Monday, November 21, 2005

I'M A KITTEN!

You Are A: Kitten!

kitty catCute as can be, kittens are playful, mischevious, and ever-curious. Kittens are often loving, but are known to scratch or bite when annoyed. These adorable animals are the most popular pets in the United States--37% of American households have at least one cat. Whether it is your gentle purr or your disarming appearance, you make a wonderful kitten.

You were almost a: Bear Cub or a Monkey
You are least like a: Groundhog or a ChipmunkWhat Cute Animal Are You?


YEAP, JUST AS I THOUGHT :-)
purrrrrrrrrr.....

HITAM PUTIH MASA DEPAN

Lihatlah sekitar alam
Dunia luas terbentang
Langit tinggi kebiruan
Pohon-pohon kehijauan
Hembusan bayu yang menyegarkan

Dengarkan di sana-sini
Beburung riang menyanyi
Berbunga aneka warna
Sumber kedamaian jiwa
Mensyukuri nikmat Maha Esa

Begitu berharga kehidupan ini
Bagi mereka yang tahu menghargai
Mengapa terdorong oleh perasaan
Kalau turutkan hati diri menjadi korban

Tiada yang dapat lari dari masalah diri
Hadapi lah dengan tenang
Tiap cabaran yang datang
Atasinya dengan keimanan

Sekadar buat renungan
Untukmu teman tersayang
Hitam putih masa depan
Sendirian menentukan
Hidup ini usah persiakan

*POSITIVE THINKING*
*Jie psyching herself up for tomorrow's monday blues*


Lyrics to Sheila Majid's song, courtesy of http://www.liriklagu.com/imnogman.html

KURODA NO SAYAKO


A wedding is almost always a joyous occassion, for the wedding couple as well as their respective families & friends. Why do people get married? For love, you say. For companionship, for procreation {let's be honest - for lust also, right?}. Some get into it at the persuasion of their families (mak suruh) and some family-arranged marriages even have political or financial interests to strengthen. The more religious might even say it is a religious obligation to marry when the time comes. What do YOU look for in a marriage? What does SHE look for?

Japan's Princess Nori (unofficial name) an only princess born to the current imperial family, relinquished all her birthrights, including title and allowances, upon her marriage to a commoner Yoshiki Kuroda. She had already quit her part-time job before the wedding, and is set to become a housewife in the near future. Sounds easy? Boy, does she have a lot to learn!

Rasa-rasanya kat Mesia ni, ada ke orang yang sanggup buat gini?

Tapi takpe, at least Yoshiki tu handsome sket, hopefully anak depa nanti lawa la berbanding muka famili maknya. Maknya tak lawa, tapi selalu senyum, manis gak la.

Saturday, November 19, 2005

UNEXPECTED CALL

Today I had an unexpected and a little disturbing phone call on my mobile. Actually, that number (from another mobile) has been coming up on my phone since the last few days, but some of the times I missed the call because I was away from my desk or the phone was on silent mode, or just plainly ignored because it wasn't a familiar number. When it rang for the umpteenth time today, I decided to pick up the call.

Hello
Hello, boleh saya bercakap dengan *Jie*?
Ya, ni siapa ni?
Awak tak kenal saya, tapi saya kenal la awak sikit-sikit

After much dilly-dally, and 'camana nak cakap ye', she finally said, saya isteri *my Ex*

I was speechless for a while. She sounded young, at least younger than me la. Lots of pauses in between words. Uncertainty. Fear. Do I hear a choking-back-tears in her voice?

Apparently she was given my number since they first started being friends "in case you want to ask anything about me", he said. To show that he was sincere and has nothing to hide. But she never felt it necessary to call me, until now. She asks me to tell her what he is really like because "I'm confused", she said.

I was torn between decisions. On one hand, I could tell her my past experience, why I did what I did, but I risk 'influencing' any future decisions that she might make, and that would be wrong. On the other hand, I can empathize with what she is going through, and I pity her, and leaving her helpless like that is also wrong.

In the end, I apologized for not being able to offer her any help. I felt guilty, but I have always considered marriage to be a very private matter, and since I am an outsider, I have no rights whatsoever to say anything, good or bad. We were both choking on our words by then. I hope against hope that she doesn't get too mistreated, to the extent of bodily harm. Just one parting advice, I asked if she is close to her family. She said yes. And I told her "dik, kalau ada masalah yang adik tak boleh handle, rujuklah kepada keluarga adik dan keluarga dia juga, mungkin berbincang boleh jumpa jalan penyelesaian". Family support at times like this is crucial. I know this from experience.

Dik S, I will keep you in my doa from this time onwards.


Friday, November 18, 2005

LOOKING INTO THE MIRROR

I've been looking into the mirror quite often lately. I meant that metaphorically. Not that there's so much physical beauty pun to feed off my ego on, biasa aje. Most of the time, I wonder who is this person looking back at me? At the moment I don't really like her very much.

She used to be happier. Enjoys life. Socializes with friends after hours. Pursues her interests. Have fun!

Now she's sober bordering moody at times. Doesn't have much life outside. Rarely goes out with friends anymore. No current interests to pursue. No fun.

Is this the price of age, of maturity? Perhaps. Or the burden of getting on with life, the story of daily survival? There are hunger pangs, still unsatisfied.

Don't understand? Don't bother. This post is too encrypted even for my own brain. Adeehhhh... fenin.

Thursday, November 10, 2005

DI BALIK CERMIN MIMPI

Di balik cermin mimpi
Aku melihat engkau
Di dalam engkau
Aku melihat aku
Ternyata kita adalah sama
Di arena mimpi yang penuh bermakna

Bila bulan bersatu dengan mentari
Bayang-bayang ku hilang
Di selebungi kerdip nurani
Mencurah kasih, kasih murni
Mencurah kasih

Di balik cermin, cermin mimpi
Adalah realiti yang tidak kita sedari
Hanya keyakinan dapat merestui
Hakikat cinta yang sejati
Hakikat cinta yang sejati

Dengan tersingkapnya tabir siang
Wajah kita jelas terbayang
Dan terpecah cermin mimpi
Menjadi sinar pelangi
Pelangi


Tuesday, November 08, 2005

STUFF WE SING TO KIDS

Someone in the office mentioned about the 'dodoi' songs (lullabye) currently being aired on radio, where Shiela, Ziana & Dayang sang some traditional malay lullabyes. It's in an effort to retain an almost-forgotten culture, although some of the songs were sang in a pop or jazz style, so defeats the purpose of it being a lullabye or kiddy song, yuch! So I asked, OK what is your favourite lullabye or nursery rhyme, or even traditional songs we used to sing as kids?

Chesyu : "Air pasang dalam..."
Cheza : "Air pasang pagi ler "
Me : "Bukan, air pasang dalam "
Chesyu : "Air pasang dalam, surut pukul tiga "
Chemaj : "Pukul lima la! "
Cheza : "Haah la wrong timing la hang, air pasang pagi surut pukul lima..."
Me : "Aiyo... air pasang dalam, surut pukul lima la!!!"

Such a simple kiddy song pun, so many versions? Memang la perlu ada usaha untuk re-introduce these songs or nursery rhymes to our next generation. I myself could recall only a few common kiddy songs like Rasa Sayang Eh, Can Mali Can, Geylang Si Paku Geylang. Itu belum pikir about folk stories lagi, like Bawang Putih Bawang Merah and Pak Pandir. Banyak yang dah lupa.

Eh, what's with all the violence ye? Rock-a-bye baby, and then the baby and its cradle fall from the bough, with presumably fatal consequences. Which sick person had placed the baby and cradle on top of the tree in the first place? Jack & Jill broke their crown while tumbling down the hill. Frankly getting away with just a gash like that must be a miracle. Che Baba jatuh dalam parit, Che Aminah ketawa jerit-jerit. Yikes, what rude mannerism Che Aminah has.

Then there was the Lagu Tiga Kupang, which we initially thought was an original nonsensical malay nursery rhyme, tapi rupanya is a translation of "Sing A Song Of Sixpence". Ni sixpence tukar jadi tiga posen, pakai currency exchange rate zaman bila ni? :-) Cheza came up with "lompat apek, lompat", to which Chemaj promptly replied to "hoi, tu lagu P.Ramlee dalam Ali Baba Bujang Lapuk la! tapi ada satu lagu tu yang nenek, nenek si bongkok tiga, tu lagu dodoi kan?" To which Cheyah menyampuk "kau pun salah, itu pun lagu dalam filem P.Ramlee, Musang Berjanggut tu" We ended up laughing at ourselves, masing-masing memory pathetic betul hehehe :-P

But one kiddy song really takes the cake la. Cheza's nephew learned it from his teacher in preschool, it's a translation of 'Baa Baa Black Sheep' :-
"Bek bek kambing, kau ada bulu tak? Ya tuan, ya tuan, tiga karung penuh"
Goodness gracious! We couldn't stop laughing for a full 3 minutes hahahaha :-D

YES NO MAYBE, HOPE SO

Monday, November 07, 2005

THE SIX FIFTY FIVE A.M SYNDROME

I've had this thingy since the past how many years I dunno. Does this happen to you too?

No matter what time I wake up in the morning, 4.30 a.m ka, 5.30 a.m ka, 6.30 a.m ka, I'll be all showered-dolled up-dressed-ready to go to work by 6.55 a.m. Wierd, huh?

So if I can be ready in 25 minutes on days I wake up at 6.30 a.m, where does the extra one hour go on days I wake up at 5.30 a.m? Oooo.... my inner clock must be so screwed up hehehehe :-)

Tapi itu on working days aje la. On weekends or public holidays or even days that I am on leave, try waking me up at 5.30 a.m, and you'll get a nice view of an outline of my bum under the quilt, cause all I'd do is turn away and bury myself deeper under the quilt. Alamatnya, subuh gajah la, lagi 10 minit nak syuruk baru bangun. Ha, tang ni, my inner clock is quite efficient plak. Go figure.

Sunday, November 06, 2005

Welcome, Kaez!

Just had a morbid thought. If I died tonight, what's gonna happen to this blog? Hehehe :-) Call it vanity or whatnot, but takkan blog ni pun die terus, tak syok la.

So, in the spirit of sharing and friendship, I hereby cordially invite my buddy Kaez to visit my alternate universe. Welcome, Kaez!

Just click on the link, bebeh.

  • http://www.mindarayau.blogspot.com/
  • MY DAILY UPPER


    Muhammad Amir Haziq


    Dari saat kelopak mata terbuka
    Hingga saat ku terpejam lena
    You are
    My daily upper
    My daily saviour


    Oh yeah, to Ajiq's Mama & Papa, Maklong tumpang ye, hehehe :-)

    Saturday, November 05, 2005

    ANIMAL LOVE

    Perhaps the title ought to be changed to 'To Love Animals' in order to avoid any confusion, huh? But what I mean is not only about humans loving animals (in the good sense - doesn't include love for food or copulation purposes), but also animals loving their humans. If you have pets, you'll know what I mean.

    I have had cats since as far back as I can remember. Then, our house was near a school canteen, so people were always leaving strays there with the hopes that at least the strays can find food at the canteen. Most of the strays instead ended up in our kitchen compound, begging for food and looking so forlorn. At one time, we had as many as 17 cats, phew! The amazing thing was that although the cats were allowed inside our compound, they rarely leave their excrement around. Almost as if every new cat got toilet-trained by the older cats. { Hey you there, newbie, don't shit around 'coz the boss might get upset and kick ALL of us out! }

    Among all the cats I ever had, the one closest to me was the last one I had, called Meor. No, he's not from Perak. He was a 'pariah' kitten that I rescued on my last day at Uni, I had to take him home because he (& a brother) had been abandoned by their mom, and they would surely die if left at the deserted hostels, since it was the semester holidays. He was called Meor because that's how he sounded then, not the high-pitched kitten-mew, but 'mee-yor, mee-yor'. His brother we called Miung, because he was clumsy and kept bumping into furniture :-)

    They were quite well-trained adorable kittens, playing in the neighbour's yard and then come running home to do business in their kitty litter, before going back to play in the neighbour's yard. Thank you dears, you just gave me more mess to clean up hehehe. Ibu used to say, "buat apa bela kucing, kalau bela budak, at least you balik keje dia boleh tolong bukakkan gate" *Jie rolls her eyes*

    Meor is one cat with an attitude. You can shoo him all you like, he won't run away, instead he'll 'jeling' you with a look that says "la ni apa kecoh ni?". He didn't really mind his baths, but how he hated the anti-flea powder! He was a good hunter, and along the years brought back prizes which he sometimes left under my bed or on the 'Welcome' mat at the front door. Prizes ranged from the simple cicak, to mengkarung, to small frogs. Then as he got older and more skilled, he brought lots of sparrows and small birds, sometimes half-eaten, yuck!

    When he got even more skilled, he once brought back a gory-looking half-eaten neighbour's rabbit, which made Ibu so flustered she made me go apologize to our neighbour. Nice one, Meor *snicker*. The best prize he ever brought back was a medium-sized pomfret hehehe entah mana la dia cilok tuh. This, despite being fed Friskies 3 times a day, the fat cat! He came home with numerous scratches and wounds, which I dutifully cleaned with antiseptic, and he even broke his right forepaw once. Didn't deter him from terrorising the neighbourhood, did it?

    Anyway, Meor always had this knack of finding me whenever I feel upset or down. Being an outdoor cat, he sometimes doesn't come home for two or three days especially during the mating seasons. But the days that I reach home after having an argument with a friend or upset with a colleague, or even just bila kena marah ngan Ibu, he would come to me within minutes, rubbing himself on my feet or jumping up on my lap. The stroke therapy plus the purr-purr sounds he made were very soothing. Every now & then he would stretch himself, look at me, and say a short 'awr', as if asking me if I feel better. And he would stay by my side until I actually did feel better.

    Alas, Meor died at the prime age of 5 years old. We believe he was hit by a car, and he promptly hid in the monsoon drain to lick his wounds. By the time he came home, he was limping badly and the wounds were festered, his breath was laboured and rasping. He probably succumbed to septicemia and died in my arms a couple hours later.

    All the previous cats belonged to the family, but Meor was my sole responsibility from the beginning. After that, well, I didn't want another cat. I didn't want to deal with another loss like that. But for a few years after, I'd be walking around the neighbourhood and bumping into young cats with the EXACT MARKINGS like Meor. I'd like to think that his philandering days actually produced several offsprings *wink wink*.

    So, no more cats, especially since now we have my sis's baby Ajiq at home. No, he's not a pet. Mom just thinks that 'hama kucing' would be detrimental to baby Ajiq's health. Right now, my pets are a small tank-full of sea-monkeys from Toys 'R Us. Don't know what they are? Just google 'sea-monkey', if you wanna find out eheh :-)

    MASIH CUTI AIDILFITRI

    So. Aidilfitri has come and gone. It's the dawn of the third day of Syawal, and whaddaheck am I doing already up and posting, you might ask. The heck is that I didn't go to sleep last night, pretty bad decision for someone not-so-youthful as me.

    Initially at around midnight, I started blog-rolling, then read up websites on stuff I was doing some research on. Entah kenapa teringat plak zaman masa mula belajar guna internet, so I logged onto MIRC. Hehehe macam budak-budak! In fact, I signed in as a 25 y-o. No, not exactly lying, just bending the truth a little. I WAS a 25 y-o, just not right now la hehehe :-)

    But that's the thing about MIRC la, you can be anybody from anywhere, doing/working as anything, just as you please. Has changed a lot since I started chatting in 1997. Back then, most pings would begin as "Hi, care to chat? How are you today? I'm so-and-so. What do you do in your free time? Oh, that's my hobby too".

    Last night, since I was using an obviously female nick, I got quite a number of pings from the likes of 'Abg Gersang' and 'PowerMan32' with invitations to do stuff that I won't write about here. { Jie isn't afraid to write the word 'sex' and all that's associated with it, but just prefers not to. She even knows the malay word for fellatio hahaha :-) }

    Greetings were almost always "Hi. ASL pls?". Where's all the nettiquette & politeness, the camaraderie, the interesting conversations, the connecting of minds and souls gone to? I used to chat with gentlemen & ladies of different ages from many walks of life. We chatted about politics (OK this one, better not do these days la), current issues, books, movies, why the sky is blue etc etc. But last night was like an internet version of fast food, "You want the (plump & juicy) Burger, or you want the (footlong) Hotdog?" Aiyo. { OK Jie, old gal, next time stick to blogs & books only ha }

    Excuse me, I think I just heard the azan Subuh.