Story from Multiple Eyes

Notes from a writer

2010-10-12T13:39:00.001+08:00

That is a spreadsheet style plot written by J.K Rowling for the Order of the Phoenix.

Looked how crazy detailed and planned out it is. I totes love it.

And all these celebs (Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Hillary Duff (her writing is kinda atrocious)) all wanting to write and published books, I wonder if they actually took the time and pain to plan all their stories.

In somewhat similar words of Lainiey, it pains me to have Hillary Duff or Lauren Conrad included in the same category (published authors) as with J.K Rowling or Cormac McCarthy.

Credit the above pic to: http://ofthephoenix.tumblr.com/post/1258947964/a-spreadsheet-plot-written-out-by-j-k-rowling

#019 - Me and Books

2010-10-11T08:59:00.003+08:00

Welcome to the 19th installment of my once-a-month blog post (sorry comrades)

Since Listverse is talking about the famous books, I think I might share a bit about one of my favorite hobby or can I say, ritual; reading books. I came from a mediocre family with low command of English. My dad knew a bit of English, my mum was far worse. My daily staple of reading came from a Malay newspaper (sadly Utusan, my dad's favorite til now).

I remembered my habit of looking the newspapers for its cartoon. I was 6 or 7 at that time. Then, I upgraded myself looking for the Intisari Rancangan where I could plan my daily TV watching. My hobby for reading then expanded to reading sports section and to national news.

Looking at my craziness over a newspaper, my dad took me to the Jitra Public Library, where I signed up as a member. There, I could borrow a maximum of 2 books, 1 week per book. While I was there during weekends, a couple of English books caught my eyes. Those written by Alfred Hitchcock and Enid Blyton. All those simple mystery and investigating team of teenagers, for me, was so awesome judging by my lack of adventures during my childhood.

The public library itself for me was the most interesting place that time. Jitra had nothing to offer yet for a curious boy, so I spend most of my weekends there. From literature, I upgraded again to reading atlas, yeah I 'read' atlas. The world was so big and I was like 'Wow China is so big' and 'England is here, so far away'.

During my primary school years, library was like a third home to me, beside my home and school. Jitra Public Library decided to close down and I was dissapointed at first. They were moving to a much bigger location and it was still there til now. I was happy again. The big library now was a two storey building, with much more reading material. I read documentaries, magic books, war books, military magazines, and borrowed fictions. Those, my friends, were my English teachers.

My high school, I was slowly forgotten the joy of reading. Maybe because I was far away from home. I bought only Dragonball manga and Hong Kong comics as a collection during outing.

Up until I met my Mrs, I rarely read any books. Newspapers and comics were the only exception. I started borrowing books with my Mrs since she was an avid reader. Suddenly, the joy of reading came back to me. Before closing my eyes, I read until it became a necessity, a must, a ritual. Until I just couldn't sleep before I read something.

Fast forward to now. We (Mrs and me) have a huge book rack full of books, mainly fiction, bought mostly during book sale or from second hand book stores. I like action mystery thriller kinda books and Mrs likes her romantic, feminine books. I need book to kill time, so I always bought a book and read during a ride back home on a bus, in an airplane, backseat of a car, waiting at the transit station and even in a toilet.

So there you are guys, my hobby. I'm reading The Road to Gandolfo now, written by Robert Ludlum (Michael Shepherd is his pen name) the master spy storyteller who brought you Jason Bourne.

Walking the Memory Lane After 5 Years..

2010-10-01T12:17:00.001+08:00

We had no money, we had nothing. Yet we are at the happiest moment. All we've got was our innocence.

People always asked us: How come you UTPian - with different range of age (from the more *uhuk uhuk* mature age to the youngest one) can be so close with each other?

I answer: We had #Grapevines.

Time flies. Realize it or not, it has been nearly 5 years since the photos been taken. At that time, we had no real responsibilities; no bills to take care of; no money to exquisitely lavish; we were just our own freedom soul, getting together to have some laugh and fun, striding through life's up and down with only friendship and innocence.

Some of us survived with only RM500 per month. Some of us survived with only RM300 per month. It's just enough to get foods on the table, some gas in the car (if we had a car; which most of us didn't), phone bills to stay connected. We were deserted in the land of no man, trying to reach our pursuit of knowledge with every doubts in our heart whether we will make it or not; yet the bond created has endured the test of time until today.

We laughed, we screamed, we wept, we reflects, we walked. We ate, we whined, we joked, we tease, we worried, we talked. We learnt the lesson of life one step at the time. We poured our heart out to strangers. Strangers that magically becomes friends.

Sure, we had our fights. It's not every day that we see eye to eye. Sometimes we are at each other's throat trying to make our points. Sometimes life throws us some unfair judgement that makes us feels like killing each other.

And the only things that STILL keep us together: respects and open-mindedness.

Multiple minds, multiple personalities, multiple disorders; combined with respects and open-mindedness.

No, we are not the most civilized lot. This was where we learn all about grief, trolling, bromance, scandalicious, seditions, backstabbing, and more. This was where we learn about the sweetness lifes can bring at its simplicity. This was where we learn to navigate our doubts, self-expressions, fun. People outside may not understand this. You don't believe it?

This is not gayness - this is brotherhood. HAHA.

No, this is not a paedophiliac act; this is just sisterhood. AHAHAHA :P

I am not trying to making a point here. All in all, this was our best moments - maybe in life. We managed to capture it in photos, but we can't captured the time; nor can we reversed the time to experience it again. Time will never stop, and we will never be young again - but if the present seems depressed, or the future seems bleak; guys, remember this magic moments, and may those grief moments be forgotten for a while.

P/s: From the vines and grapes, thorns and twigs; which makes up the grapevine, comes the best wine.

P/p/s: Sue, done!

Halal Meat

2010-09-30T11:15:00.009+08:00

This afternoon I read an article shared by a friend on Facebook regarding halal meat sold in UK. You can read it here.

After reading the articles, I belief that most of the concerns are raised due to their Islamophobia (I am not interested to deliberate this issue here). Not because of their concern on the animals well being.

Macam jijik sangat nak makan daging hasil sembelihan orang Islam.

Just because we slaughtered the animals alive, it doesn't mean that the animal suffer before their death.

According to Islamic method, the animal must be slaughtered by a very sharp knife and it must be done as fast as we can because we did not want the animal to feel the pain. The request to compulsorily stunned the animal before slaughtering was rejected by the UK government because it was not scientifically proven to reduce the amount of pain from the animal.

You can read more about it here:

I never ate anything non-halal (as far as I know) before, but I belief it taste the same. Anybody cared to share their opinion in this issue?

Another thing, we are not allowed to eat the meat from a slaughtered animal if we feel sympathy to them before the slaughtering procedure. Selalu kan dengar orang cakap "Jangan makan kalau kesian". It always happened during public slaughtering during Raya Qurban. I am not sure whether it is really haram or it is a tradition.

Kalau aku, orang cakap kesiannya arnab comel tu nak kena sembelih.. aku dah terbayang arnab panggang BBQ.

Heartless.. I know :P

I traveled to quite a few countries in these last few years. I still observe my meat halal status everytime I traveled and I always return to Malaysia meat deprived. All because I was too lazy to find a halal restaurant every time I wanted to have a meal. So, I resolved on being a vegetarian then because to find Halal restaurant when you don't have a car and a GPS can be quite tedious.

Travel tips: Visit Zabihah.com for Halal food guide.

Thank god I love salads.

It explains why I went to Seoul Garden right after coming back from UK to enjoy my red meat. Heheh...

Can you imagine eating the plain and almost tasteless egg/vegetarian burger while the person besides you ate gooey, yummy Big Mac?

I am a meat-eater. I love red meats, beef or mutton alike. I even ordered my sirloin steak medium/medium rare. As long as it is not bloodied, I am in!

When I was in Hong Kong, a friend voiced her concern on the "halal" restaurant we chose as there was a bar inside that "halal" restaurant. Do you know what I replied?

"Alaa, selama ni malam minggu kita hangout kat Alexis, Hard Rock, Luna, Skybar.. kau tak pernah concern pon nak tanye status halal dia?"

Hehe

3 Male Celebs I Don't Mind Sharing My Dreams With

2010-09-28T13:31:00.000+08:00

If you know what kinda dreams.

Because my muse in blogging in severely lacking or had taken flight, and also I like their posts (Eyeris, Suanie, ShaolinTiger)so I am taking the idea and give it a go here. A meme that no one asked me to do, but hey.... it give me excuses to google up pictures of drool-worthy men.

1. James McAvoy

It is somewhat well known in my blog, that I adore this man. Love his acting style in Penelope and Becoming Jane. I wept in Atonement. And he gives such perfect despair in Last King of Scotland. And heard that he is very nice in person just makes me love him more.

His eyes! His eyes! And his hesitant smile!

Picture from: entertainmentwallpaper.com

My heart, it flutters! I can't wait for X Men First Class.

2. Pacey a.k.a Joshua Jackson

Picture from: www.pynkcelebrity.com

I like Fringe well enough, though I don't really like Peter Noble character in there. I think he is a bit of a smartass and too snarkish.

However Joshua Jackson himself is sweet, have a great sense of humour and obviously funny. Just googled Joshua Jackson Pacey Con and you'll know what I meant. I never watched Dawson Creek however just watching his interview at Pacey Con, is enough for me to look for the complete box set of Dawson Creek.

Obviously I fell for his personality and his boyish good look is just an added advantage!

Also, how can you not love this picture?

Pic from: http://gofugyourself.celebuzz.com/go_fug_yourself/2010/01/globes_kruger011810.html

Diane Kruger is one hell of a lucky lady.

3. Last but not least.

Pic from: nao-fuji.seesaa.net

Naohito Fujiki is a dream.

Too busy even to read

2010-09-21T23:35:00.000+08:00

Pictured by me! That is Fasha by the way, being curious on what I was looking at all day.

I am not incline to blog these few weeks. Maybe its a case of too lazy, too demotivated, too listless. Basically there's too many excuses, not enough time nor energy. In this case determination.

Also I do think that I am getting lax in my reading. Which is not good. Basically nothing bring me joy. At the moment. Maybe a trip to the beach with nothing on my mind. Which is weird, because I hate beach holiday. All those sands that get into your clothes and track into your hotel room and even get into your bed. Ugh!

What would you do to get your life started again? Basically energized yourself if you feel like you're in a rut?

Motivate me! And don't get all preachy.

#018 - Raya Random PICS

2010-09-15T08:23:00.008+08:00

Sup fellas... while waiting to go to ~~Semun... samunjang...~~ SIMUNJAN dunno the correct spelling :D just wanna upload some pics during my Hari Raya.

And yeah, we Sarawakians are still celebrating!

Family raya pics. Dari kiri row atas: biras, adik ipar x4, Rozie, aku. Row bawah: Nenek, Mak dan Bapak mentua, adir ipar dan biras :D

Biras and me, naik perahu tambang beb nak pegi raya... sempoi

Me and Rozie, dengan LEMANG bungkus utk adik ipar yg tengah sarat

Me and Granpa. Dah nak umur 80 tapi still hensem.

Main bunga api. Tiada dalam gambar - mercun2 yang harammm hahaha

Gendang Gendut Tali Kecapi~

2010-09-10T19:45:00.000+08:00

Kenyang Perut, Suka Hati~

Selamat Hari Raya & Maaf Zahir Batin

As Aidilfitri is a festivities of food, I will not say much but to let you visually indulge in my mother's cooking :D

No fancy, frilly presentation

Ketupat dan lepat

Rendang Landak (No kidding!)

Masak Merah Kijang (No kidding too!)

Ayam Ungkep

Sambal Kacang

last but not least~

Sate!

...tapi, belum masak lagi. Heheh...

P/s: Konfem PETA semelih family aku~ hahaha

Selamat Menyambut Aidilfitri

2010-09-07T09:28:00.000+08:00

I think the sign of growing up, one of them is you no longer as excited to celebrate raya as in kedatangan Ramadhan. Which of course, should be a sign you are maturing.

This Ramadhan had been a good month. I may had not done as much as ibadah as I would like to, but I hope God give me chances for me to make more efforts in the next year and the next year and so on. I am always sad when Raya come in. This Raya I would not be going to my father grave as usual. That makes me a little sad and I forgot to visit the grave the last visit home during puasa. I always had in my imagination that he would be happy to meet us there during the end of Ramadhan when we came for our visit.

Sad paragraph aside, it is time to rejoice. Maybe no longer for us, and for many of my friends for their children. Yoda and I (separately of course) will be celebrating raya at Sarawak this year for the first time! Yoda raya ketiga yek? Ke ko dah pergi sebelom ni? So maybe both of us will update about that after we're back from Raya. And I am also informing next Tuesday I am out again, sebab tadek di Semenanjung. Malas blogging. Unless I found a komputer. And an internet connection. Shit. Sementara system tengah down and masa tengah banyak baik bayar bil. Bile dah habis raya and nak bayar bil, mesti sakit nyawa.

Again, selamat menyambut Aidilfitri. I mintak maaf to people all around me for ape-apelah. Malas pikir. Later.

Facing Death

2010-09-05T18:43:00.004+08:00

I was away due to family commitment. My father in law recently passed away. It was quite a chaos and I feel my life going thru storm. My wife even have it harder than me, no argument on that. It was a hard time.

Some people think that death means no more worries but having experience death first hand, I found that death could be alot more than life. Spiritually, you'll be moved to new world where all your deeds be counted for; good and bad. For all of us, life would be rewind and forward like film reels and your whole life parading in front of your eyes to be judged.

However, I'm not going to talk about spiritual aspect of death, rather the financial aspect of it. Don't get it wrong, death could cost alot. There are some sort of understanding that Chinese raise money for 3 things; marriage, children and death. Yes, funeral ceremony for Chinese very costly; if you choose so and most people choose so since they could afford it anyway.

These are the list of items that you might need to calculate on upon your death so that you could save enough money for your funeral (list is based on common Malay muslim funeral that the family have for my late father in law):

1) Kain putih, kapur barus, akar bidara, sabun, air mawar etc for "mandi jenazah" dan "kafan jenazah" - RM 400

2) Upah orang solat jenazah - RM 10 times around 60 people = RM 600

3) Pakej keranda dan van jenazah - RM 150

4) Upah mandi jenazah - RM 70 times 2 people = RM 140

5) Tid bits for visitors (biskut and air etc) - RM 100

6) Upah gali liang lahat - RM 100

7) Upah baca talkin - RM 50

TOTAL = RM 1,540

That's just funeral ceremony cost, not kenduri arwah and what not. It could cost even more depends on the area where you live. I found that it could be costly and every kariah should have funding for death or khairat kematian. At least, it will ease the grieving family. I would say it's a totally new experience for me and really wake me up.

Perhaps I should put aside money for it.

#017 - Pre-RAYA

2010-09-05T06:14:00.003+08:00

6:15 AM and it is cold.

Pardon me for the lack of post lately. Yeah I deserved the smallest piece of 'the' pie sebab jarang update HA HA HA. Got nothing to share maa... copy pasta was not my cuppa.

So you guys Raya mood already? Got pasangs and pasangs of baju raya? All teh cookies?

Dah bayar ZAKAT FITRAH?

Hehe

This year, I'll be celebrating raya in a new way. As a married man. It was decided months before, during our plane ticket hunting, that this year, 1st day of Raya to 3rd would be in Kedah, the rest of the week will be in Sarawak.

This was the first time, I have to consider my Raya plan. Before this, all I needed was a date and I will either take a bus or hitch a ride with my Kedah friends. This year however was a bit more than that. Apart from getting a bargain plane ticket fare, compromises had to be made.

With only 3 days worth of Raya for me in Kedah, some SERIOUS planning is needed. Day 1 will be the balik kampung day. Usually, after Raya Prayer, my family will visit both my grandparents house. It was easy for us since both houses were in Kedah. Day 2 will be 'me and my friends' raya day. Day 3 onwards usually filled by a mix of friends and relatives, either hosting or we become a guest ourselves.

I'm planning to make use of the telecommunication tech available to optimize my Raya in Kedah. Including FACEBOOK and Twitter!

Status Update: Open House rumah aku weihh!! Mai2... Nasik Beriani tuu~~!

Or something along that line kot. Hehe

So there you go... another lame attempt to make sure I will not get kicked from writing here. Just wanna take this opportunity to wish you a prosperous Eid, and mintak ampun dari hujung rambut ke hujung kaki if any of my posts / comments menyentuh mana2 pihak. Tidak disengajakan.

Cue music - Dalammmm dingin subuhhhhh~~

If You're Not Claustrophobic, Then This is So Cool...

2010-08-30T13:06:00.000+08:00

How can this 334 square feet of space becomes a whole functional house? So creative I shit bricks. Do want this kind of home! LOL.

... Of Age

2010-08-27T10:00:00.001+08:00

This is going to be a short post, puasa did drain my creative mode a little.

yeah.. alasannnn............ Dils and Adek have been making the same stories in the chat box tho :P

I went back to my hometown last weekend to have Iftar with my parents and brothers. A few things happened and get me to ponder....

Since when my dad need to asked me which button to press on the car alarm, red or green?

Since when I grow taller then both of my parents?

Since when my mother's beautiful black hair get laced with grey?

Since when my shopaholic mother surrendered only after walking around a level in a shopping complex?

I guess age is catching up on us :)

* * * * *

This is my favourite commercial Raya commercial, never failed to bring me to tears every time I saw it.

P/s: I will not be posting anything next Thursday due to work commitment. I guess I will be celebrating Merdeka at Tanah Penjajah. Long live the Queen!

Cover Songs - You Love It or You Hate It?

2010-08-24T15:01:00.001+08:00

How fucking coincidence it is -- that when Dils posted about songs, I happened to stumble upon a good cover song?

Since it is Ramadhan and hearing something with non-meaningful lyrics might reduce the amount of blessings you might get, why don't try something different?

I know that not all of us can hear classical like Beethoven or Bach (heck, I can't stand it, and I can't understand all those mellow feelings), but, if it is a popular song being sing or played by somebody else, would you like to try to hear it?

Behold, by the power of Facebook (credit to Ehsan who share this) - I stumbled upon David Garrett playing Smooth Criminals:

And here's the guy playing live:

Good? Not good? Well I know nothing about violins -- so hearing this for the first time blow my mind. Dils might already knew him or maybe he's already her inspiration, eh Dils? :P

Well, in a way, I think I already answered what Dils asked in the post below -- I love to hear good cover songs when things get bored. Aci tak camnih? HAHA :P

Well, what's your song for now?

Music to my ears

2010-08-24T13:22:00.002+08:00

Sebab bulan puasa, koser ke korang nak baca post panjang-panjang ni?

I am being completely boring and gonna bore you with music. More specifically music I listened to while at work. And those music are not cool according to the American Billboard Top 40.

Classical

Currently Bach and Beethoven. Before this, my favorite was Beethoven. Beethoven music is always so grand. It comes to mind a many of splendoured things. It brings you the feeling at the height of joys (e.g. Ode to Joy) and the very depth of despair (e.g. Egmont Overture).

While Bach, I had always been a bit dismissive towards it, feeling it too mellow. But then as I learned the violin and listened more and more to Bach I noticed that his music is genius. How can I review classical music since I know so little? So what I can do instead is tell you what I feel when I hear them. Bach is mellow but he does wonder even with the simplest of tune, evoking feeling of calm and serenity. Personal favorite is the Bradenburg Concerto No. 3. I think I like it because it played a lot of scales, which I had always love.

Ragtime

Am just about to appreciate ragtime ever since I downloaded Scott Joplin - Bethena A Concert Waltz. And to think I did not realize before this that The Entertainer was composed by him. Huh.

Edith Piaf

I love her ever since watching La Vie En Rose. Marion Cotillard in that movie is astounding. My favorite song is No Mercy ( its in English) and coming second is the now more famous Non Je Ne Regrette Rien.

Those three are the only songs I can stand listening to while doing work. Mostly because there's no lyric for me to get distracted and daydream or in the French songs case, I don't understand it so I am not distracted while at the same time I can stop for a while and appreciate the music.

Contrary to the music above, whenever I am cleaning or doing chores, the music I cranked up to is

- Radiohead (specifically OK Computer album)
- Garbage
- N Sync (say what you like, but upbeat music does help and I think N Sync got pretty good catchy songs for a boy band)
- Britney Spears (same as above.)
- And when I felt like it, The Phantom of the Opera. Felt like I had gone through the whole musical again just by listening through it.

And occasionally some other upbeat songs in the mp3 list. Which does not amount to many, but pointless to list it out. (Macam the whole list ni ade point?)

So what's your listening pleasure for a specific task?

The Expendables: Short review for the hungry addled brain.

2010-08-17T14:06:00.000+08:00

I'd watched the Expendables last weekend.

Warning: May contain spoilers. Nothing major though.

I give it:

4 out of 5 sambal explosive rating. Explosion aplenty with a few generous shots of heads being shot to bits.

5 out of 5 of Pure Cheese.The amount of one liner that is just that is staggering.

0.5 out of 5 tender meaty goodness of a sirloin steaks in term of how bad the dialogue sucks.

1 out of 5 stacks of spaghetti, just how flimsy the plot are. It seems like the plot is being put there as an afterthought to mask the real reason of the movie - Blow stuffs up.

2 out of 5 fried wonton goodness, on the limited screentime and capabilities shown by Jet Li. Dissapointing.

3 fried chickens out of infinity, the number of hot chicks shown. Though seeing Charisma Carpenter name on the credit, made me squee like a Buffy fan nerd should.

1 Ramly Special Beef Burger - The amount of time you would finish a burger would be almost equal to the amount of time Bruce Willis and Arnie make their appearance here. (Unless you are a slow eater, and if you are why are you eating a Ramly burger slowly. Ramly burger is meant to be eaten while hot!)

Ok. Can't think of any food related things to relate to this movie. Basically go for it for the explosions and just don't pay attention to the dialogue or you will cringe, cringe, cringe. I thought right, I went for exactly that and went out of the cinemas satisfied at seeing all these 80s and 90s actions stars in one film.

And since people are comparing these 3 movies earlier on... I have to say personal preference goes like this.

1. The Losers - Most of the characters are awesome or likable. And I like that fight scene in the rundown hotel. I have a girl crush on Zoe Saldana, so I maybe a bit bias.

2. The Expendables - Everything is fast,fast,fast. I am beginning to hate the slow motion things action movies got going on, and it just showed how incredibly hard the actors/stunt makers must work to choreograph the fights. The actors seems mesh well with each other. And the scene where Jason Statham give an ass kicking to the domestic abuser and the gang, while pointless is awesome.

3. The A-Team - The action is good. But I mostly hate the characters which is why I like it the least. The Mr.T subplot is tedious, Bradley Cooper and Jessica Biel story need not be there nor that they have chemistry. The only thing I like there is Liam Neeson (maybe because I am still madly in love with him after watching Taken. That movie is THE AWESOME). Mostly, I just can't remember how the story goes. It just shows how forgettable the whole thing are.

Ok stopping now because it may lead to a review of the A Team.

New EPL Season

2010-08-15T11:42:00.003+08:00

I will not talk about Ramadhan since everyone in here talking about it anyway. It's a different Ramadhan though having go thru it with my wife. He he.

What attractive to me this month is the new EPL season. As usual, we have 3 new clubs from Championship promoted to EPL. It was a pleasant surprise yesterday when Blackpool (one of the newly promoted club to EPL) crushing Wigan Athletic with score of 4 to nil. Bravo to the Tangerine for powerful display and it's definitely an interesting month to say the least when they will be in Emirates Stadium meeting with Arsenal.

Will there be another upset by The Tangerine? I would love to see one but a club with caliber of Arsenal will teach some lesson to newly promoted Blackpool on standard in EPL. However, it never hurt to pray for some upset. I would love to see Arsenal get their ass kick by Blackpool but before that, I want to see them crushed by Liverpool tonight.

Talking about Liverpool, it's good to see some new players making way in Liverpool squad. I would love to see how Joe Cole could do his magic while he's with Chelsea. He's a good player though a tad bit old for his role but like Danny Murphy, he still fit to play for Fulham and a highly regarded player that could change the game when needed the most.

Glad to see Torres stays at Liverpool. As usual every season, I hope Liverpool would win something just to end Liverpool title drought. I'm not so optimist to say that Liverpool will be title contender but only hope to secure UCL berth again.

p/s: Liverpool jersey officially "halal" with new sponsorship from Standard Chartered Bank. Above picture of Torres with "halal" jersey.

Seven Random Ramadhan Ranting

2010-08-13T13:38:00.004+08:00

Wahid

Selamat menyambut Ramadhan Al-Mubarak untuk semua & Semoga Ramadhan ini membawa perubahan. Yes, I do hope this Ramadhan will change a few bad things about me and I really wished to be a better person :)

Isnaini

I love Ramadhan as my company let us leave the office at 4pm. I can reach home by 4.30-5.00pm and that means I have 2-3 hours to cook our Iftar dish. I managed to cook for all sahur and on the first day of Iftar. I will cook again tonight, hopefully.

Thalatha

As you can see, I love cooking so much and I really wish that I can enroll in this Culinary Retreat, Bayan Indah. But, after reading a few bloggers' review that have enrolled in the course... most of them brought a friend to be their partner. Hmm... anyone interested to learn how to cook and be my partner?

Arba'ah

Yesterday, after leaving the office, I helped my brother to check out from his hostel. So, when we arrived at Ampang... it was well after 6pm. Instead of cooking, I dragged my brother to Pasar Ramadhan at Bukit Indah. The food price there was exhilarating. Nasi kerabu with sambal paru = RM6. Three pieces of samosa = RM2. Ikan pari bakar the size of my palm = RM10.

Khamsah

I hate having my Iftar alone. For me, Iftar is a moment that should be shared with our loved ones. As for now, I need to arrange my Iftar schedule to make sure that I got daily company. Sounds pathetic, but seriously... after years of Iftar with my large family, I can't bear being alone during Iftar TT_TT.

Sittah

As I have nothing to do during lunch hour, I surfed the net for local artists gossip. Why? Because most of the international website are blocked in our network. Things that get me ticked were the comments, not the story/gossip itself. But, why the Malay commentors are so damn negative? Orang kawin salah, orang cerai salah, orang cantik salah, orang huduh salah, orang dye rambut salah, Linda Onn and Syafinaz yang dapat kumpul harta dengan kerjaya sendiri pon dikutuk sebab tak kawin2 (Okay, I got personal reasons for this one :P). But, seriously... should you see everything on the negative way? *sigh* Macamanelah kaum aku nak maju~

Sab'ah

Lastly, I want to give my two thumbs up to MyEG for their efficient service. If you read my FB status last Friday, you will know that my driving license expired like... more than 1 month ago. I could not find the time to go to the Post Office or JPJ (lazy was a more likely reason :P), so my friend suggested MyEG. I was a little skeptical at first. But, I still give it a try and I submitted the application on late Friday afternoon. Their processing time was 5 working days. So, I assumed my license will be ready on the next Friday (today), the earliest. But, on Saturday afternoon MyEG staff called me asking my whereabouts as they wanted to deliver the driving license that day. It was less than 24 hours!!!

Sorry to disappoint you though.. it was not Maya Karin who deliver it :P

P/s Mari kita belajar mengira dalam bahasa Arab. Heheh...

#016 - Puasa Juge

2010-08-12T08:27:00.002+08:00

Ahh semua org buat post pasal Bulan Ramadhan... I want to join the bandwagon too (sambil dengan tanpa malu dan segan menghijack post dari Ms. Thursday lol)

Takpe, persetujuan dah ade :)

Anyway, cakap pasal bulan puasa, nombor satu yg teringat dalam kepala mestilaa pasar/bazar Ramadhan. Makanan macam2 jenis, macam2 kaler, macam2 rasa, macam2 bentuk. Mcmmana kita nak tau benda yang kita beli tu sedap ke tidak?

1) Mula2, mestilaa dari tradisi. Sebagai contoh, tiap2 tahun Mee Kari Man laa yang paling sedap di Pasar Ramadhan Jitra. Tahun demi tahun rasa macam tu laa, sedap. Cuma harga sajalah yang berbeza, makin naik hahaha. Sama jugak macam stall yang konfem tak sedap / tak kena dgn selera kita. So dah mark dah yg mana sedap / tak sedap based on tahun2 lepas punya pengalaman.

2) Kepada yang suka makan makanan yang jenis2 ada kuah ni, kena jaga2lah kak long sekalian. Sebagai contoh yang femes, jenis gulai kawah. Kita kena tau tukang jual ni memang tiap2 hari sold out ka, gulai sampai 2-3 kawah. Kalo tak habis, maka slim chance lah dia nak masak yang baru. Takkan nak buang yang lama. Memang kari2 ni lagi lama lagi sedap, tapi kalau recycle sampai seminggu, bole masuk spital dah silap2 keracunan.

3) Macam hari pertama semalam, fuhh semua kedai mcm sold out. Yang mana ada nama / orang ramai queue memang untung lah. Selalunya awal2 puasa ni, better survey lah dulu and mark siap2 kedai mana sedap, kedai mana tak etc. Try tengok beli. Kalau tak sedap, esok jangan cuba2 dah sebab quality kebanyakan kedai makin lama makin turun.

4) Beli sekadar termampu. Memang nafsu kita ni kalau hidu asap ayam percik, bukan main lagi. Rasa macam boleh telan sampai 4-5 ketul. Itu belum masuk popia, murtabak, mee goreng, bihun sup, nasik lagi. Perut manusia ni limited spacenya. Memang afdal sangatlah kalau beli sekadar satu main dish dan sejenis kuih. Air buat sendiri kat rumah. Sahur nanti makan sajalah apa2 biskut ka megi ka. Tak payah nak sedapkan nafsu tu yang kata "Alah kalo tak abis, bole makan time sahur nanti". Itu pon kalo bangun. Kalo tak bangun, masuk peti ais. Lama2 ke tong sampah jugaklah. Jimat cermat.

5) Kalau hampa2 ni kaki makan kat luar, haa booking tu kena awal sikitlah. Jangan seronok sangat nak gamble sebab memang akan full punya segala tempat makan yang ada. Tambah2 plak dengan semangat 1Malaysia ni, semua orang tak kira agama nak jugak dinner time yang sama. Berebut2lah. Kalo miss booking, beli air dan sembahyang Maghrib dulu. Rilek kalo perut tu dah bole tahan 12-13 jam, takkan lagi setengah jam pon nak bising dah.

Ok nanti kita sembang pasal Pre-Raya plak. Selamat meraikan kehadiran Ramadhan dengan beramal seikhlas mungkin.

Different Places, Different Kind of People, Same Ramadhan.

2010-08-11T16:19:00.000+08:00

Oh hai kembali lagi and happy fasting to all of you (who fast)! Nothing much to write actually. Pfft.

When it comes to fasting and Ramadhan, what I miss a lot was my memories of fasting at my hometown in Johor. I can't help but noticed some differences of the environment, the peoples, and how they react towards the events. Let me list it here.. (list might be in Malay pasal nak amek feel :P)

1) Takde moreh kat KL!

Peh, I was expecting kat surau Kajang yang ramai orang ni at least to have some coffee being handed around after the prayer. But takde! T____T

Compared to Muar, paling2 koman pun ade la karipap dengan air kopi. Biasa-biasa kitorg makan nasik ambang you! KL? Cis, jangan harapkan burger, roti kering pun takde!

2) KL tak cuti first puasa!

Kalau dulu, first puasa adalah hari untuk melepek kat rumah; tidur sepanjang hari, duk diam-diam kat umah, keluar hanya pada waktu petang untuk pergi bazar beli makanan bukak puasa.

Haa kalau kat Johor, time pergi bazar tu je lah yang boleh ter"kureng" pahala puasa sikit. Sebab:

1) Dok usha awek2 comel
2) Membeli makanan tanpa ingat dunia; ingat perut sendiri je.

Itu jelah pun cabaran yg perlu dihadapi pada first day puasa kalau kat Johor. Tapi sekarang?

First day puasa kena pergi kerja, dah tak boleh tidur-tidur.

Sampai tempat kerja tengok amoi Cina pakai ketat terbonjol-bonjol.

Duduk kat cubicle tengok mamat India tengah sedap layan roti canai.

Lepas tu, bila time balik -- semua pun balik awal! Bila traffic jem, cuba tengok kereta sebelah. Kalau tak gelap, mata sepet. Padahal tadi diorang jugak yang sedap NOM NOM kat sebelah meja kita. Huihhh emo!

3) Sembahyang Terawih -- 8 rakaat je kat KL.

Okay ini mungkin aku generalizing lah kan, sah-sah aku pergi satu masjid je pun. Kemungkinan besar masjid lain buat 20. Saje nak bagi point lebih hahaha. Tapi semalam, on the first night pergi Terawih, dengan imam-imam buat lapan rakaat je weih!

Baru first night je tu. Adeih. Kalau kat Muo dulu, first night ni memang semua berebut-rebut nak tunjuk power. Imam buat 20 rakaat siap dengan 3 witir. Baca surah siap panjang-panjang kalau boleh nak abes satu juzuk terus utk satu rakaat. Doa baca sepanjang yang boleh.

Walaupun tak berkekalan sehingga ke hari yang ke-30, tapi sekurang-kurangnya bangga jugaklah warga kampung aku ni buat jugak 20 rakaat (walaupun selalunya orang-orang tua kerepot je; budak-budak selalu main kejar-kejar; yang muda remaja dok isap rokok).

Tapi semalam, bila aku bangun nak balik lepas 8 rakaat, tiba-tiba aku dengar imam dah angkat takbir utk solat witir dah!

I just LOL.

Hoh dah pukul 4:30. Mari pulang berbuka puasa! :D

Ramadhan coming.

2010-08-10T13:32:00.000+08:00

Tomorrow in fact ( If the anak bulan is ever so kind to make an appearance). Can you believe that time is going so fast nowadays.

I don't have any wise word regarding the Ramadhan month. So in fact I'll just jot down some things from my memory regarding my past puasa experiences during my childhood.

Because I am feeling very woozy, I couldn't be arsed to gather my disjointed memory in a more orderly manner. Let see it in random.

1. I couldn't remembered exactly what year of age I started puasa. But I remembered the year I puasa full. Actually come to think of it, I never puasa full because my period started early ( I was in standard 5). Hoh!

2. My mom rarely have any rice and lauk dishes untuk berbuka puasa. The standard fare is something like a 3 course meal. Sup or bubur for starter. Then some mee/makaroni/murtabak/etc for main, then kuih muih for the last. Rice is for sahur.

3. Drinks is always, cincau or homemade mata kucing. Awesome. Sometimes when my mom had finished her stocks of mata kucing and cincau jelly, then various cordial drinks.

4.Dulu remembered that the kakak-kakak at my tempat mengaji mana yang tak boleh puasa, will buy ice cream and sneaked at the back of the rumah makcik ajar ngaji tu and eat their ice cream Malaysia. Sometimes I joined them. Ini adalah sebelum 'kena seruan'.

5. I remembered my ustazah (Ko ingat Nai?) made a snide remarks about those who went to terawikh together-together with their boyfriends. Aku lupa la nama Ustazah tu.

6. I remembered berpuasa time sekolah is fine enough, but then we continue on to sekolah agama. Time sekolah agama sume muka sudah haggard.

7. My brother and I love air kathira. Kinda like Johor punye specialty drink. But my mom rarely let us buy them because long time ago there was a air kathira scare (some seller didn't boil their contaminated water I think) and many people get sick. The same reason why we never ate siput sedut at Kelantan. So if we bought one, my mom would be like "If you get sick, don't expect any sympathy from me".

8. Most of the family are not big on lagu raya. I particularly dislike it. So don't expect me to give support to anyone who think blaring out loud lagu raya at the office is awesome and give a celebration feel atmosphere. You know what my grandfather used to play? Lagu gelek dari Arab. I like that moar.

So, so far that is the totally random memory of the bulan puasa month.

Selamat Berpuasa and Have a good Ramadhan to y'all!

Film Review: Exam

2010-08-08T00:22:00.004+08:00

Hye there. Was busy, here and there..the usual stuff. However, still managed to slip in one great movie. The movie title Exam. First of all, it's not about usual assessment of student but rather "job interview" kind of exam. The synopsis as follows:

Eight talented candidates have reached the final stage of selection to join the ranks of a mysterious and powerful corporation. Entering a windowless room, a man gives them eighty minutes to answer one simple question. He outlines three rules they must obey or be disqualified: don't talk to him or the armed guard by the door, don't spoil their papers and don't leave the room. He starts the clock and leaves. The candidates turn over their question papers, only to find they're completely blank. After the initial confusion has subsided, one frustrated candidate writes 'I believe I deserve...,' and is promptly ejected for spoiling.

Source: Wikipedia

My Review:

WARNING: May contain spoilers. Read at your own discretion.

1) I just love movies that wasn't use normal name for character name. Instead, they used places, colors, ethnicity etc to represent character. This movie used it extensively. (e.g. of other movies: Zombieland, Reservoir Dogs).

2) This movie that plays with lots of dialog. Don't get me wrong, it could be freaking boring at times at some other movies but well written lines in this movie could be very interesting to watch.

3) Exam using a small-space concept and focusing on the conflict rather than having broad set. The "exam" take place in a room that could accommodate around 20 people. Just like Phone booth and 12 Angry Men.

4) Twisted ending was my favorite thing. It could set you aback and keep make you thinking about the ending. It's the best part of a movie but it should be unpredictable cause otherwise it would be suck. The ending keep you thinking, I didn't see that coming.

5) Conflict and office politics. Everything summed up nicely in this movie, which make you said, Uhhhahh...I think I had seen this happened before. In real life I mean.

6) The revelation. Although I dig twisted ending, knowing the progress of the event and explanation bout it rather soothing. I appreciate the hint but seriously, you can't get enough of hint when you watch it the first time. By helping the audience understand the event and progress of it, it could create understanding and left no space for own interpretation. Otherwise, it would be not so favorable and understandable to the mass. I beg to differ in the case of Inception though.

7) Strong, in-the-character actor. I don't mind not so famous actors as long as the cast could really act. In this movie, the cast strongly brought up their character to the surface and having fun doing it. It's such a waste that the winner of the Exam wasn't a character that get much of screen time or witty dialogue but it would be perfect for the development of the story anyway.

All in all, the storyline was strong and justifiable though the ending might get you into argument. In that defense, I would like to stress that the candidate had gone so much and given the rules of the Invigilator, who would dare to spoil their chance by answering it anyway - too much at stake to be spoiled by smart ass move. I see the ending just mere wrap up to the story and a justification on how do they doing it that way, you're not supposed to dispute about it anyway cause the most interesting part is the conflict rather than the ending.

Anyhow, my most favorable character would be Brown. He's sadistic and generally most smart of all of them. Download it and enjoy it. If you already watch it or have something to say, please share it at comment box.

p/s: It's a British movie.

The Vampire Comparison

2010-08-05T11:45:00.000+08:00

This post maybe kinda TL;DR but since I love these 3 series so I have painstakingly tabulated the difference between these 3 series.Heheh.. so, enjoy :P

	Twilight Saga	True Blood	Vampire Diaries
Location	Fords, Washington (Real town)	Bon Tempts, Louisiana (Fictional town)	Mystic Falls, Virginia (Fictional town)
The Cast	Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner are drool-worthy. No one can resist their vampire and werewolf abs. But, no matter how “I-am-hotter-than-you-Edward” Jacob is still lacking on the charismatic and alluring factor compared to Edward. Yes, I am team Edward! :P Kristen Steward as Bella is okay; pretty enough to be their love interest… beautiful hair but the character has no guts! Sometimes I just wanted to strangle her for leading Jacob on just to hurt him again and again.	Stephen Moyer is not hot enough, okay.. he is not that bad. But seriously, he looks old to be paired with Anna Paquin. The antagonist, Alexander Skarsgård on the other hand is superb. Physically, he has everything that a vampire needs. Viking past? Checked! Drink human blood? Checked! Seductive? Double checked! Anna Paquin? Not my cup of tea.. but her acting is convincing. Maybe it was her accent that turned me off from being her fan.	Nina Dobrev as Elena Gilbert is captivating! Her strong characters add colours to the series and she did seem real. Mind you, she played double character in the series and she made it. Paul Wesley as Stefan Salvatore compliments Elena’s character well. But, his character reminds me of Edward character. A little bit boring, romantic and heroic character. Ian Somerhalder? Pengsan I love his antagonist character and he is exactly what I imagined a vampire will be. Military background? Checked! Drink human blood? Checked! Seductive? Triple checked!
Diet	Human and animal blood. Human food is yucky to them.	Human blood only. Never saw them consume any human food but they have this True Blood drink to replace the normal blood.	Human and animal blood. Human food is also okay to them. Drink alcohol and coffee to curb their blood craving. Vampire can get intoxicated… like WTF?
Sunlight Effect	Sparkle sparkle sparkle	Burn, no excuse.	Burn but if they wear a Lapis Lazuri ring they can withstand the sunlight.
How to be one?	Requires being bitten by a vampire and injected with vampire venom. The venom then works its way through the human body, causing cellular changes throughout the body over usually a three day period. Incredibly painful.	A vampire must drain a human of all their blood, effectively killing that human, and replace it with some of their own blood. The vampire and drained human will then sleep in the ground for two to three nights until the drained human rises as a vampire.	Bitten. Consume vampire blood. Killed while vampire blood was still in their system. Consume vampire blood again. Feed on human to complete the transformation. Too complicated :P
Vampire Kryptonite	Nothing known	Silver and Garlic	Vervain (herb)
Gore Factor	Not gore at all	Very, very gore	Moderate
Physical Build	Crystal, diamond hard body. Cold. Pale and alluring.	Pale but not so alluring (except Eric :P).	Consume alcohol and coffee to keep their temperature high. Can bleed like human. Not pale.
Other mystical character	Werewolf (shape shifter)	Shapeshifter, witch, maenads, werewolf	Witch
Wood Effect	What wood? Even bullet can’t past through their diamond hard body.	Will be dead if staked at heart.	Will be dead if staked at heart.
Invitation to Human House	No invitation needed. Can enter and leave as their heart desire.	Need invitation before enter.	Need invitation before enter.
Ability	Supernatural strength, speed and senses. Various ability that only a gifted vampire can have. Mind reading, telekinesis, mental attack, tracking, etc…	Supernatural strength, speed and senses. Heal human who drinks their blood.	Supernatural strength, speed and senses. Heal human who drinks their blood.
Books	I can say that the movie sticks to the books, even to the script. The storyline may need to be altered to fit the movie hours, but as a loyal book reader… I have nothing to complain	I haven't read any complaints from the book reader and I never read one myself, so I guess the storyline is okay.. or they simply doesn't care because the show is good enough for them. Heheh...	Most book reader complains that the TV shows vary too far from the books. Elena should be a blue eyed, blonde and have 4 years old sister (Margaret), not a brunette with a teenage brother (Jeremy).

Personal View

Twilight – It is a love story. Fullstop. Anybody who wanted an ass whipping, action packed, blood dripping vampire movie will find themselves a major disappointment. Yeah, it still shows some brutal killing by the werewolves and vampire, but the peaceful vampires are not meant to be a killer. The limbs flying scene in Eclipse did not induce terror, at all. We (mostly female :P) love it because of the love story and the mushy feeling we had inside when Edward was with Bella. We know that true love like them is too good to be true, but sometimes we just want to be a romantic at heart. In other words, Bella is too weak and meek for us the female population to choose as a role model. I am looking forward for the fourth and maybe fifth installment of the movie to see that if Bella’s character can outgrow her meekness.

True Blood – I hate it at first because I can’t understand what Sookie was trying to say. Her accent takes time for me to be familiar with and seriously, that gap between her front teeth is distracting. The show is like a soft core, sex scene were in almost every episode and mind you, it involve bondage and other stuff that you won’t normally seen in normal TV shows. The storyline is intense and it sticks to the usual vampire folklore. It needs a few episodes to be familiar with their accents and to stomach their bloodied guts. After getting through the first few episodes, I was glued to this series and I did have tears in my eyes in the scene where Eric mourns the loss of his creator and mentor, Godric.Season 3 has just begun and I have not received the episodes from my supplier yet, but I bet it will continue rocking the vampire world.

Vampire Diaries – The pilot was a little blahhh… but the story did grow stronger in the latter episodes. True as what other review said, the show is liberated between the romance of Twilight and the gore of True Blood. It may appeal to the moderate audience, but it is still a teenage and female attracting series. But, since this series is so much in moderation in everything, I find it kind of normal. The love is rational and the gore factor is manageable. I love the lead female character though, Elena. She is strong-willed, rational girl that is not blinded by love (*cough* Bella *cough*). She still has doubt for Stefan and she is scared of vampires, as what normal human being should react. The antagonist in the show, Damon is too drool-worthy for me and I can’t just take my eyes off his face. The show will continue for the second season starting this September 2010 and I can’t wait to see Damon again :D

#015 - Living in Klang Valley

2010-08-02T09:32:00.002+08:00

Sorry for the lack of post recently (by me). Got nothing to share resulting in a halfway written post every single time. Yeah nothing really interesting things to share.

So this year, it is my 5th year living in this central region. 4 and a half years in KL and the rest in Putrajaya. My achievements? Well I know the roads in KL, planted like Google Maps in my head. How about visiting places of interest in KL? That's the issue here.

We'll start by the famous Point of Interest in KL (that I've never been there before).

1) Muzium Negar a - Never been there. I tried so many times during weekends to be there but always ended up going to malls and Jalan TAR instead.

2) Istana Budaya - Been dreaming to get a ticket for Puteri Gunung Ledang musical. No gang means no go.

3) Balai Seni Lukis Negara - I'm no artist. I can't even appreciate abstract art and whatnot. But to be there at least once, maybe I can get to know how artist mind works.

4) Lake Garden - AKA Taman Tasik Perdana. I've been to the neighboring Orchid and Hibiscus Garden but not the Lake itself. Is there anything interesting there?

5) Tugu Negara - National Monument. Sigh I guess I'm not patriotic enough to visit this place. Someday, with my arsenal of cameras, I will be there.

6) Dewan Filharmonik Petronas - Been wishing to visit there at least once, you know like enjoying some live orchestra or something. Up to date, the closest place I've been is at the PETT foyer.

7) Pusat Sains Negara - Too far maybe (alasannn). I planned to be there during the recent Leonardo Da Vinci showcase but got last minute change of plans.

And I'm proud to say that the places not listed above, I've been there :)

I always thought that KL is a bit boring but man I was wrong. Boring in the sense of visiting the same malls over and over again. So for those living in Klang Valley, appreciate KL and go visit those places. What you think all those attractions are for old people only ka? Hahahaha

So fellas, if you do have some serious plans to go in the place listed above, ring me. The more the merrier.

Sumbat, Sorok, Selit... Sampai Sendat

2010-07-30T12:40:00.001+08:00

I am sorry for the lack of updates. It has been two straight Thursday without any blog post now.

I should not make any excuse as I am the one who said that we can write a consistent post once a week, but as my job grows more demanding as days goes by... I succumb to the pressure. Only Dils is the consistent blogger here, so I know if we got that advertisement cheque, she deserved to get the biggest slice of pie. Heheh...

* * * * *

Ranting ahead, my office now is undergoing audit for 5S implementation. I understand that the origin of this practice are for the factory and warehouse to keep their files and tools in order. Its objective to get everything indexed, labeled and filed are good, but when they want to implement 5S in an office, it surely a hassle.

Sometimes, they do not even understand our nature of job before criticizing our lacked of "5S" attitude. I am working in a fast-paced department where letters, contracts, fax documents, catalogues, proposals are our bread and butter. How can we function without them? *sigh*

Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu and Shitsuke

NOT

Sumbat, Sorok, Selit... Sampai Sendat

Do you expect us to change the file label and numbering daily? The effort and time taken to print and cut the label for these numerous files should be used to generate more profit for the company. Besides, as we on the business lines are the one who provide the revenue to sustain the expenses for the support services (to pay the 5S auditor), you should be able to cut us some slack :P

This is my workstation

Do you actually believe that someone can actually work in a workstation that neat? No paper and pen out of place and not even any files in sight... It is too neat for me, maybe not for you though. Heheh...

But, I rebelled by not removing all the personal items and souvenirs from display. We shall keep our hypocrisy at a safe level, right?

... and yes, I love my flowers on top of the CPU. If you say that I will be more depressed with a serabut* workstation, you haven't see my car or my room yet... and I think the 5S auditor will run for their life if they were to inspect my wardrobe :P

*they still call this serabut and it will make me murung -_-"