup menghabiskan masa buang ekor taugeh kalau masak masakan yang ada taugeh kat rumah. Kalau makan dekat restaurant mesti request no taugeh sebab for sure diorang guna taugeh yang tak buang ekor. Kalau ada yang masih bubuh taugeh jugak, will take time to pilih and kumpul all the taugeh tepi pinggan.

3. No matter how slow SPK eats she always end up the first to finish.......Orang lain kunyah ikut sunnah Nabi kut atau memang she's the very gelojoh one?

4. Bila kena berdiri lama, SPK tends to cross her legs. Very comfortable.

5. SPK works with papers all over her desk. Kalau tidak, mesti macam rasa otak tak jalan and tak excited nak kerja but she knows where the documents are between the piles of papers. Tapi end of the day, meja mesti clear punya...

6. Last but not least, the reason she calls herself a Serial Plant Killer - takde pokok yang survive in her hands.

A Fine Sunday

2007-02-13T09:52:00.000+08:00

It has been a hell of a week, working late nights at the office for the last 2 weeks resulting an impulsive act of cutting my hair. Thank God my girlfriends were not there, otherwise they would have stopped me like they did in my past attempts. The initial plan was to stop at Midvalley last Wednesday after work to get some stuff but when I passed A Cut Above, like a robot or zombie, I walked into the salon and told the senior stylist that I wanted to get a haircut to a certain length and I left it to his expertise to advise the style. The end result, love it!

Just when I thought my late nights at the office was finally over, I was told last Friday evening to help prepare a proposal and presentation for a management meeting today. Aaargh....so, there I was spending my weekend at the office for a discussion and completing the presentation. In spite of that, I managed to squeeze in time for family and friends including meeting a fellow blogger for the very first time.

After spending a few hours of my Sunday morning giving the finishing touch to the proposal, I took the Putra LRT from my office to KL Sentral where we initially agreed to meet for lunch at 12.30 p.m. Got there just on time and sent him an sms that I was waiting for him at the information counter. He instead had arrived much earlier and asked to meet at Secret Recipe and looked for one wearing a white shirt. Thank God there were only a few diners at Secret Recipe and I immediately noticed a guy wearing a white shirt at one of the tables. Tak syak lagi, memanglah Dirtypap. As I extended my hand to shake his hand, I was not sure whether I should address him by his moniker but he quickly introduced himself by his real name. He gave me a souvenier specially brought from Labuan, two boxes of chocolates. Rasa segan ada jugak sebab I didn't have anything to give him in return.

Topic of our conversation circled around the normal get-to-know-each-other Q & A especially about him since Dirtypap has been keeping his identity on his blog anonymous. Undeniably, I did imagine how he would be like in person and some does fit the mental picture I had of him in a positive manner but it never crossed my mind that he works as a ........... and he gave me his business card to prove it, not that I did not believe him. Our meeting lasted for an hour as he had to catch a 2 p.m. bus to Genting. It was brief but I think it's a pleasant experience to finally got the chance to meet face-to-face and get to know him better. Hopefully it will not be the last.....

Cairo, Al-Qahirah : The Finale

2007-02-06T07:58:00.000+08:00

I continued to visit a few more equally interesting places on my last day in Cairo. We started the day visiting Saqqara where the Steps Pyramid is situated. Unlike the Pyramids of Giza, the Steps Pyramid or also known as the unfinished pyramid, was made from smaller bricks which over time turned into dust. It's actually quite a huge complex with several temple and wall ruins around the pyramid. Mum and I decided to 'tawaf' around the pyramid where we saw entrance into the pyramid which was unfortunately closed from public due to safety reasons.

Our next stop was a complex consists of Ramses II Museum, Mummification Temple, Hathour Temple among others. It sounded misleading but the complex is actually an open museum with a lot of statues exhibited including several huge statues of Ramses II. Ramses II is one of the famous paharaohs particularly for his long reign and notably famous wife, Queen Nefertiti. We were supposed to visit other areas within the complex but decided to pass as what we will be seeing will be more statues and we had seen enough statues for the day.

We then went to Imam Syafie Mosque which is situated in between residential buildings occupied by locals. We were pre-warned by our guide not to give hand out money to the locals in the area as once you give to one, more will come and ask you for money. I guess that place was not a popular tourist spot as we were the only ones there. Imam Syafie's Mosque is merely a small mosque and the his tomb is situated in the middle of the small praying hall. We peered through the glass and wooden structure housing his tomb and could see a lot of things strewn around the tomb from papers, 'sejadahs' and cash notes. I guess some visitors just went overboard worshipping the late Imam. Another interesting about this mosque at a corner under the old worn-off carpet lies what believed to be Rasulullah s.a.w footprint.

Next, we went to another famous Islamic sites i.e. Sultan Hasan Mosque and Refa'e Mosque, located opposite the Sultan Hasan Mosque separated only by a small passage. I spent more time in Sultan Hasan Mosque admiring the beautiful ancient Islamic architecture. We were privileged that the Imam himself spent time telling us about the mosque and we could sense pride in his voice. He recited outloud the Kursi verses inscripted around the base of the dome attracting the attention of other non-Muslim tourists and 'azan' in the mosque and we could hear the call for prayer echoing in the mosque. Such a soothing feeling...The mosque is also a madrasa shared by all the four mazhabs - Hanafi, Syafie, Hanbali and Maliki with each has a separate courtyard to its own. I spent a brief moment a Refa'e Mosque famous for being the final resting place of the former Shah of Iran which is equally magnificent in its own way.

On the way to Cairo International Airport before leaving for Dubai, we stopped at Anwar Sadat's tomb and site where he was assasinated which is just across the street from his burial place. He was assasinated for signing Egypt's peace treaty with Israel while watching a military parade. His tomb is underneath a pyramid like structure and guarded by 8 - 10 guards dressed in either modern military uniform and the ancient Egyptian attire.

I left Cairo with wonderful memories not only of the places I visited but also the people I met and befriended. It is definitely an interesting and exotic place to visit with the richness of her history, culture and mysterious past.

Background Song : We Maloh By Amr Diab

Cairo, Al-Qahirah : Day Three

2007-01-28T14:17:00.000+08:00

Our first destination on day three was the Egyptian Museum a.k.a Tahrir Museum. Just like many places in Cairo, we had to go through security checks and despite that I managed to smuggled in my camera. Not that I wanted to use it but was concern of losing it. We were given 3 hours to tour the museum but then again I knew the time given would not be enough as the museum consists a huge collection of objects and artifacts. It was impossible to read all the descriptions about the exhibited objects, so I decided the best was to focus on the main artifacts particularly King Tut's golden mask, treasures from his tomb and of course the mummies although I had to pay additional LE100 to enter the Mummies Hall. It was a bit creepy looking at the mummies placed in the glass in the As I expected, we took more than 3 hours touring the museum and before leaving, I left a short note in the guest book at the museum.

Next, we headed to the Paharaoh's Village, a living museum complete with the exact reproduction of houses and temple during the ancient Egypt with actors and actresses performing the daily activities during those time, among others pottering, perfume making, weaving, mummification process and agriculture activities. An English speaking guide took us through the tour which originally was supposed to be on a motorized barges sailing down the canal with these activities being acted out along the canal. Unfortunately, we had to go on foot as the water in the canal was too shallow for the barges. We were then taken to the reproduction of King Tut's tomb where his coffin and treasures were arranged exactly like when the tomb was discovered. Although all these objects were merely replicas but it was amazing to see the exact details that have gone to make it look so much like the ones we saw at the museum.

When we arrived at our next destination, it was already closed to public. It's a holy place to the Christians where in the church courtyard stood Tree of Maryam and Maryam's well. The Christians believe that Virgin Mary sat under the tree with Jesus and quenched their thirst with water from the well. Somehow, our tour guides managed to negotiate with the guardian to allow us in but it was quite dark and we relied on the streetlights to see the tree and the well. There were stone carvings on the wall of Virgin Mary and Jesus and a beautiful statue of Virgin Mary in the compound. We had to be quick to avoid being caught and questioned by the authorities.

Before heading back to the hotel, we stopped at the largest shopping mall not only in Egypt but in Africa as well. The CityStar Shopping Mall looked exactly like any other typical shopping malls and packed with locals particularly the youths. I guess that's the only shopping and entertainment centre available for them to hang out. I was not interested to browse the shops but headed straight to Virgin Records to buy a few more Amr Diab CDs original from the birth country of the singer himself.

Once back at the hotel, at around 11 p.m. all 18 of us including our tour guides gathered in my hotel room to joinly celebrate Kak Rosni's birthday which fell on December 31 and Mom's birthday on January 1. Before the small birthday celebration, we watched photo slideshow of Cairo taken by a member of the tour, Richard complete with background songs. They were indeed beautiful photos. The birthday celebration was a small one with a chocolate cake, some puffs served with tea. Mum had received her birthday present earlier i.e. the fully paid trip to Cairo and I gave mum a hug and wished her a Happy Birthday. There were tears in her eyes. The night ended with a group photo as Liza and 3 of her friends had to leave for Dubai the following morning.

Background Song : Betkhaby Leh by Amr Diab

Cairo, Al Qahirah : Day Two

2007-01-21T19:10:00.000+08:00

Idul Adha fell on the second day I was in Cairo i.e. December 30, a day earlier than Malaysia. Sejak ketibaan aku di sini, kelihatan di sana sini binatang korban either kambing atau lembu dikumpulkan di tepi-tepi jalan atau diangkut dengan lori. Apa yang mengejutkan aku, binatang-binatang korban ini disembelih dan dilapah di tepi-tepi jalan sahaja. Tak sanggup aku nak tengok tapi selambanya kanak-kanak menyaksikannya. A little after 8 a.m. kami dah bertolak ke Malaysia Hall Abbasiah untuk solat sunat Idul Adha. Dalam perjalanan Bob selepas menceritakan sedikit sebanyak mengenai sejarah upacara korban dan erti pengorbanan dalam konteks sekarang, kami diceritakan juga latarbelakang tentang tapak dan bangunan Malaysian Hall. Tanah di mana bangunan Malaysian Hall itu dibina dihadiahkan oleh pemerintah Mesir (tahun berapa tak ingat) kepada penduduk keturunan Melayu dari Thailand, Malaysia dan Indonesia yang telah membantu beliau dalam peperangan sehingga mencapai kemenangan. Bangunan yang dibina di situ asalnya diduduki oleh students Melayu dari ketiga-tiga negara ini sehinggalah Kerajaan Malaysia menyumbangkan sejumlah wang yang besar untuk membaikpulih bangunan ini dalam tahun 1990-an. Sejak itu, bangunan ini dimiliki sepenuhnya oleh Kerajaan Malaysia dan diduduki oleh students Malaysia.

Selepas solat sunat Idul Adha bersama dengan students Malaysia di sini, kami dijemput menjamu selera dengan students yang lain. Walaupun juadah ringkas terdiri daripada mee goreng, nasi lemak dan kuih muih, tiada ketupat, lemang dan rendang, suasana Idul Adha tetap dirasakan. Lagu nasyid dan Hari Raya berkumandang dan ada students dan tetamu lengkap berbaju Melayu beserta dengan samping dan yang wanitanya pulak berbaju kurung. Actually terasa kekok dan segan juga sebab we all bukannya students kat situ and we had had breakfast at the hotel tapi sebab dah dijemput makan dan juadah pun nampak tempting, so we went ahead and digged in.

Lebih kurang pukul 10 a.m., we left Malaysia Hall to witness and set foot on the oldest, yet the only surviving of the seven ancient wonders of the world and the original reason that prompted me to go on this trip. From afar, I could see the Pyramids of Giza which consists of three pyramids of different sizes, Pyramid of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure. My excitement built up as we approached the pyramids and finally stopped in front of the biggest pyramid of the three and the one which is actually called one of the seven ancient wonders of the world, Pyramid of Khufu and not the other two pyramids. As I stood at the base of the pyramid, touched the ancient stone and looked up at the piles of blocks rising to the sky, I find the structure was a bit plain but what was playing in my mind was the picture of how the ancient Egytians then transported the blocks which were at least 5 feet high and stacked them up into this pyramid shape. Of course, these pictures were fed by my readings on the pyramid and Discovery Channel, but still those theories may not be accurate, but logical yet still shrouded with mysteries.

I climbed up the small steps between the blocks towards the entrance into the pyramid but was told by the guard, tourists are allowed to enter only at 1 p.m. and it was too early then. So, after snapping a few shots there, we headed to a plateau to get the panoramic view of the pyramids.Di sini, we got some nice shots of the pyramids in full view in the background. Tapi, di sini juga kena watch out sebab banyak 'periuk api' i.e. najis unta dan kuda. I took the oportunity to ride on a camel for the first time. Nasib baik Liza sounded awal-awal suruh pegang before the camel raised to its feet, if not mesti dah jatuh terjelepuk. Our final stop at the Pyramids of Giza was at the Sphinx. I was a bit suprised because it was not as big as I thought. Hidung Sphinx ni sudah rosak kena bom semasa peperangan.

Next, we headed to The Citadel, famous for Mohamed Ali Mosque and the Sultan Salahuddin Ayubi's Fort. This landmark is visible from any part of Cairo and forms part of its skyline as it is situated at a high ground. When I first saw this landmark from afar, at a glimpse, it resembles the Blue Mosque in Turkey with its great dome and towering twin minarets. I must say as I entered the mosque, pictures what more words do not really do justice to the Mohammed Ali Mosque. To truly appreciate the beauty of the mosque especially the impressive interior one will just have to be there. After marvelling at the beautifully decorated high ceiling in the mosque, snapping as many photos as I can and performed Jamak Takhir in the mosque, we walked out to the open courtyard of the mosque to a spectacular view of the city of Cairo.

Then, we hurried back to the plateau of the Pyramids of Giza to watch the sound and light show. On the way there, we stopped at a fruit juice stall by the roadside where some of us dengan beraninya ordered and drank juices from there despite the stories we heard about drinking from the stalls by the roadside. We arrived there early so that we could get the best seats and indeed we did. With the Sphinx and the pyramids as the backdrop, dazzling lights and images projected on the sphinx and the temple wall, the storyteller narrated stories about ancient Egypt. I was a bit lost in between the storytelling especially with the names of the Pharoahs unfamiliar to me and also distracted by trying to keep warm. Even the three layered thick clothing and a rented blanket were not able to keep me warm. I was shivering especially when the cold wind blew. I practially let out a sigh of relief when the show was over and hurriedly headed to the bus coach and eventually to the hotel.

Background Song : Agheeb By Amr Diab

The Sweetest Thing

2007-01-18T06:21:00.000+08:00

Those who have been waiting in anticipation for my entry on Cairo, Al-Qahirah - Day Two will have to wait for a few more days. I have just finished downloading pictures from my gmail sent by my sister and currently is uploading it to slides. It has also been a hell of a week at the office with multiple deadlines to meet. Bear with me for a few more days.....

Anyhow, this is just a brief and quick entry to thank a fellow blogger, Xis for posting a special entry on his blog sempena my birthday siap dengan a custom-made pic and a lovely poem. I didn't plan to make any entry on my blog on my birthday as it has never been an important and celebrated event for me. Kadang-kadang aku sendiri terlupa sampailah family and friends hantar birthday wishes. Anyhow, a heartfelt thank you to Xis for the sweet thought and kind words. Also, my appreciation to Rush for his thoughtfullness mentioning and wishing me a happy birthday in one of his entries. Definitely this is one of my memorable birthdays which I will truly treasure.

And of course, I truly appreciate the birthday wishes from others - family, friends and bloggers who have sent their birthday wishes via smses, e-mails and comments on the blog.

Cairo, Al Qahirah : Day One

2007-01-07T17:53:00.000+08:00

Memang sukar hendak summarize about my 4 days and 3 nites trip to Cairo in one single entry kerana on each day I covered several places and there are so much to tell about each places I visited. I guess for the next couple of weeks, I'll have to post serial entries on Cairo and hope I will not bore anyone to the brink of insanity if not to death.

Ketibaan di Cairo on the evening of December 28, 2006 disambut oleh four Universiti Al-Azhar students yang menjadi tour guides selama tempoh kami di sini. Selepas makan malam di Nile Restaurant, kami checked-in di The Golden Tulip Hotel Flamenco yang terletak di Zamalek. Awal pagi selepas bersarapan di hotel, kami bertolak ke tempat pertama di dalam itinerari, kilang pengeluar kristal yang kedua terbesar di dunia, Asfour Crystal. Showroom belum buka lagi, kami dah tercongok di situ. Apabila masuk ke kawasan showroom terpegun melihat crystals yang dipamerkan berkilau-kilauan di bawah cahaya lampu. Aku bukanlah peminat crystal sangat, yang ada dalam simpanan pun hadiah dari rakan (which I truly treasure) tetapi bila melihat crystals pelbagai bentuk dari figurines, jewelleries, chandelier, rosaries, vases dan macam-macam lagi, hati tertarik juga lalu aku membeli beberapa buat koleksi peribadi dan souvenier. Harga memang unbelievable! and you have to pay in Egyptian pound or credit card as US Dollar is not accepted here.

Kami makan tengahari nasi kerabu di sebuah restoran Kelantan berhampiran kawasan hostel Malaysian students di Universiti Al-Azhar. Di sini memang senang cari makanan Malaysia sebab Malaysian students di sini ramai dan restoran menyajikan makanan Malaysia pun ada. Sementara menunggu yang lelaki pergi solat Jumaat, kaum wanita bertanggak di Rumah Negeri Sembilan, to be exact, rumah warden Malaysian students dari Negeri Sembilan. Semua hostel penuntut Malaysia si sini dibiayai oleh kerajaan negeri, oleh itu dinamakan dan diduduki oleh penuntut dari negeri masing-masing. Kami disambut oleh isteri warden tersebut, Ibu Noraziyan yang merupakan seorang Cina mualaf. Kami tumpang solat Jamak Takdim di situ dan dijamu pula dengan teh/nescafe panas dan biskut. Memang lega dapat menghirup teh panas memandangkan suhu di luar memang sejuk.

Tempat berikut yang dituju ialah Masjid Hussin, Masjid & Universiti Al-Azhar dan Pasar Khan El Khalili yang terletak berhampiran di antara satu sama lain di El Hossein Square. Halfway perjalanan ke sana dari Asfour Crystal, kami diiringi oleh kereta peronda polis. Hairan juga pada awalnya kenapa kereta peronda polis ini membunyikan siren di hadapan bus coach kami. Rupa-rupanya di sini, adakalanya polis akan memberi khidmat escort kepada kenderaan tourist for safety reasons. Terasa macam VIPlah pulak bila kereta yang lain kena beri laluan kepada kami. El Hossein Square ini memang sesak dengan bukan sahaja tourists tetapi the locals as well bersantai, kanak-kanak happily berlari ke sana sini, the cafes filled with people dari yang tua ke muda berbual-bual kosong or just seating there doing nothing. As a matter fact, everywhere we went and passed by in Cairo seemed to be full with people seperti berpesta tapi kemungkinan juga kerana keesokan harinya Idul Adha.

Tempat tujuan pertama kami ialah Masjid Hussin, di sinilah dipercayai kepala cucu Rasulullah s.a.w., Saidina Hussin ditanam. Kami kaum wanita pada awalnya tidak dapat menziarahi makam Saidina Hussin kerana waktu Asr sudah masuk dan kami tidak dibenarkan masuk ke makam semasa waktu sembahyang. Kecewa juga hati kerana sesiapa yang ada hajat, boleh bertawassul di makam Saidina Hussin dan aku memang berhasrat untuk mengambil kesempatan itu. Allah itu Maha Pengasih, sebelum pulang dan sementara menunggu yang lain habis membeli-belah di pasar Khan El Khalili, aku dapat memasuki dan menziarahi makam Saidina Hussin. Setelah menghadiahkan al-Fatihah kepada Saidina Hussin, aku menadah tangan bermunajat kepada Allah. Aku bisikkan suara hati dan hajat aku berulang-kali di sisi makam. Aku beredar dengan rasa syukur dan tawakal kepada Allah s.w.t. semoga doa aku dimakbulkan olehNya.

Masjid dan Universiti Al-Azhar terletak across the road from Masjid Hussin. Seperti yang diketahui umum universiti Al-Azhar merupakan universiti yang tertua di dunia, dibina more than 1000 years ago. Mengikut penerangan Bob (one of our tour guides), Oxford University dibina untuk menandingi Universiti Al-Azhar dan menghapuskan pengaruh Islam tetapi uasaha ini gagal. Untuk ke Masjid Al-Azhar, kami melalui tunnel di bawah tanah dan apabila aku menaiki tangga keluar dari tunnel, I was mesmerized by the sight of the mosque emerging in front of me, subhanallah. As you entered the main door, you will walk in to a marble courtyard and the feeling and ambience memang sukar nak disuratkan. Terasa sungguh tenang berada di dalamnya despite the fact that masjid ini terletak di tengah-tengah kesibukan kota Cairo. Memandangkan Asr telah aku jamakkan, aku hanya melakukan solat sunat Tahiyatul Masjid di tempat solat yang tertutup di sini sebelum further melawat sekitar masjid. Memang perasaan rasa tenang dan syahdu sewaktu menunaikan solat di masjid yang menyimpan dan menyaksikan pelbagai sejarah dan kisah riwayat Islam sejak lebih sekurun yang lalu. Selesai solat, aku joined the rest melawat dan bergambar di sekitar masjid. We then took the spiral staircase leading to one of the towers untuk menaiki ke bahagian bumbung masjid. I went further up the tower eventhough I had to climb up in total darkness led by an Egyptian lad. From the balcony of the tower, you can see the city of Cairo, terasa seperti you travelled back in time because unlike Dubai, buildings di sini memang mostly look ancient.

After a while at Al-Azhar Mosque, we returned to Pasar Khan El Khalili untuk aktiviti apa lagi, shoppinglah. Like the pyramids, pasar Khan El Khalili is a must destination if one goes to Cairo. The market is not just any market, being one of the oldest markets in the world, this sprawling market played an important role in Egypt history. Barangan yang dijual di sini dari alabaster, jewelleries, gold brass, goods made from mother of pearl and papyrus, museum replicas, leather, essential oils, perfume, perfume bottles, crystal, home decor items and a whole lot more. I must say perfume made from Lotus flower memang mempunyai bauan lembut yang wangi believed to be worn by Queen Nefertiti. Most of these items are available at other tourist spots but at pasar Khan El Khalili, you can do some serious bargaining and the prices are cheaper. So, kalau nak shopping, do it at Khan El Khalili. Having Arabic speaking Malaysian students as our tour guides helped a lot whilst bargaining. Do not be surpised kalau ada shop owners there speak a few words in Malay to you as they pick these up from the Malaysia students there. Tambahan pula tourists dari Malaysia pun ramai ke sana. Since it was eve of Idul Adha, ada kedai yang tutup especially those selling precious stones but kedai yang buka pun dah cukup banyak and tak terlawat. Anyway, most of the shops here sell the same thing, it's just a matter how much less they are willing to go down for the goods that you want to buy.

Our tour for the day diakhiri dengan cruising Kor nish El-Nil over dinner on a ship. Sebelum dinner, kami dihiburkan dengan pelbagai persembahan dan sudah pastinya tarian gelek included. Ironically, tak seperti tarian gelek yang aku saksikan di Dubai, di sini pakaian penarinya lebih seksi dan tarian lebih raunchy. Halfway through her performance, aku joined some of members of our rombongan di atas dek untuk menikmati pemandangan Cairo di waktu malam sambil mendengar cerita tentang sejarah Islam dan kehidupan di Cairo dari our tour guides. Memang kurang jelas kota Cairo di waktu malam kerana dari sungai Nil, hanya cahaya suram sahaja yang menerangi kotanya. Bila dah tak tahan dengan kesejukan walaupun dah berlapis baju dipakai, we all turun semula ke restaurant for dinner. Dinner adalah secara buffet terdiri mixed of makanan Middle Eastern dan Western tapi kena beratur panjang juga untuk mengambil makanan kerana malam itu memang restaurant tu full house. The cruise lasted for about 2 hours and we headed back to the hotel after that. Sampai di hotel baru terasa kepenatannya tapi nevertheless it has been an exciting day.

Insyaallah, coming soon entry Cairo, Al Qahirah : Day Two about my visit to Pyramids of Giza.

Background Music : Aiam We Ben3eshha by Amr Diab

Dubai Revisited

2006-12-29T15:41:00.000+08:00

It's now 7.17 a.m. in Cairo and about 13 degrees Celcius. I am sitting at a cybercafe opposite the hotel I am staying. I planned to post something on my few days in Dubai whilst in Dubai but the internet connection was so bad and I could not gain access to my blogger account, frequent interruption to internet connection etc etc. It's too early to tell about my Cairo trip as we have actually not started yet except that we had dinner at Nile Restaurant last night after arriving from Dubai and a brief glimpse and tour of Cairo city on the way to our hotel in Zamalek.

On my second day in Dubai, aku menjadi 'chapperon' kepada golden citizens yang terdiri daripada Mak and parents housemate Liza sightseeing in Dubai city. Since all of them are in the sixties, taking the public bus or going on foot were out of the question and taking the city cab was just too expensive. The best alternative was to take the Big Bus Company tour. This is a hop on and hop off tour service on a double decker bus which covers 23 tourist stops in Dubai through 2 bus routes, the city tour and the beach tour. We managed to cover only half of the entire route when after shopping at Dubai Old Souq, some of the golden citizens dah nampak penat memicit-micit kaki, so we stayed on the bus for the rest of the stops and headed home. Aku dan Mak tak rasa ralat sangat because both of us have been to most of these places during our last trip to Dubai in May 2006

The following day, I decided to wander off on my own in Dubai, mainly because I need to get some souveniers and some barang kiriman relatives and friends. Using the same Big Bus Company tour ticket (it's valid for 24 hours from the time of purchase), I took the beach tour route to Souq Madinat Jumeirah. This route will pass through Jumeirah Road and you will stop at some main tourist attractions like Jumeirah Mosque, Jumeirah Beach Park, Jumeirah Public Beach and Souq Madinat Jumeirah. The bus stopped at Jumeirah Public Beach for 5 minutes where you can see Burj Al Arab from there. The view at Jumeirah public beach was exactly how I remembered the last time I came here, breathtaking, undescribable beyond words. Pasir yang halus, the clear water in shades of emerald green berhampiran dengan pantai dan turned into darker shades of green and blue towards the sea.

After a couple of hours shopping at Souq Madinat Jumeirah and Zuhr prayer there, I walked back to the Jumeirah public beach and just sat there looking out to the sea with my feet buried in the cold sand, my iPod playing my favorite numbers, a cup of hot chocolate and my travel journal penning stories of my journey so far, my thoughts, hopes and dreams as the new year approaching. Pemandangan laut yang indah dengan angin sejuk bertiup buat aku leka sehingga tidak sedar sudah lebih sejam aku duduk di situ. Gathered my stuff and decided to walk along the beach and feel the water, it was icy cold but bearable. Continued to walk for the next 30 minutes and finally took a cab to Mall of Emirates where I bought a few more things mainly perfumes yang dipesan.

Lambaian Cairo ex Dubai

2006-12-24T19:41:00.000+08:00

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go

I'm standing here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breaking, it's early morn'
The taxi's waiting, he's blowing his horn
Already I'm so lonesome I could die

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go
'Cause I'm leaving on a jet plane
I don't know when I'll be back again

Just like the starting of Chantal Kreviazuk's Leaving On A Jet Plane, I am all set for Dubai, leaving on a jet plane at 0030 hours before flying off to Cairo on Dec 28. Preparation for this trip is the same as my other previous trips except kali ini kena bawa baju tebal. It's not-summer season di Cairo where temperature could go as low as 7 degrees Celcius and maximum 20 degrees Celcius. A good time to travel there.

I started my packing last Friday night. As usual memang konon-kononnya nak travel light tapi I always end up packing more clothes than I actually need. Most of the time ada yang tak dipakai langsung, I call it emergency clothings (or maybe just an excuse!). Anyhoots, I am carrying max two bags, a trolley bag and a backpack. Whilst packing, berbalas-balas SMS sekejap with Yusran, a 'thirsty' traveller currently travelling with Zura (his wife cum one of my usual travelling buddies) to Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and China for a month. Yes, you read me right, a month! Aaaargghhh...best nyer!

22-Dec-06 11.11 p.m.
Hi Nurul, Grub Gott. Truly forgotten about Arabic CD titles as I was so busy with work till just b4 left 4 KLIA. Fr sea we r headin 2 the mountains SAPA via Lao Cai (near China). Appreciate if u cud get latest 5 CDs fr 1)NANCY AJRAM 2)AMR DIAB & 3 other singers. Willing to spend RM200. Sorry to trouble u. Danke schon.

22-Dec-06 11.16 p.m.
OMG - sounds adventurous n interesting. The other 3 CDs r 4 which singer?

22-Dec-06 11.25 p.m.
Just grab based on their Top 10 which had the longest run in terms of popularity. Kalau dapat beli music DVD ciplak lagi bagus. BTW, my Yang is already zzz we r in the overnite train. VIET Train r not as sophiscated as the sleeping berth in China or even KTM

22-Dec-06 11.30 p.m.
Wokey - she must b dead beat. What r u doing still up? Not sophisticated. That's the interesting part of travelling, isn't it? I tgh packing my stuff 4 my trip.

23-Dec-06 8.00 a.m.
Arrived safely in Lao Cai. The temp is below 10C. Ahlan Wasalan.

23-Dec-06 8.08 a.m.
Alhamdulillah..hope u guys hav clothes 2 keep u warm. Expecting that kind of temp in cairo esp at night.

On Saturday, I ran a few more last minute errands. Pagi-pagi ke Taman Tun Dr Ismail to collect sambal tumis Kak Nor yang Liza pesan and whilst at it, stopped by at Maxis centre to configure my mobile phone MMS setting. Since I changed from Nokia N70 to Sony Ericsson K750i a few months ago, the MMS setting has not been working properly. Rupa-rupanya ada masalah dengan my SIM card and it was changed and configured in 15 minutes. Superb and prompt service because ada orang dalam kat situ.

Headed to Kema's place for brunch with Mak and in the afternoon ke KLCC to shop some trivial stuff but ended spending more than I planned/should at La Senza. The price slash and sales offer there was just to tempting for me to ignore. Sebelum balik, exchange Malaysian Ringgit into UAE Dirham and once in Dubai, I'll exchange some into US Dollar and Egyptian Pound.

Now the final hours, going through my checklist to make sure I do not leave out anything important:-

E-ticket print out
Passport
International driving license
Travel journal
Books to read in the plane
iPod
Camera
Shopping list from relatives and friends

OK, I have to shut down now as I have to leave for the airport in an hour or so. Thanks to those who smsed, called and personally wished and prayed for my safe journey and return. If everything goes well as planned and I return home safely, there will be an entry and pics on my trip, insyaallah.....I am now leaving you with a song from Amr Diab - Tamally Maak.

A Banana A Day Keeps The Doc Away!

2006-12-20T13:13:00.000+08:00

Bananas contain three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes. But energy isn't the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.

Depression: According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

PMS: Forget the pills - eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.

Anemia: High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.

Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.

Brain Power: 200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.

Constipation: High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.

Hangovers: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

Heartburn: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

Morning Sickness: Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

Mosquito bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

Nerves: Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system.

Overweight and at work? Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at wor k leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and crisps. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.

Ulcers: The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.

Temperature control: Many other cultures see bananas as a "cooling" fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand , for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer tryptophan.

Smoking &Tobacco Use: Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.

Stress: Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body's water balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high-potassium banana snack.

Strokes: According to research in The New England Journal of Medicine, eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%!

Warts: Those keen on natural alternatives swear that if you want to kill off a wart, take a piece of banana skin and place it on the wart, with the yellow side out. Carefully hold the skin in place with a plaster or surgical tape!

A banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around.

Bananas must be the reason monkeys are so happy all the time!

Apples of My Eye

2006-12-17T19:09:00.000+08:00

Weekend at Port Dickson

2006-12-16T19:56:00.000+08:00

Hujung minggu lalu dihabiskan di Port Dickson dengan aktiviti teambuilding yang diadakan oleh my department. It was actually a mixed of teambuiding and bersantai since for the past few months it has been a stressful and hectic period with a lot of operational issues. We departed from the office on Friday dan pagi itu masing-masing sibuk menghabiskan apa-apa kerja yang patut. At approximately 3.30 p.m. kami bertolak menaiki bas tetapi hanya sampai di Port Dickson at around 6 p.m. kerana di Lebuhraya Sungai Besi, fan belt bas tersebut putus menyebabkan terkandas selama lebih kurang 30 minit.

Selepas makan malam, aktiviti pertama bermula dengan icebreaking dan pembahagian kumpulan. Tugasan pertama ialah menamakan kumpulan, mencipta slogan, sorakan dan merekacipta bendera dalam masa 20 minit. After much of cracking our brains branstorming, we came up with the name of 'Happy Hooligans' and honestly by now I vaguely remember our slogan and cheers. Each group presented and introduced their teams with much cheering as well as friendly jeering from other teams, the spirits were high that night and semua orang berkobar-kobar as the facilitator briefed us that for each activity and task, points will be awarded. The first task that we had to do to accumulate points was to play charades. Although the words given were common words and easy but acting it out was a totally different ballgame altogether. My team was leading even for the start and by the end of the game, we obviously were the winners.

Hari kedua bermula awal pagi where everybody gathered at the beach untuk aktiviti sea rafting. Cuaca cerah tetapi redup, just nice to do this activity but it drizzled soon after that and eventually stopped. We had to build our own rafts using drums and bamboos provided. After a brief warm-up session and water confidence activity, we hurriedly discuss and drew our drawing plan on how the drums and bamboos should be positioned. The raft has to be exactly like our drawing plan. Misi aktiviti ini adalah untuk berdayung ke tiga lokasi berlainan untuk mengumpul tiga belon yang berlainan warna. Selepas melihat demo yang diberi oleh one of the instructors on how to tie up the bamboos and drums together, everybody went to work and started to assemble the pieces together in 30 minutes. Kalau salah ikat atau ikatan tu terlerai, jawabnya capsize le raft tu. Jenuh juga membuat ikatan sambil cuba mengingatkan ikatan reef knot yang diajar semasa demo dan mengejar masa hingga kena blisters di tapak tangan. Nasib baik tak teruk tapi pedih juga bila kena air laut.

Selepas wisel berbunyi, semua mengangkut raft ke air untuk memulakan perlumbaan. It was difficult at first getting everybody to synchronise the paddling and manouver the raft but we got the hang it after a while. The mission was to collect three balloons at three different locations. Our raft started to fall apart as we were heading to get the last balloon. We had no choice but to head to shore for safety reasons as two of our female team members already looking panic.
The next activity started at 4 p.m. on the same day. We were instructed to make a reef knot which we learnt earlier from a rope. The rule of this task were everybody's hands have to be on the rope, we can't lift even a single finger from the rope and we are given only three attempts to complete this task. Percubaan yang pertama berakhir even before we started when one of us lifted his index finger. Percubaan yang kedua lasted for almost an hour but not after some of us got squeezed and almost trampled by other especially those yang pegang di bahagian hujung tali. Aku bernasib baik sebab I was holding on to the center of the rope and some of us siap bersembang trying to kill the boredom. Initially, some of us tried to give suggestions and guidance to those holding to the rop ends but it was impossible for them to manouver around other people and this created a lot of confusions. My colleague and I got a better picture and plan on how to complete this task and decided to implement it in our last and final attempt. And we officially became the 211th team to successfully complete this task and we did it in less than 15 minutes. How?.....those you out there yang mungkin kena buat this task in your teambuilding exercise have to figure this out yourself ler...

Sabotage! That was what happened to my team when we had our treasure hunt the following morning. Our last clue which was supposed to bring us to the treasure box was taken by someone. The culprit was not our colleague(s) but most probably someone from other companies who were doing similar activity there. Nevertheless, my team came in third. After short de-briefing, we killed several hours playing water polo, had lunch and headed back to KL 3 p.m.

Eventhough a little bit tired tapi bila balik tengok anak-anak buah aku, hilang segala penat tengok keletah mereka.

Tomorrow Can Be Too Late

2006-12-15T07:16:00.000+08:00

Someone sent this to me via friendster and the recipient is supposed to mail this to every person one care about including the one who sent it to you. You will then know that there are people who cares about you that you didn't know. But I thought this is something I should share with everybody and you may be one of those I care about.

If you're mad with someone,
and nobody's there to fix the situation...you fix it
Maybe today, that person still wants to be your friend
And if u don't, tomorrow can be too late.

If you're in love with somebody,
but that person doesn't know...tell her/him.
Maybe today, that person is also in love with you.
And if you don't say it, tomorrow can be too late.

If you still love a person
that you think has forgotten you... tell her/him.
Maybe that person has always loved you.
And if you don't tell her/him today,
tomorrow can be too late.

If you need a hug of a friend...ask her/him for it.
may be she/he needs it more than you do.
And if you don't ask for it today,
tomorrow can be too late.

If you really have friends
whom you appreciate...tell them.
Maybe they appreciate you as well.
And if you don't and they leave or go far away today,
tomorrow can be too late.

If you love your parents, and
never had the chance to show them... do it.
Maybe you have them there to show them how you feel.
And if you don't and they leave today,
then tomorrow can be too late.

Background Music : Kata By Hazami

Saturday 'Wasted'

2006-12-02T15:43:00.000+08:00

I woke up early today at 5.00 a.m. to perform Isyak prayer and waited till Suboh azan. Thought I could stay awake but by 6.30 a.m. I couldn't keep my eyes opened as I was still sleepy and tired after late partying at my boss's year-end party last night. I will save this story for my next posting. Went back to sleep and dozed off till 9.00 a.m.

Started the day with work around the house starting with my laundry, separating the ones that could go into the washing machine and those which have to be handwashed. Bukannya banyak pun because I tend to do my laundry every other day. Swept and mopped the floor and arrange apa-apa yang patut. Whilst in shower, scrubbed the bathroom floor and toilet, threw all empty shampoo bottles, cleanser tubes or anything else yang dah luput jangkahayat out into the dustbin.

Folded my dry clothes in the living room and once in a while glanced at the idiot box. 'How Do I Look' was on. I find the program revolting because the host, Alex Liu and those interviewed on his program, who are obviously his cronies never fail to look so superficial and pretentious. I am totally oblivious what's the message this program's trying to deliver, just like whoever is in the program, superficial and the kind of Q & A were insulting my intelligence.

It has been a while since I last buy groceries, my fridge kinda empty. Furthermore, I don't eat heavy dinner. It will be a waste to buy groceries if they are going to end up rotten in the fridge and landed in the dustbin. Kalau nak masak selalu pun, tak berbaloi masak untuk seorang. Nak pergi keluar beli breakfast, malas pulak. Found there are enough basic ingredients for fried meehoon. That's my brunch with a mug of hot nescafe. Kalau ada biskut raya ni best juga. Teringat cake yang Tyah bagi kat office.

It's starting to rain heavily outside. The more reason to stay at home and maybe catch up on my reading. Recently received the December 2006 issue of Reader's Digest. I have been subscribing to this magazine for several years now. Full of enlightening, amusing and interesting real life stories. Kadang-kadang they enclose small prizes like bookmark, coasters or diary with the magazine or even contest information where you have the chance to win like a few hundred thousand ringgit. Most of the time, I didn't bother to read the contest brochures, tapi kadang-kadang saja-saja hantar. Who knows....tiba-tiba lucky pulak.

Malam ni nak ke KLIA to pick up my buah hati pengarang jantung. In the mean time, need to start finishing some office work so that tomorrow I can spend my entire time dengan my buah hati. Siapa yer, tunggu ajer ler....

While I Was Gone

2006-11-25T22:45:00.000+08:00

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!

2006-11-11T08:46:00.000+08:00

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

2006-11-06T05:31:00.000+08:00

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

2006-11-03T01:18:00.001+08:00

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.

Coretan Syawal

2006-10-30T23:57:00.000+08:00

Today is the seventh day of Syawal and the first day I am back at work. Checked my inbox for one week's old of incoming e-mails and let out a sigh of relief that there was no pressing matters that requires my immediate attention or action. Decided to reply some of the e-mails anyway and get some outstanding matters out of the way as I will be busy with the final details of the company's first Annual Dinner & Dance which is just 2 weeks away. The committee members have decided to do a brief performance as part of the opening gambit that night and we have yet to practise together-gether. Luckily the performers we engaged have agreed to help us out with the dance steps at their dance studio.

Earlier in the morning on the way to work, dropped by at Liza's place to give goodbye hugs and kisses to my niece and nephew before they leave for KK that morning. Asheen was in her usual chirpy mood whilst Noah was grumpy having woken from his sleep very early in the morning. Managed to get to work on time despite of the usual heavy morning traffic.

Reminiscing the last few days of Ramadhan in preparation of Syawal, I started baking Raya biscuits the morning I arrived in TI and Kema took over the kitchen in the afternoon. Started with Badam Potong (2nd pic from left) followed by Mata Kucing (3rd pic from left) and Mandarin cupcake (1st pic from left) whilst Kema made the rest, Coklat Gajus (3rd pic from left) and cornflakes (5th pic from left). Tried to bake marble cake but for a certain reason, it did not turn out the way it was supposed to be. Liza is the one who is good at baking cakes but this year for a reason oblivious to any of us, dia mogok. Luckily there was another cake given to Mak by her friend and a cheese cake from one of Kema's clients.

First day of Syawal was the same as the previous years. The day started with sembahyang Raya at the mosque, asking forgiveness from Mak and my other siblings and headed to onyang's house which is about 15 minutes drive to meet with the rest of my relatives. That night, everybody adjourned to my house and we had belated birthday party for Asheen and Noah. Asheen's birthday was in September whilst Noah's in October. I only went to the cemetry to visit Abah, Onyang, Tok and Tok Alang's graves on the 3rd of Syawal as it was packed with people with cars parked alongside the road on the first 2 days of Syawal.

Started going to my relatives' open house on the Saturday I came back to KL and on Oct 31, I will be holding a joined open house with Liza at Armanee, Damansara Damai. Other than my relatives, I invited a few close friends and bloggers who are in town. Look forward to meeting friends I had not seen for quite sometime except via e-mail or phone and also fellow bloggers I am meeting for the first time.

Menjelang Syawal

2006-10-17T23:30:00.000+08:00

Dengan Syawal yang bakal menjelang, persiapan raya juga semakin rancak. Dua minggu lalu aku sudah mengambil baju kurung pesak dari songket Pakistan yang ditempah di sebuah kedai di Semuahouse. Aku amat berpuashati dengan hasilnya dan aku turut membeli sepasang brooch untuk dipadankan dengan baju tersebut. Dua pasang lagi kebaya Kema tolong collect dari tailor hari ini sebab aku memang takkan sempat ke kedai itu selepas waktu kerja. Pada hari minggu yang lalu, aku, Kema dan Mak ke Parkson di Putra Place untuk membeli pakaian kasual dan kasut raya untuk anak-anak buah aku. Si Asheen insists baju dia mesti warna pink dan kasut kena ada heels. Noah pulak is just too young to have fashion sense, till then, he'll just wear whatever we buy for him. Hari ini pula, Bobo (nickname for my twin sister) called minta belikan baju kurung untuk Asheen. Baju kurung yang ditempah telah disalah potong oleh tailor di KK. According to Bobo, lehernya terlalu besar hingga belahnya sampai ke perut Asheen. Tergelak bila aku bayangkan rupa Asheen pakai baju tu.

Last weekend juga, bahan-bahan untuk membuat biskut raya dibeli. Biskut raya yang wajib sudah semestinya Coklat Gajus, Badam Potong, Mata Kucing dan Cornflakes. Masa tu mulalah buka resipi yang mak tulis dalam diari. Diari berisi resipi tu dah macam legasi dalam keluarga sebab dah bertahun-tahun dalam simpanan dan dirujuk setiap kali menjelang raya. Sebagai tambahan, aku bercadang membuat Tart Nanas, Mandarin Cupcake dan Marble Cake. Ambitious betul tapi tak tahulah larat ke tidak. Mahu bersengkang mata sampai dua tiga pagi tunggu kuih raya masak dalam oven macam tahun-tahun yang lalu.

Insyaallah, selepas sahur Sabtu ni, aku akan bertolak dengan Kema ke TI. Liza dan Shahrul akan bertolak keesokan harinya selepas mengambil Bobo dan family at the airport that morning. Semoga semuanya selamat sampai ke kampung untuk beraya bersama.

Sick Day

2006-10-07T09:30:00.000+08:00

Yesterday morning, I woke up with a slight headache. Went straight to the shower, washed my hair hoping that my headache will subsequently go away. Whilst driving to work it got worse and by the time I reached the office, I felt giddy, lethargic and felt like vomitting. The air-condition at the office worsened my condition as it was too cold and I did not bring my shawl or jacket along. Tried to bury myself into work just to forget the throbbing pain but by 11.oo a.m. it was unbearable. Decided to go the clinic at the ground floor of my office building and got to see the doctor after waited for almost half an hour. The doc was male though I hoped to see the female doctor. Told the doctor my situation but I didn't see this coming..

Doc : Are you pregnant?

Me : Err...no (My eyebrow raised)

Doc : It's just that normally if you are pregnant, you'll feel this nausea, vomitting etc in the morning.

Me : Ooo..ok

Doc : Have you had any children?

Me : No

Doc : Are you married (Ahh...finally the question he should've asked in the first place)

He checked my BP and it was slightly low than normal. Checked my eyes, tounge, the palm of my hands and pressed the tips of my fingers. His conclusion was I am not anaemic but dehydrated. I was given Ponston, T.Moloxon and Oral Rehydration Salt for dehydration and to help increase my BP.

I still continued with my fasting and after seeing the doctor I felt much better even without taking any the medicine prescribed. I think it's a psychology thing. Receiving a call from a close friend during my UiTM days made me felt much much better. Her usual chatty happy go lucky ways made me forget the pain for a while. After breaking fast, took my medicine and went to bed after Maghrib prayer. Missed Tarawih that night....

Dia Dalam Kenangan & Doa

2006-10-04T22:25:00.000+08:00

Sejak bermulanya Ramadhan 10 hari yang lalu, ingatanku kepada lelaki ini semakin kuat, sayu rasa hati terutamanya bila mengingatkan saat-saat manis bersama dia. Dan sejak 12 tahun yang lalu, pada pagi Raya, aku akan menziarahi dia berbekalkan air Yassin dan segenggam daun pandan. Di situlah tempat bersemadinya seorang lelaki yang pernah menjadi sebahagian hidupku dan takkan ada gantinya.

Masih segar dalam ingatan peristiwa 12 tahun yang lalu seperti baru semalam berlaku. Tengahari itu, Abah pulang dipapah oleh Mak dan Tok Mat selepas 'collapsed' di sekolah. Percakapan Abah kurang jelas dan pandangan Abah kabur. Cuma mampu menggeleng kepala bila disebut mahu dibawa ke hospital.

Ketika melihat Abah terbaring tidak bermaya dalam ICU dengan tiub, wayar dan monitor ECG disambungkan ke badannya, aku tak dapat menahan airmata daripada tumpah, laju mengalir seperti empangan air yang pecah. Aku genggam erat tangan Abah, tak sangka Abah yang selama ini memang aktif, sekarang ni terlantar tidak berdaya dengan sekelip mata. Aku lihat airmata Abah mengalir, aku kesat airmata Abah dan aku usap kepala Abah. Aku bisik ke telinga Abah memberitahu Abah aku ada disisinya. Pada awal pagi Januari 4, 1995, aku terima panggilan telefon dari hospital yang Abah sudah tiada lagi. Mak semasa itu dalam perjalalan ke hospital untuk memulakan giliran menjaga Abah yang telah dipindahkan ke wad biasa selepas seminggu di dalam ICU.

Apabila jenazah Abah tiba di rumah, aku mampu mengawal emosi, tiada ratapan, raungan cuma tangisan kecil keluar dariku. Aku tatap wajah Abah, ada airmata bertakung di kelopak matanya yang aku kesat perlahan-lahan dengan tisu. Bila adik-beradikku sampai, tiada kata-kata antara kami, hanya pelukan erat dan tangisan yang menggambarkan perasaan masing-masing. Mak, kulihat tidak mengalirkan setitis pun airmata. Aku tahu Mak kesedihan tapi mungkin dia mahu kelihatan tabah untuk anak-anaknya. Sebelum wajah Abah ditutup dengan kain kapan, aku kesat airmataku dan aku cium dahi Abah, terasa sejuk dingin. In spite of all this happening, aku masih berasa seperti semua yang berlaku pada hari itu seperti mimpi even semasa aku mengiringi jenazah Abah di dalam kenderaan jenazah ke masjid dan ke tanah perkuburan. Hanya selepas segala-galanya selesai dengan lancar, pada malam itu aku masuk ke bilikku, aku macam baru tersedar yang Abah dah pergi selama-lamanya. Di dalam kegelapan, aku menangis sepuas-puasnya. Malam itu, aku keseorangan tidur di atas katil di mana jenazah Abah dibaringkan dan kain pelekat Abah menjadi selimutku.

Beberapa tahun selepas itu, Mak beritahu yang Abah pernah berkata kepada Mak yang kalau dia pergi dulu, dia nak Mak pastikan semua kami adik-beradik sampai ke menara gading. Mak bersyukur yang amanat Abah sudah dia tunaikan. Cuma aku terkilan Abah tak sempat melihat kami menerima ijazah dan untuk aku membalas pengorbanan Abah selama ini. Tapi, aku sentiasa berpegang, apa yang berlaku ada hikmahnya.

Al-Fathihah untuk Abah...................

Sand And Stone

2006-09-30T15:06:00.000+08:00

This story tells about two friends who were walking through the desert. At one point during the trip, they started arguing and one of the friends hit the other in the face. The one that had been hit was hurt, but without a further word, wrote down in the sand - TODAY MY BEST FRIEND HIT ME IN THE FACE.

They carried on walking until they came across an oasis, where they decided to freshen up and bathe. But the one that had been hit before got caught in the mud and was about to drown, but the friend saved him.

After he had recovered, he wrote down on a stone - TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE.

The friend who had hit his best friend and had then saved him asked, "After I hit you, you wrote in the sand, and now you are writing on stone, why?"

The other friend answered, "When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand, so that the wind can forgive us by blowing it away. But when someone does something nice for us, we should engrave it in stone, where no wind can ever blow it away."

They say it takes a minute to find someone special, an hour to appreciate them, a day to get to like and love them, but it takes a lifetime to forget them.

A Different Perspective

2006-09-30T14:39:00.000+08:00

One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from this trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip"

"It was great, Dad."

" Did you see how poor people live?" The father asked.

"Oh yeah," said the son.

"So, tell me, what did you learn from this trip?" asked the father.

The son answered. "I saw that we have one dog and they have four.

We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.

We have imported lantern in our garden and they have stars at night.

Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.

We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.

We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.

We have our food, but they grow theirs.

We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them."

The boy's father was speechless. Then his son added, "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are."

Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all thank for everything we have instead of worrying about what we don't have. Appreciate every single thing you have, especially family and friends.

Third Day of Fasting

2006-09-27T03:50:00.000+08:00

First day berpuasa pada hari bekerja dah melalui cabaran dalam bulan Ramadhan ni. During the fasting month, Muslim employees are allowed to leave 1 hour earlier provided that one work through lunch. Although I started work at 8.30 a.m., I decided to leave only at 5.00 p.m. thinking that it would give me ample time to to go to bazaar Ramadhan kat Stadium Shah Alam and be home before masa berbuka. When I came out from the office lobby and walked towards the carpark, noticed that cars were queuing up opposite my office building. Ingatkan mungkin disebabkan simpang kat Jalan Pantai but by the time I drove out, I realized that the queue was all the way to Federal Highway up to exit ke LDP. It took me 45 minutes just to get to Federal Highway and by the time I reached home, azan from the nearby surau dah dilaungkan. Berbukalah dengan kueh teow semalam tapau masa berbuka di rumah Kema. Terkejar-kejar jugak mandi and bersiap-siap tarawih di Masjid Negeri Shah Alam. Alhamdulillah, dapat bertarawih dengan tenang. Selalunya buat 8 rakaat aje, by 9.20 p.m. dah selesai and sambung witir di rumah sebelum Subuh prayer.

Hari ni, berbuka meriah and lebih teratur. I decided to leave the office at 4.30 p.m, traffic was smooth and sempat balik rumah sebelum jumpa Zura di bazaar Ramadhan. Nampaknya, kena leave office at 4.30 p.m. on the dot sepanjang bulan Ramadhan ni. I bought a few kuih, nasi tomato and a couple of lauk untuk bersahur. As usual, bazaar Ramadhan kat Stadium Shah Alam ni memang banyak jugak gerai and choices. Kalau tak kawal nafsu membeli, boleh sampai beli more than one can eat and at the end pembaziran. By 6.30 p.m. headed back to my place untuk berbuka. Earlier, my aunt called nak berbuka kat rumah jugak. So, bertigalah berbuka hari ini. Seronok and lebih berselera kalau berbuka berteman ni.

Aiman Tak Kisah....

2006-09-25T22:22:00.000+08:00

A couple of days ago I received an sms from my twin sister. Tergelak sorang-sorang bila baca sms tu.

"Kalau terasa nak buat jahat dalam bulan puasa tanyalah iman, tentu iman kata tak boleh. Jangan tanya aiman, nanti dia kata aiman tak kisah..."

Ramadhan Datang Lagi!

2006-09-22T22:43:00.000+08:00

Ahad ini, September 24, 2006 bermulanya Ramadhan. Bulan mulia ni bulan ibadah bagi aku. Honestly, I am not a perfect Muslim, ada banyak flaws - for one I do not wear a headscarf. Sembahyang lima waktu, I strived untuk tidak tinggalkan walaupun kadangkala terbabas juga kerana lalai dengan urusan dunia. Nauzubillah! Sempena bulan Ramadhan ni, aku ambil kesempatan untuk tambahkan pahala dengan membuat sembahyang terawih di mana pahalanya berlimpat kali ganda. Like Stef said - to level the score. Last year, alhamdulillah aku dapat tunaikan sembahyang terawih hampir penuh except masa 'red flag' and a few days skip sebab terima jemputan berbuka puasa dengan kengkawan. Tahun ni, aku komited to fulfill sembahyang terawih jugak. Zura dah sound awal-awal nak berbuka puasa sekali dengan aku sepanjang Ramadhan and aku nak ajak dia terawih sekali. Last year masjid pilihan untuk berterawih were Masjid Besar Shah Alam and Masjid Wilayah Persekutuan kat Jalan Duta. I prefer to go to Masjid Wilayah sebab the ambience lebih tenang and bacaan imam memang very soothing but Masjid Shah Alam lebih dekat dengan rumah. Hopefully, Allah permudahkan urusan aku dalam memenuhi niat aku ni.

Lepas ni kena buka buku balik ulangkaji pasal sembahyang Terawih - almaklumlah setahun sekali aje buat.

EnTiTi

2006-09-19T22:20:00.000+08:00

Sayup-sayup terdengar petikan gitar, sekali-sekala terdengar suara jeritan lelaki memecah keheningan pagi dari asrama pelajar lelaki. Release tensionlah tu! Almaklumlah final exam tinggal sebulan lagi. Aku masih tercanguk di meja study menelaah subject Accounting. Mata masih tidak mengantuk lagi walaupun jam dah menunjukkan pukul 3.00 pagi. Memikirkan ada kelas pukul 11.00 pagi, aku ambil keputusan untuk tidur. Nanti mengantuk pulak dalam kelas. Kawan sebilik aku, Azni dah lama koma, yang dua orang lagi, Linda dan Artie entah ke mana merayapnya.

Aku kemaskan semua buku dan padamkan lampu kamar. Suasana dalam kamar masih samar-samar oleh cahaya dari asrama pelajar lelaki yang terletak di atas bukit di hadapan blok aku. Aku pejamkan mata, pusing kiri dan kanan, masih lagi sukar nak lelapkan mata. Keadaan malam yang agak panas menyukarkan lagi untuk aku tidur walaupun kipas di tengah kamar ligat berpusing dengan kelajuan yang maksimum. Cuba jugak kira anak kambing lompat pagar, kut-kut boleh tidur, masih tak berhasil. Tipulah siapa yang bagi petua kira anak kambing ni boleh tidur. Aku baring mengiring betul-betul di tepi katil supaya boleh kena angin dari kipas. Yalah, katil aku double decker dan aku di bahagian bawah. Aku pejamkan mata dan fikiran mula melayang tentang kisah lalu dan berangan tentang masa hadapan, cubaan terakhir untuk tidur. Manalah tahu, bila otak letih berimaginasi, terlelap kut mata.

Tiba-tiba, aku terasa tilam di sebelah belakang aku tenggelam seperti dibaringi seseorang. Kemudian aku terdengar bantal kepalaku dicakar berulang kali. Tubuhku terus kaku, hatiku berdebar-debar, mata ku pejamkan rapat-rapat dan aku mula membaca di dalam hati ayat-ayat suci yang aku hafal dari ayat lazim hinggalah ayat kursi. Semasa itu, aku teringat kisah yang aku dengar tentang pelajar dihempap oleh sesuatu semasa tidur. Sedang aku asyik membaca ayat-ayat suci, aku dikejutkan pula dengan bunyi yang amat kuat. Ku bukakan mataku sedikit dan aku terlihat satu lembaga hitam lebih kurang 7 kaki tingginya berdiri di tepi pintu sedang menghentam pintu kamarku dengan kuat hingga bergegar pintu tersebut. Ku pejamkan mata semula dan tidak putus-putus membaca ayat-ayat suci. Berbagai perkara bermain dalam fikiranku, tergerak jugak untuk berteriak dan melaungkan Allahuakbar tapi aku batalkan niat aku dan mengambil keputusan untuk mematikan diri.

Selepas beberapa kali, bunyi itu berhenti. Aku terdengar pulak satu suara membuat bunyi ketawa "He he he" beberapa kali. Hatiku berkata-kata, "Alamak, apa pulak ni." Aku memberanikan diri untuk membuka mataku sedikit. Dalam cahaya samar-samar itu, kelihatan satu makhluk bertubuh sasa dengan bentuk tubuh setengah manusia dan setengah beruk ala-ala dalam cerita Planet of The Apes. Makhluk itu berlari-lari kecil dengan menghentakkan kakinya sambil ketawa di tengah kamarku. Beberapa kali aku pejam dan buka mataku sedikit memerhatikan tingkahlaku makhluk itu. Risau jugak aku kalau tiba-tiba ia menerkam aku. Selepas tiga kali berlari-lari di tengah kamarku, ia lenyap dari pandangan dan aku terasa benda yang berbaring di belakang aku juga bangun dari katilku. Tiba-tiba, terdengar kembali petikan gitar dan suara dari asrama pelajar lelaki. Sepanjang aku diganggu oleh sesuatu, lembaga dan makhluk itu, aku seperti berada di alam lain kerana aku dapat melihat Azni tetapi dia sedikit pun tidak terjaga dek bunyi yang kuat di pintu dan gelak ketawa makhluk tersebut. Tanpa aku membuang masa, aku terus terjun dari katil dan lompat ke katil Azni. Azni terjaga dan tanya aku kenapa. Aku cakap esok aku cerita sebab hati aku masih berdebar-debar dan aku tak mahu takutkan dia. Sempat juga aku tengok jam di tangan aku - pukul 3.30 pagi.

Cerita ni memang kisah benar. Aku pasti sebab aku memang cubit diri aku sendiri semasa didatangi oleh gangguan-gangguan tersebut. Aku pernah terbaca dan terdengar mengenai ada tabir yang memisahkan dunia manusia dan dunia makhluk halus ni, jin atau syaitan. Ada masanya, tabir ni tersingkap dan manusia dapat melihat makhluk alam lain ini. Mungkin sesetengah orang anggap sesiapa yang dapat peluang melihat atau berjumpa makhluk alam lain ni bertuah tetapi bagi aku cukuplah sekali melalui pengalaman tersebut.

Semasa aku menulis entry ini, beberapa kali bulu roma ku meremang...................

Annual Beach Cleanup @ Teluk Kemang, PD

2006-09-18T23:56:00.000+08:00

I departed from home exactly at 6.00 a.m., left my car at the office and took Putra LRT to KL Sentral, meeting point for all volunteers. By the time we got onto the bus, it was already 7.30 a.m. and we only arrived at Teluk Kemang on the dot 9.00 a.m. We had to change to the event T-Shirt distributed on that day though we were very much prefer to just wear and show off our company's T-Shirt especially when we females ended up with L and XL size T-Shirts which were too big for us. Volunteers were asked to form into group of 4, each group were given garbage bags, gloves and a form listing categories of garbage that we need to record. We were told that the data we collected will be used for research purposes.

After speeches by the Managing Director of Body Shop, Country Manager of Coca-Cola Malaysia and a local VIP, off we went on garbage-hunting. Our plan was to walk together and one person was supposed to record the type of garbage collected but I guess eventually whilst we were busy scanning the beach for rubbish, we tend to wander off and went our separate ways. It was not suprising that the highest type of rubbish collected were cigarette butts. Our group managed to collect 16kg load of rubbish whilst some collected more than 100kg of garbage (though some of us silently protested deadwood does not count as garbage!)

After lunch, prizes were given out for the heaviest garbage, the most variety and the highest type of rubbish collected. Our group did not win in any of the category. Although the event started late, it ended on time. It was supposed to be free and easy at the beach after lunch but all of us were so dead tired. The organizer arranged for the buses to depart earlier than schedule and we slept throughout the whole journey back.

Latest Addition To My Book Collection

2006-09-16T17:07:00.000+08:00

Bought them at MPH, SAC Mall, Shah Alam today

The Harmony Silk Factory By Tash Aw

This is the story of Johnny Lim, textile merchant, petty crook and inventor of the Amazing Machine, and his marriage to the beautiful Snow Soong.

In 1940, with the Japanese about to invade Malaysia, Johnny and Snow embark on their honeymoon to the mysterious Seven Maiden Islands, accompanied by a mercurial Japanese professor and Peter Wormwood, an Englishman adrift. Many years later, Wormwood looks back on this defining journey, while Snow's son goes in search of the truth of his mother and the infamous Chinese man she married.

The Other Side Of The Story By Marian Keyes

Jojo, a high-flying literary agent on the up, has just made a very bad career move: she jumped into bed with her married boss, Mark ....

Jojo's sweet-natured client, Lily's first novel is a roaring success. She and lover Anton celebrate by spending the advance for her second book. Then she gets writer's block......

Gemma used to be Lily's nest friend - until Lily 'stole' Anton. Now she's writing her own story - painfully and hilariously - when super-shark agent Jojo stumbles across it.....

When their fortunes entangled it, it seems too much to hope that they'll all find a happy ending. But maybe they'll each discover that there's more than one side to every story.....

My Favourite Goodbye By Sheila O'Flanagan

Ash O'Halloran knows she should be having the time of her life. She's twenty-nine, single and self-suporting. So shouldn't she be out there every night, swiling Chardonnay and falling in love? Or if she isn't, at least having a great time moaning about it with her friends?

Doesn't she know how to be a single woman?

Trouble is, Ash likes things as they are. She doesn't do impulsive and relationships scare her to death. At the first hint of commitment, it's goodbye. No way is she going to let herself get hurt.

But as Ash watches Dan Morland - who employed her to cook the ultimate dinner the night he proposed to his girlfriend - trying to sort out a life with the woman he loves. she begins to wonder if being Miss Self-Contained-and-Secure might also mean Missing Out.....

So, This Is How Fresh Dates Look Like...Duh!

2006-09-16T15:16:00.000+08:00

Has anyone seen how fresh dates look like? Well, I haven't till yesterday. On the way back from lunch at the usual place with the usual suspect, I saw a few people flocking at this stall membelek-belek this fruit. Usually, stall ni jual jajan, raisins, asam and dried dates. Out of curiosity, I stopped and asked the kakak, "Buah apa ni, kak?" "Fresh dates, dik dari Madinah" the kakak replied. Another person asked how does it taste. Kakak tu rasanya kelat. Teringin jugak nak rasa, so I bought some. Mahal jugak fresh dates ni, RM4 for every 100gm. I bought about RM30 bila fikirkan mak akan datang ke rumah hari ini. Bolehlah rasa kut-kut dia tak pernah rasa.

Sampai kat office, aku letakkan plastik berisi fresh dates tu di atas meja. Rasalah sebijik dua, rasanya taklah kelat sangat tapi campur rasa lemak manis jugak. It drew attention a few colleagues yang turut merasa. Some like it, some don't. Well, terpulanglah. Different people ada citarasa yang berlainan. Siapa teringin nak rasa, carilah sendiri yea....

The Office

2006-09-13T22:02:00.000+08:00

Hari ni put extra hours at the office. Pukul 8.30 p.m. baru balik. Managed to clear a lot of tasks and did some filings. Aman rasanya sebab takde gangguan. Kalau tidak boss aku jap-jap panggil and a discussion that should take a few minutes dragged sampai berjam-jam sebab dia suka meleret-leret. Aku tekad tak bawak laptop balik so that aku tak teruja to continue work at home. Seronok rasanya duduk kat lokasi cubicle baru ni and I have started to personalize my work area dengan decoration and plants. Tapi my boss said this is temporary and early next year mungkin kena relocate lagi.

The signs I put up continue to receive comments from my colleagues. One said I should just leave it there because everytime she passes and sees the signs, they brought smile to her face. It also caught the attention of one German visitors and he came to my place just to find out who the 'culprit' was and commented 'It's very funny." Some said macam treasure huntlah and I retorted, "Tapi ni takde treasure to collect or giftlah, just me."

Masa aku berjalan through the pantry area to go to another wing, I didn't notice the cleaner was mopping the floor and aku terus jalan through the wet floor, terpelecok lah pulak. Immediately terasa a sharp pain around my ankle. Berhenti sekejap, gosok-gosok kat buku lali tu. Rasanya tersalah urat, jalan pun kena slowdown sikit. Sampai sekarang masih lagi terasa sakitnya. Kena urutlah jawabnya tapi siapa yang boleh urutkan yea....

At lunch, my colleague told me that last nite her husband was robbed at knife point at basement parking KLCC. He was working late and when he was opening the car door, a man pointed a knife at him and told him to surrender his wallet. He did not fight back and did as told. Luckily he was not harmed. Today, KLCC security informed him that his wallet has been found and all his personal documents, credit cards and bank cards remained intact, only cash yang kena kebas - about a few hundred aje. Tak tahulah apa nak jadi dengan dunia sekarang. Jenayah merata-rata, daring sungguh orang-orang ni lakukan jenayah sampai sanggup membunuh.

Minta aku dilindungi Tuhan dari situasi begini. Amin.....

Shell and Petronas vie for Jet stations as Conoco pulls out

2006-09-12T22:59:00.000+08:00

Bangkok Post - Thailand/Monday September 11, 2006

SOONRUTH BUNYAMANEE

Shell and Petronas are interested in acquiring the JET petrol stations operated by Conoco (Thailand) Co. The US-based oil company has decided to withdraw from Thailand after failing to break even after 15 years. The firm has quietly approached several oil companies operating locally, including PTT Plc, about selling its 147 petrol stations nationwide. Industry executives now believe Conoco will call for public bids for the Thai operations in the near future. "We're interested in participating in the bids once Conoco begins the process," said Tiraphot Vajrabhaya, the chairman of Shell Company of Thailand. he said the multinational was always exploring opportunities to expand, particularly in Asia Pacific, under its "move from West to East" startegy. "However, the final decision of Shell (regarding Conoco) will depend on conditions, the market situation, potential and pricing," he said. Conoco is estimated to have invested more than four billion bhat in its Thai operations but Mr Tiraphot said the price of any acquisition was likely to be lower once depreciation and current market value were taken into account. For one thing, he said, the current climate of the retail oil business in Thailand was very poor. "With minimal margins for retail oil trading, we will definitely not expand the business this year." He expected the bidding process, if it went ahead, to last for six to 12 months. Mr Tiraphot said Shell would invest 200 million baht for general maintenance of its stations to sustain businesses for this year, substantially lower than its normal investment of 700-800 million baht a year. Shell has been closing around 10 poorly performing stations per year and now has 580 sites, a figure it expects will decline to around 500 over time. A Petronas executive confirmed that the Malaysian company planned to bid for the Jet stations to strengthen its presence in Thailand. However, Mohd Aidnil Abdul Razak, chief executive of Petronas Retail (Thailand) Co Ltd, said the company would not expand its network this year beyond the 117 stations it now has. "We are always seeking opportunities to expand business, but if Conoco formally opens bidding, I will have to convey the message to my headquarters in Kuala Lumpur and the decision will be made there," he said.

A Good Week!

2006-09-08T20:36:00.000+08:00

Kelmarin aku berpindah ke another cubicle. Yang bestnya sebab secluded and ada privacy memandangkan my work deals a lot with confidential matters. Yang tak bestnya, betul-betul kat depan bilik boss. Bak kata pepatah Melayu, sekangkang kera atau sepelaung aje. Half day gone just moving and re-arranging the files and cabinets. Dahlah tu, pagi-pagi lagi my laptop buat hal, tak boleh nak login to network. Banyak kerja yang tergendala. Contact IT support pun, tengahari baru datang selepas aku berjaya solve the problem on my own. After lunch kat Rivierra (nama glamour untuk food court kat tepi longkang besar), aku singgah kat mini mart in my office building beli 1 box of mini cornetto ice-cream for lelaki-lelaki gagah yang tolong aku move the cabinets. Ice-cream yang selebihnya jadi rebutan yang lain. First come first yang merasalah.

Selepas aku pindah, some people have problems finding me. So, I put up a few signs to direct them to my new cubicle which is just 20 steps away - NURUL HAS MOVED (With an arrow sign)......U'RE GETTING CLOSER (with pictures of footsteps).......ALMOST THERE, ABOUT 5 STEPS AWAY.......CONGRATULATIONS! U'VE FOUND ME. Macam mini treasure hunt pulak. In spite of the signs, ada yang masih asked people around where am I. I guess either they do not see the signs or some people are just not good at reading signs walaupun aku rasa signs aku tu 'terang lagi bersuluh'. Ramai yang jadi guide tak bertauliah directing these people to my cubicle. Several people teased me about the signs I put up, ala just to add humour in the office.

Minggu ni jugak aku terima call dari headhunter about a managerial job in a UK-based retail company. I told the headhunter I am not interested but she insisted of e-mailing me the job profile. After a couple of days, baru aku berkesempatan accessing my personal e-mail and read the job profile. It looks like a good career move but I'd like to prove myself in this company and I enjoy what I am doing right now. Lagipun, I just joined the company for less than 3 months. I replied to the e-mail and recommended a friend to the headhunter instead.

Alhamdulillah, rezeki aku murah sejak akhir-akhir ni. This is the 10th job opportunities I was being considered for, mostly from MNCs including 5 from oil & gas (the industry where I have worked in for almost 7 years), 2 pharmaceautical companies, 1 FMCG company and 1 each from an Arab-based broadcasting company and service company. I politely told the headhunters/company I did not wish to explore but will let them know if I wish to move on. You have to build a good rapport with them because you'll never know when you will need them. I also pity my friend who never seem to give up persuading me to join her and even willing to pay whatever salary I want just to lure me. But then again, although dollar and cent tu penting, I also value job satisfaction, working environment and quality of working life. To prove that, I gave up a job in an oil & gas company which provides better compensation and benefits package after two and a half weeks to join my current company merely because I like the job scope better.

This morning, on the way to work, sempat aku habiskan baca buku cerita The Undomestic Goddess' whilst stopping at traffic lights and caught in the usual slow moving morning traffic on Federal Highway. Now I can start reading another Sophie Kinsella's 'Can You Keep A Secret' which I just bought last Thursday at MPH.

That morning juga, received sms from sis, Kema 'This Sunday buat apa? Dtg la rumah kita makan. About 11 camtu. Plse confirm - in preparation to cook. Menu nasi lemak dan mee kari (ye la takan steak lak! Tak reti) Sms to confirm. By tomorrow morning'. Tak sempat nak reply sebab busy with work. Petang Kema dah call minta confirmation sebab dia nak pergi beli groceries. I asked her to buy some other things because I plan nak tambah a few dishes especially when she said she dah terover invite people mainly our relatives.

Later in the evening, a friend called and asked me to participate in a focus group study about water purifier where participants will be paid RM60 for 1.5 hour session. Terpaksa turn down sebab firstly, not interested and secondly kena help Kema with her Sunday luncheon.

Who is Tan Sri?

2006-09-03T22:30:00.000+08:00

I was asked this quetion by a few people since I posted entry 'One Quiet Sunday Night'. Biarlah rahsia? Maybe, but when it's time to let the cat out of the bag, don't expect any fairytale lavish wedding like CT. One thing for sure, he's a friend who always make you feel special just the way you are.

Aktiviti Di Hari Merdeka

2006-08-31T21:48:00.000+08:00

Sempena cuti Hari Merdeka ni aku dan Zura mengambil kesempatan untuk membeli kain lining untuk baju raya dan menghantar kain-kain tu ke tailor. Bukannya gungho, tapi kalau hantar lambat, tailor tak terima nanti. Furthermore, sempatlah buat fittings and alterations kalau perlu. Semasa aku di cashier untuk membayar, there was this lady who was in the midst of paying her purchases. Aku tengok kain yang dibeli were several French laces heavily embroidered with beads. Mesti mahal ni!! True enough, her total purchase was more than RM1K. She flashed her gold credit card and the cashier took out several shirts wrapped in plastics for her to choose as free gift. Aku tengok label kat shirts tu Zara - a well-known brand and usually quite pricey too. Yang warna orange tu cantiklah pulak. Don't know why I am soo into orange and pink nowadays. Anyway, instead of just choose one of the shirts, I saw her looking at them in disgust. She called her daughter, "Ni hah, engko tengoklah mana-mana yang engko nak. Kut nak pakai yang celoreng-celoreng ni ke, ape ke" dengan nada yang agak sombong. Lepas membelek shirts tu, her daughter decided not to take any of them. Whilst she walked away, I overheard her say, "Elok buat lap kaki aje." What a pompous ass! Kalau tak berkenan pun, tak payahlah buat ayat-ayat macam tu. Just politely declined or just take it and give it away to somebody else. Macam-macam ragam manusia ni.....

After watching the whole drama, we headed to Semuahouse to send all the kain to the tailor. Kat kedai tailor, Zura came across kain dari fabrik songket berwarna pink lembut dengan bunga berterabur yang ditenun dengan silver thread. It was love at first sight. The salesgirl tunjuk warna lain tapi aku dah terpaut dengan warna pink lembut. Memang aku dah lama mencari kain songket macam ni tapi kainnya samada keras atau motivesnya terlalu heavy. Yang ini, kainnya lembut dan harganya berpatutan. This must be my lucky day! Aku terus letakkan kain tu ke badan dan tayang di hadapan cermin. Dah mula berimaginasi how it will look on me once made into baju kurung. It did not take me long to decide that I must have it. Told the tailor yang aku nak buat rekaan klasik - baju kurung pesak gantung. Memang aku gemar rekaan ni and I have a few baju kurung with this design. Zura also bought one but berwarna kuning air. Tak sabar nak tengok the finished work and pakai pada Hari Raya nanti. Ala-ala Perempuan Melayu Terakhir gitu, kut.

*Sigh* Esok kena kerja........

Merdekakah Kita?

2006-08-31T07:46:00.000+08:00

Pada pagi Hari Merdeka ni, aku teringat lagu WARISAN yang sering dinyanyikan semasa di sekolah dan UiTM Di Hatiku. In the hype of Merdeka celebrations ni, kita gembur-gemburkan tentang pencapaian, tapi bagaimana dengan failures? Aku sebenarnya sedih sebab masih ramai bangsa Melayu yang lalai dan ada mentaliti yang sentiasa mengharapkan subsidi dari kerajaan, Melayu kena tolong Melayu (in spite of most of them do not deserved to be helped) instead of berusaha sendiri. Kalau dah diberi pertolongan, tak menghargainya dan mensia-siakannya sampai ada yang sanggup menggadainya pulak. Allah juga takkan tolong hambaNya kalau hambaNya sendiri tak berusaha. Adakah tanpa semua ni, kita tak boleh survive...............merdekakah kita? Mungkin jasad kita merdeka tapi minda kita? This requires major paradigm shift.....dan aku faham Mahathir's frustration.......thanks to Malay Dilemma yang banyak membuka minda and to my parents yang telah membesarkan aku dengan fikiran Melayu baru.

WARISAN

Anak kecil main api
Terbakar hatinya yang sepi
Airmata darah bercampur keringat
Bumi dipijak milik orang

Nenek moyang kaya raya
Tergadai seluruh harta benda
Akibat sengketa sesama kita
Cita lenyap di arus zaman

Indahnya bumi kita ini
Warisan berkurun lamanya
Hasil mengalir ke tangan yang lain
Pribumi merintih sendiri

Masa depan sungguh kelam
Kan lenyap peristiwa semalam
Tertutup hati terkunci mati
Maruah peribadi dah hilang

Kini kita cuma tinggal kuasa
Yang akan menentukan bangsa
Bersatulah hati bersama berbakti
Pulih kembali harga diri

Kita sudah tiada masa
Majulah dengan gagah perkasa
Janganlah terlalai teruskan usaha
Melayu kan gagah di Nusantara

Unfortunately, aku tak jumpa lagu Warisan untuk diperdengarkan dan dihayati bersama tapi diharapkan lagu UiTM Di Hatiku ini akan mengingatkan kita.

One Quiet Sunday Night

2006-08-27T22:10:00.000+08:00

This sms texting took place between 9.05 p.m. to 9.51 p.m, started with an sms sent at 12.51 pm today about watching Actorlympics @ Actor's Studio some time in September.

Tan Sri: Cunt lah, darling
Me: Did you purposely spell cant that way?
Tan Sri: Thats how you make me spell.
Me: Ahhh...blame it on Virgin Mary. The Actorlympic thingy seems to be on hold anyway
Tan Sri: On hold?
Me: Actor's Studio said so. Called them earlier
Tan Sri: What about you? ;)
Me: What about me?
Tan Sri: You on hold too?
Me: On hold, frm wat?
Tan Sri: You are such a tease. You know, you dont fool me. You are naughtier than most girls I know! Nurul, nurul...
Me: Bcoz m not like most gurls u know. He2x
Tan Sri: I have to agree with that. But you have to agree I am right about you
Me: Only on tis 1. Most of other times on other subjects, I agree to disagree.
Tan Sri: I am not interested in being right about HR. YOU are far more fascinating subject.
Me: We'll talk just abt me then the next time we meet ;)
Tan Sri: You read my mind. Over drinks soon. If I am someone you trust, and open conversation is something I look forward to.
Me: Look forward to that 2. Will give you a buzz. Nite2x
Tan Sri: Cheers. Bye

Body Challenge

2006-08-26T21:27:00.000+08:00

Total body weight, reduced by 2.7 kg

Body fat %, reduced by 0.7%
Total fat weight, reduced by 1.2 kg
Total lean muscle mass, reduced by 1.5 kg
Upper arm, reduced by 1 cm
Waist (Naval), reduced by 4 cm
Hip, reduced by 2 cm
Thigh, reduced by 1 cm

Last Tuesday was the D-Day to find out whether all the hardwork and weeks of enduring muscle aches paid off - the day where certain parts of my body were measured. Since returning to the gym and 6 circuit training workouts, I am deliriously happy with the result - it's progressing well although the body fat % is not reducing at the rate I hoped. Advised by Alex to change my diet if I wish to accelerate reducing my body fat % especially cutting down on oily, fried food, curry which I find hard to do. Hey, who can resist temptations from friends' invites to dinner with the initial intention to eat light but ended going on a binge and ate a huge serving of greasy sinful meal. Can't talk about Alex's advise on diet and gym workouts in Tan Sri's presence, otherwise he'll start his anti-gym speech and conspiracy theories. If mak comes over and stays with me, I tend to indulge myself in mak's cooking. The Perakians describe it as "muntahkedarah". On other days, I'll strive with a great amount of difficulty to restrict to small portion of everything, eat lots of fruits especially apples and avoid heavy dinner or no dinner at all after 8 p.m. Alex has given up trying to get me to change my diet but he 'punished' me by increasing the weights, and more strenuous routines especially around the waistline.

When I decided to sign up with FF last year, it was not to lose weight but more for health reasons. I went for my annual medical check-up last year and was informed by the specialist that my cholesterol level was high. I was taken aback because I thought that I was fit with running here and there, very much on the go and have never experienced any significant health issues. The doc said it was not that serious that I need to be on medication but I need to exercise a lot. Acknowledging the fact that my family has history of illnesses associated with cholesterol level like stroke, heart etc, I was heavily concern. I do not know whether my cholesterol level has decreased to its normal level but I will soon find out when I go for my annual check up again soon.

Yaadein

2006-08-19T17:50:00.000+08:00

Hari ini terover rajin nak kemas rumah and re-arranging furnitures in my apartment. Whilst rummaging through some boxes terjumpalah album lama masa belajar di UiTM dulu. Gambar-gambar dalam album membuat aku mengimbau kenangan lama especially insiden yang mencuit hati sampai aku tersenyum sorang-sorang. Antara incidents yang masih lekat dalam ingatanku ialah semasa dalam mass lecture, tiba-tiba our lecturer, Encik Rozalli tanya - "Awak tahu tak suara saya ni keluar dalam tv? Awak rasa rancangan ape?". There was a moment of silence dan aku berbisik dengan kawan aku kat sebelah - "Doraemon kut". "Hah, awak kata suara Doraemon?" Encik Rozalli tiba-tiba sergah. Satu lecture hall tergelak besar. Mula-mula tu muka merah padam jugak tapi lepas tu join gelak sekali, nak cover malu. Aku tak sangka walaupun aku rasa bisikan aku perlahan, dia dengar. Nasib baik lecturer ni memang sporting. Kalau tidak nahas aku kena buat squatting ke or kena halau dari hall.

Teringat juga vividly, lecturers lain yang left deep impact in my mind. Tuan Haji Ilyas yang ajar Political Science in 1st semester yang suka mencarut masa bagi lecture, sampai a lot of us especially female students kena cultural shock mula-mula tu. A couple of years ago, aku jumpa dia di majlis kahwin my ex-colleague. Dia nampak dah berumur sangat dan macam tak sihat aje. Then there was Encik Jamali yang ajar Law subject. A very simple guy but great mind. To get the students' attention, dia akan put up notice or announcement decorated with gambar celebrities or captions yang eye-catching. Sebak juga bila aku diberitahu yang dia meninggal keseorangan dalam office dia because of heart attack. There's one lecturer named Mrs Grace who taught me Organizational Behavior. She was enthusiastic when teaching that she tend to hop from one end of the classroom to another, macam Tweety Bird. Kadang-kadang tu rasa macam tengok tennis pulak when our heads turned from left to right back and forth throughout the class.

There was also an embarassing moment yang terjadi di library. Coursemate aku, Albert kalau bab subject political science memang tak boleh lawan tapi subject that deals with numbers dia memang out. Dia minta tolong aku tutor dia and we agreed to meet at the library. There was this ridiculous rules UiTM imposed at the library that male and female students tak boleh duduk bersebelahan. In spite of me telling him about this rule, he chose to ignore it and sat next to me. Tak sampai 10 minit, the librarian came and tegur us. Of course other students sitting at nearby tables nampak and dengar. Albert tersengih aje, aku memang dah malu sampai rasa merah telinga aku and gave him that "I told you so" look. Tambahan pulak librarian yang tegur tu memang cute and ramai female students minat, termasuk aku. Bukan minat ape, minat tengok aje, buat cuci mata.

Whilst flipping through the pages of the album, aku terjumpa dua helai kertas yang dilipat rapi terselit antara mukasurat album. Bila aku buka kertas tu, I was a bit surprised, dua helai surat dari secret admirer masa kat UiTM dulu. Aku rasa aku dah lama buang surat-surat ni especially when I found out his true identity. I did not reply to the letters sebab I prefer a guy yang berterus-terang about his intention rather than send anonymous letters. Bila takde response, I received the second letter which in summary stated that he didn't really care whether I was involved with someone or not, he will not give up among other things. Aik, bunyinya marah sangat. Masa tu aku rasa flattered tapi at the same time terdetik jugak kat hati - psycho ke mamat ni! Teringat aku kisah kakak aku kat matriks, bila mamat yang suka kat dia campak kerusi and tendang almari sampai pecah sebab kakak aku tak balas cinta dia. Walau bagaimanapun, I felt if this mamat was so determined in spite of his anonymity, maybe he's worth knowing. I was not seeing anyone at that time anyway.

I kept this to myself for a while until I casually shared this with my friend, Jijie and showed her the letters, Jijie said she recognized the handwriting. Jijie told me that the sender memang satu course dengan dia. She was actually involved with that guy until a couple of weeks earlier, for no reason the guy returned all the letters, birthday cards and gifts she gave to him and dumped her just like that. I do not know whether that guy dumped her because he felt he was sure that he could 'tackle' me but what he did to Jijie was enough to turn me off. Out of curiousity, I asked Jijie to show me the guy just to be sure it's the same person. Nanti serkap jarang pulak. Kebetulan that night when we went for dinner at the cafe, the guy was there. Bila I described the guy to my coursemate yang jadi mailman including accurate information about him which I've got from Jijie, he confirmed it.

One may fall in and out of love but in both situations, aku rasa kena jujur dan berterus-terang and do it in a civilized and respectful manner especially kalau nak putuskan hubungan dengan seseorang.

Gifts From God

2006-08-13T20:35:00.000+08:00

Two of my best friends received gifts from God recently. Sharifah gave birth to a baby boy and a couple of weeks later Sally gave birth to a baby girl. For Sharifah, this is her 3rd child and the first for Sally after 11 years of marriage, fertility treatments and a miscarriage. Sharifah wanted a baby girl made in Australia because she already have 2 boys. Why Australia, beats me. Maybe she wanted a blue-eyed baby girl.

Anyway, I am happy for both of them especially Sally. A year ago was a difficult time for her. After giving up on fertility treatment and left it in the hands of God, she finally got pregnant which ended with a miscarriage when the foetus was about 3 months old, she was devastated. In her forties, her biological clock was ticking. All we could do was gave her shoulder to cry on, comforted her and offered her our sympathy if not empathy. Told her how lucky she was to have such an understanding husband who did not put any pressure on her and stuck by her all these years. Finally her patience paid off, she conceived again, carried her baby to full term and delivered a healthy baby girl.

I have bought gifts for their little ones and am really looking foward to visit them and their babies once they returned from their confinement.

God, I am already daydeaming of having my own little ones......Amin.........

You Are The Grass-Fragrance Type

2006-08-08T20:43:00.000+08:00

A colleague e-mail these questions in a slide presentation to me this afternoon. Took a break from work to answer the questions. I need a break anyway from stressful day at work. The questions are:-

1. Which floral scent best describe you?
Light fragrance OR Strong fragrance

2. What bouquet best describe you?
Non-red bouquet (e.g. white/blue/purple) OR Red bouquet (e.g red/pink/orange)

3. Which smell do you prefer?
Sun-dried grass OR Grass wet from rain

4. You just discovered a new shampoo you like the smell very much. What is the shape of the bottle?
Round OR Oblong

5. A new vanilla-flavored ice-cream, what's your take on it?
Rather interested OR Not really interested

6. You are watching a highly-rated drama and saw a fragrance pouch, what color is it?
Purple OR Red

7. When you are feeling blue, which smell can sooth you best?
Smell of flowers OR Smell of forest

8. If the glow of the moon has a smell, which best describe that smell?
Melancholy/Lonely/Steadfast/Quiet OR Exciting/Vibrant/Eye-catching/Fragrant

9. Which scent perks you up?
Citrus OR Menthol

10. What's your take on body odor?
Hate it! OR As long as I like it

11. Amusement parks remind you of?
Milk & grapes OR Sweet candy

12. Do you know your own smell?
Yes OR Nopes

Once I hit the answer to the last question, apa kata survey.............

You have very strong will, not dependent on others and gives an impression of being a lone-ranger. You are extremely curious and sensual, living a clear-headed modern life. At first glace, you place yourself on a pedestal, and are difficult to get along with. But once others talk to you, they know you are easygoing. And when the relationship develops, they realize you are affable. You have an androgynous charm, which makes you popular with all genders. But you don't like your weak side to be seen. You might look cool on the surface, but beneath it all, you are really passionate. Only people who know your true self can maintain a long-lasting relationship with you.

androgynous - having both male and female characteristics, hermaphrodite.

I must say there's a ring of truth in the result.

Lost & Found

2006-08-05T23:26:00.000+08:00

It might be female instinct or pure coincidence, whatever you want to call it, I made an unplanned stop at Borders, The Curve. I walked in and asked whether by any chance they have Jibam. First he searched by book title. I saw him punching the keyboard and spelt the book title wrongly, J..I..B..E..M, definitely search result was zero. Then he searched by author's name U..J..A..N..G and he said...ooooo..Jibam. At that time, I dah berdebar-debar. When he said, yes, we have it upstairs. My eyes opened wide, my face brightened when some of my face muscles formed a wide grin. He said he will get it for me but I decided to follow him name anyway and helped him looked for it. My eyes quickly scanned the shelves and when the word JIBAM in big caps caught my eyes. I exclaimed, there it is....Eureka! The staff said, oooo...you found it and I reckon must be wondering why this women acted like a schoolgirl at a mere sight of a book called Jibam. I told him I have been looking for this book like forever.

Jibam by Ujang
Dunia yang bulat, adalah bersegi baginya. Benda yang hodoh menjadi cantik pada pandangan mata. Katak pisang dan binatang kecil adalan teman sepermainannya. Nyanyian untuknya amat pilu mengusik jiwa. Dia disambut bukan di pesta besar. Sambutan yang diterima adalah sepak terajang dan penghinaan. Air mata adalah teman, tetapi tak pernah dimengertikan. Dia terus hidup, terus bermain di dalam dunianya. Jibam terus melangkah, penuh gah, memburai rahsia kematian ayahnya. Namun dia tetap tabah.

Aku mula baca buku ni at 8.30 p.m. semasa menonton konsert AF finale at Kema's place and finished it by 11.30 p.m. It had the same effect on me when I read it for the first time years ago. Ada bahagian yang menggelikan hati sampai aku ketawa sorang-sorang tetapi ada bahagian yang menyayat hati sampai bergenang airmata especially bila Jibam kena balun and maki hamun dek Tun Ngah Sudin dan Usin Singai.

Actually, my primary itinerary for today was to look for a bed with Kema for Liza's place in Damansara Damai. Liza is in Dubai and relies on us to get fixtures and fittings for her place. She gave specific instructions the kind of bed she wants, no headboard, queen size, wood bla...bla...bla. Met with Kema for breakfast at La Cucur, KLCC at 9 a.m. and spent an hour chatting over several coffee table topics including the latest happenings in our lives. Before proceeding with our main agenda for the day, we stopped at Kinokuniya. I browsed through the bookstore and bought a few books. Need to catch up on my reading. Here are the latest addition to my book collection:-

Panic by Jeff Abbot
Things are going well for young filmmaker Evan Casher - until he receives an urgent phone call from his mother, summoning him home. He arrives to find her brutally murdered on the kitchen floor and a hitman lying in wait for him. It is then he realises his whole life has been a lie. His parents are not who he thought they were, his girlfriend is not who he thought she was, his entire existence has been an ingeniously constructed sham. And now that he knows it, he is in terrible danger. Evan's only hope for survival is to discover the truth behind his past.

The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella
Samantha is a high-powered lawyer in London. She works all hours, has no home life, and cares only about getting a partnership. She thrives on the pressure and adrenalin. Until one day....she makes a mistake. A mistake so huge, it'll wreck her career. She walks right out of the office, gets on the first trains she sees, and finds herself in the middle of nowhere. Asking for directions at a big, beautiful house, she is mistaken for the interviewee housekeeper and finds herself being offered the job. They have no idea they've hired a Cambridge-educated lawyer with an IQ of 158 - Samantha has no idea how to work the oven. Disaster ensues. It's chaos as Samantha battles with the washing machine...the ironing board....and attempts to cook a cordon bleu dinner. But gradually, she falls in love with her new life in a wholly unexpected way. Will her employers ever discover the truth? Will Samantha's old life ever catch up with her? And if it does...will she want it back?

The Guy Next Door By Meg Cabot
Melissa Fuller is late for work. She is always late but this time she has a serious excuse. She's just rescued her neighbour from a violent intruder and in the process become sole-custodian of Paco, the Great Dane - not the ideal accessory for a New York city girl. Now Mel needs help, but she won't get it from her neighbour's only relative - ice-cool womanizer Max Friedlander. Max hasn't a compassionate bone in his body and he isn't about to give up his vacation with a supermodel just to help his sick aunt's annoying neighbour. But if Max is to protect his inheritance, he needs a substitute to play the caring nephew and take over dog-walking duties from Mel. So when he calls in a favour from his old friend John, in theory, everyone's problems are taken care of. In practice, they have only just begun.

I had actually read this book some time back. Borrowed it from Kema but decided to have my own, if I would like to read it again in the future.

Follow Your Heart & Happiness Now By Andrew Matthews
These 2 books are self-enrichment or self-help books. I bought and read Follow Your Heart about 8 months ago. Lent it to si dia and he never did return it after we broke up. I halal ajekanlah. Malas nak call just to ask him to return petty things like this. This book is about doing what you love, dealing with bills and broken legs, discovering your own power, finding peace of mind, dealing with disasters and not blaming your mother.

We went to several furniture shops in Ampang, Rattan Decor, American Accent and Urban Culture. Kat Urban Culture, fell in love with one wooden bed sold at half of the price. Contemplating about buying it but kept thinking do I need a new bed. Kema was already asking me to donate my old bed to her if I seriously want to buy a new one. Still undecisive about it.

After lunch at Santai, Taman Tun, Kema ajak pergi Teakita in Glenmarie. She wants to buy a writing table. Probably there will be clearance sale since they are moving out. Unfortunately, after we had afternoon tea with kuih at my house and left at around 6.00 p.m, Teakita was already closed. Looks like have to come back next time.

At this point, still thinking whether I should get the bed.

Blessing In Disguise

2006-08-01T23:27:00.000+08:00

I am sure everyone has had a day where you have series of unfortunate events. That's what happened to me today. As usual, woke up at 5.30 pagi, shower, perform Subuh prayers, got dressed and left for work at 7.00 a.m. Normally, between 7.30 a.m - 7.45 a.m. dah sampai office but on that day the traffic jam on Federal Highway was unusually bad (accident rupa-rupanya pagi-pagi buta ni!) and by the time sampai office building, carpark was already full. Terpaksalah park kereta at an adjacent building where the parking rate is a little higher and had to walk quite a distance. Sampai office just at the nick of time, a few minutes before 8.30 a.m. It's not that my boss mind tapi rasa guilty kalau masuk lambat. Normally I like to start my day at work early so that I do not have to stay back too late and I could clear a few things without any interruption. The day at the office is normal with the usual workload except training scheduled on that day had to be postponed. I was relieved since I had tons of things to do.

Tiba-tiba terasa pulak nak change mobile phone. I was using Nokia N70 for the last 8 months. Got my sis to buy it in Dubai since it was a few hundred cheaper than here. At first I wanted to just buy a new one and kept the N70 but then again, it's not practical to maintain 2 mobile phones. So, I traded it in and got myself a Sony Ericsson K750i. It's smaller and lighter. I was pleased with my purchase but the unfortunate thing is that I lost my sunglasses. Yang sedihnya, it was only 3 months old, Emporio Armani and bought at Harvey Nichols in Dubai. I only realized it missing when I was at my brother's place, moving my stuff from my mum's car to my car.

I have been driving mum's car to work because I had to leave my car with my brother so that he could take it for service. As I drove home at around 9.00 p.m. I called Dr Mobile Clinic where I bought my mobile phone hoping that by any chance I might left it there. I even asked the salesman to help me check at the Mastercard booth where I stopped to redeem free gifts. Negative, no sunglasses sighted. As I drove home, I was cursing myself, why did I bring it out of the car, how I could be so careless etc etc. When I got home, to my horror I realize that I left my house keys in my mum's car. Terpaksalah, drove back all the to my brother's place to collect the keys.

On the way back home, I terfikir kenapalah benda-benda ni terjadi kat I. Ditambah pulak tiba-tiba Era pasang lagu Bad Day by Daniel Powter. Kena batang hidung sendiri. Mungkin juga Tuhan nak ingatkan I yang lalai sebab these few days, ada jugak terleka dengan urusan dunia sampai terbabas sembahyang. Kat Midvalley tadi pun, sebab pentingkan buat facial appointment and beli handphone dulu sampai dah dekat 15 minutes nak masuk Maghrib, baru terhegeh-hegeh nak pergi surau sembahyang Asar.

Mungkin jugak unfortunate circumstances ni blessing in disguise supaya kita sedar apa-apa rezeki yang Tuhan bagi tu boleh diambil balik dalam sekelip mata. Kalau tidak melalui kesusahan mungkin manusia akan terus lalai dan lupa diri. Kadang-kadang, bila ditimpa malapetaka pun kita kena bersyukur sebab ia ujian ke atas kekuatan iman dan agar kita lebih tabah dan kuat menghadapi dugaan.

The Tasmanian Devils

2006-07-20T23:51:00.000+08:00

Memang dah lama tak jumpa these 2 Tasmanian Devils ni. Memang nakal and my sis selalu pening dengan keletah diorang. Really look forward seeing them again tomorrow night. Dua ni jelah grandchildren yang my mum has. Jauh nun kat Sabah pulak tu. Pity mum. Anak-anak yang dekat ni ntah bila nak kahwin and produce cucu.

Anyway, inilah buah hati pengarang jantung uncles and aunties dia, Karlina Kashreen (Asheen) & Noah Iskandar (Noah/Adik). Memang we spoil them rotten. Everytime we all go there or they come here, for sure dapat new clothes and toys. Before my sis went there 2 weeks ago hantar mum ke Sabah, satu KL aku pusing carikan the singing Barney yang Asheen nak. Last week aku call tanya about the Barney, she has another request.

Asheen : Achik, nak Teletubbies warna red

Aku : Kan dah ada yang yellow tu.

Asheen : Tapi ni untuk Adik. (Ingat & sayang jugak dia dengan adik dia)

Terpaksa aku rushed to KLCC during lunch break hunting for Po (The red Teletubbies). Unfortunately takde tapi dalam masa 1 jam tu sempat jugak impulsive shopping kat Marks & Spencer, Zara & Crabtree & Evelyn. Lepas office on the way home, aku singgah kat Midvalley tapi still mission tak accomplished. Looks like teletubbies are not so popular here. Yang yellow or Laa Laa tu I brought back from Dubai. Nampaknya kena suruh Liza beli one more kat sanalah. Hopefully, Asheen will be happy with the pink sweater Kema bought for her. Aku terpaksa suruh Kema hantar despatch boy dia deliver the sweater to my office pagi tadi. She saw Kema wearing a pink Ralph Lauren sweater when Kema was in KK 2 weeks ago and she wanted the same one, yang ada zip sampai the kolar. So fashion conscious now.....

Asheen memang petah bercakap macam orang tua. Pronunciation dia tak pelat sebab she grew up surrounded by mostly adults or grown up children. Kadang-kadang tu dia boleh naively buat lawak. Once, I was telling her stories about animals and as usual she will ask me to draw all these animals. Whilst I was drawing a snake, she asked, snake makan ape? Aku pun cakap rabbit, tikus, birds, kancil...Dengan muka terkejut dia tengok aku with her eyes opened wide...Hah.....kereta kancil?

Noah or adik has a very jovial personality. Gelak aje memanjang and loves to watch Teletubbies. Dia boleh tengok CD Teletubbies over and over again. Kalau nak bagi dia duduk diam or time makan, pasang aje CD tu. Sometimes, he will do the Teletubbies walk. Dulu he was considered the gentle one. Kalau the other children pukul dia or tolak dia, dia takkan melawan. However, lately, my sis cakap dia dah garang and made other children cried. Masa dia tengah main kat swimming pool at Sutera Harbour, he was upset that a Japanese boy kat situ ada pelampung tapi dia takde. He nagged the boy in his babytalk until the boy cried.

Dapat jugak lepas rindu watching their antics.....can't wait for tonight.

Hantu, Jin & Keranda

2006-07-18T00:03:00.001+08:00

Pada hari Ahad yang lepas, aku berjalan di sebatang jalan yang gelap. Di kiri kanan cuma ada rimbunan pokok, angin bertiup sepoi-sepoi bahasa, sunyi sekali. Tak jauh, ada sebuah kereta Volkswagen Beetle berwarna kuning tersadai di tepi jalan. Aku mendekati kereta tersebut, dekat front seat ada batu nesan dan mayat seorang bayi yang telah dikapan. Aku tak boleh nak lari tapi aku teruskan berjalan dan memerhati sekeliling aku. Dalam samar-samar, aku terlihat pochong!!!!!!!!!!!!!!di celah-celah rimbunan pokok. Di belah kanan aku pulak, ada kubur. Mak!!!!

Ini kisah benar, betul-betul berlaku.....kat Muzium Shah Alam. Actually, kat sana from July until October ada pameran hantu, jin & keranda. Aku terbaca kat newspaper pasal pameran ni and out of curiousity, I went to find out what was it all about. It was not what I expected and a total disappointment. When I reached at a room with glass walls, it was so dark I could hardly make out what was inside. Yang nampak cuma benda putih atas lantai. Then, there were displays of djin dalam botol hanged to a tree, jenglot jantan, jenglot betina, djin, langsuir and toyol dalam bekas kaca. I imagine toyol ni warna hijau and mata merah tapi yang ni about 1 foot tall, kurus kering, warna hitam and gigi dia kecil macam gigi ikan. Langsuir pulak, kecil aje besar tapak tangan dengan rambut panjang keras macam landak. Tak macam yang dicerita dalam buku Tamar Jalis. One of the inscriptions yang I sempat baca, the djin was caught when it was sleeping with a woman and was not even preserved. Maknanya, djin dalam kaca tu betul punya ke? Subject to speculation! There was also an ugly looking duyung about 1.5 kaki displayed dalam kaca. Other objects displayed are kendi berbau hantu, tongkat ular, mayat dalam rumah, keranda and other objects related to the mystical world.

It was a disppointment because, not only there was not many objects displayed but there was not much information on the displayed objects. Nasib baik tak sampai 5 minit aku queue dalam barisan yang about 150 meters long to buy the tickets, ada mamat ni approached and sold extra tickets that he bought. Kalau tidak, sia-sia aje beratur panjang-panjang. Kalau objects yang displayed tu macam cerita Thirteenth Ghost, best gak.

Cerita pasal makhluk halus, ni, aku teringat my personal encounter with these creatures masa kat UiTM dulu.

Mencari Jibam

2006-06-25T15:17:00.000+08:00

I have been looking for you high and low for the last 2 months. Where are you Jibam?! When I first saw you 10 years ago, I fell in love with you. I regret I did not hold on to you then. I would not have been in such a despair now if I hadn't let you go then. Marayau-rayau aku mencari engkau di Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman, bertanya sana-sini samada mereka ada melihat engkau, tapi hampa. How long are you going to leave me like this? Months ago I told a kakak at Kota Damansara Uptown about you, left my name and contact number and pleaded with her to contact me as soon as she found you, but I did not hear anything from her. Last night I went to see that kakak and asked again, she said she spread words about you but to no avail. The kakak said she contacted your publisher but they said they will only publish you again in a month's time.

Can't wait to read stories of your life, happiness and sorrow again, Jibam by Ujang.