Friday, December 30, 2005

JIE vs RUDECALLER

My office is jam-packed at the moment, and I share the officers' room with 4 other colleagues. Heh, no privacy betul. One fart, and everybody can smell it hehehe not me la, ladies don't fart in public (or try to do it soundlessly...). One of my colleagues, let's call him Mr Loneranger, is really a loner. Mr Loneranger has one close friend, a Mr Rudecaller. I'll tell you in a minute, why I call that chap 'rudecaller'.
There's a phone on all five desks, and if any phone rings when the desk occupant is not in, someone else will 'pull' the line (do you know what I mean?) and answer the call from his/her own phone. Kitorang biasa terkena ngan Rudecaller ni if he calls time yang Loneranger takde. Loneranger ni plak selalu lesap entah ke mana pada waktu pejabat, ikut suka hati tok nenek dia je, so selalu la kitorang jawabkan call dia. Kaez, please don't start with the 'biasalah orang gomen' thingy, OK! Sebab aku (and most of my colleagues!) pun orang gomen, tapi takde plak buat perangai gitu :-P

Anyway, Rudecaller (RC) ni memang takde phone etiquette. A normal call would go like this :-

<ring ring>
Me : Hello
RC : Loneranger ada?
Me : Dia takde buat masa ni. Ada...
RC : < letak talipon>
Me : ... pesanan...? !!@#%??? dia dah letak talipon!!!

Isy... pantang betul aku, bila orang letak talipon masa aku belum habis bercakap! Dah la takde hello ke, bagi salam ke, bila kita dah jawab, takde terima kasih, terus letak talipon gitu. How rude! So the next time I had to answer Rudecaller's call, it went like this :-

<ring ring>
Me : Hello
RC : Loneranger ada?
Me : Takde! <letak talipon>

Hah! Have a taste of your own medicine, Rudecaller! Seronok kan, when people hang up on you?

Then early last week, lagi rude dia buat. Loneranger's phone rang, and I 'pulled' the line to answer the call.

<ring ring>
Me : Hello
RC : <letak talipon>
Me : Whaddafook !!@#%???

This happened twice more within a half hour. Aku geram betul. So what did I do the fourth time Loneranger's phone rang?

<ring ring>
Me : <silent>
RC : Hello?
Me : <letak talipon>

Muaahahaaaa.... * Jie, jahatnya!* Meanwhile, Cheshu & Cheis dok tergolek-golek gelak hehehe

After the third time I did that, I think Rudecaller learnt his lesson. These days, he calls Loneranger on his mobile phone *wicked grin*


Wednesday, December 28, 2005

LAZY DAYS RANDOM POST

Didja have a good break over the weekends, didja? Starting with Christmas last weekend, for the next month or so, there's gonna be lotsa public holidays with the New Year, Chinese New Year, Awal Muharram and Hari Wilayah coming up. Berlambak la kerja ofis yang tak siap...

Anyway, spent the better part of last Saturday at my newly completed house, yay! Cleaned up the house, swept, vaccumed & mopped floors. Pulled out weeds from the monkey-legs-stretch-sized patch of soil they call a garden. Banyaknya kena pakai duit, with all the installation of door grills, curtain rods, ceiling fans, lightings, bathroom fixtures etc. Tu pun tengah berkira-kira nak buat ke tidak kitchen cabinet & sink, adeeehhhh.... fenin. Nasib baik nak rent out, so just buat the basic furnishings je dulu.

Sunday, kekonon nak gi outing, but flat out from the previous day's manual labour, so just veg out at home. Monday was also a lazy lazy day, eat out sebab malas masak.


Whaddayaknow... I actually sat through the whole season's Desperate Housewives, the whole 6 dvds! Now THAT's what I call Desperate hehehe pathetic actually! Tapi tulahnya bila lama-lama tengok tu, I'm beginning to like the character Edie Britt. Even though she's a b!tch & a $lut, but at least she's true to herself and is a go-getter! Tak puas hati dengan the ending - sad ending for everybody. Rasa nak pulang balik dvd tu kat nyonya pasar malam tu hehehe


Isy... lawanya Eva Longoria tu... *jeles* *jeles*

Anyway, I'll be renting out the house in a few weeks time. Ya got any tips for me? Yalah, tips on how to find good tenants etc. Appreciate any advice I can get, mate!

Saturday, December 24, 2005

DESERT FLOWER

I'm currently reading (re-reading actually) a book entitled 'Desert Flower', an autobiography by Waris Dirie. Easy reading, interesting story. Waris was born in 1965 in Somalia to a nomadic family. At age 13, she ran away, when her father tried to marry her off to a 60-years old man for an exchange of five camels. Boleh tahan mahal jugak duit hantaran dia, for an uneducated desert girl, as I'm told by someone who went to Egypt last year, that the market price for a camel is USD650. Translate the five camels to Ringgit Malaysia... and men here complain that the local girls's hantaran costs too much.. hmmph.


Back to Waris, she made it from the desert to the capital (Mogadishu) and all the way to Britain, through a series of fortunate events and help from some kind souls. By chance, a photographer took a picture of her and stuck it in a magazine, and wallah! She became a supermodel. Man, talk about being at the right place at the right time! Waris is now based in New York, married and with child(ren?) She has resigned from modelling though, and is actively involved as a UN special embassador, campaigning for African women's rights, particularly against female genital mutilation as practiced in some parts of Africa and the Middle East.

Actually, it's circumcision. Oh hey, if you are prone to flaming cheeks when viewing anything remotely connected with s-e-x, you may stop reading here, even though there's nothing 'dirty' about this posting. And you shouldn't watch MTV either, ya?

OK, circumcision. Over here it is a mere nick on the clitoris (are you still reading? you have been forewarned...) buat syarat je. But over there as experienced by Waris herself, it involves cutting off the whole clitoris, the labia minora and a part of the labia majora, then stitching the remaining parts together and leaving a tiny tiny hole for her urine and menstrual blood to flow out, drop by drop. All this done in the middle of the desert in a most unsanitary way, with a rusty blade and no aenesthetics nor painkillers thereafter. Many girls have succumbed to septicaemia or excessive bleeding, and die within days. This practice is also known as infibulation. It is supposedly done to ensure girls remain virgins until their wedding night. Bollocks! It's just male empowerment, innit? Sex is a two-way thing. The more effective method would be to cut of the sexist's thingy muaaahahahaa... *evil laugh*

OK, seriously folks, reading this book reminds me to be thankful for what I have. Despite Waris's graphic descriptions, I can't imagine a life (for me) without the basic comforts of running water and electricity, never mind the Tiffany accessories or dinner at La Bodega :-) Life is harsh for them, especially the women. And the cruel practice of infibulation is too gruesome to even think about. Unfortunately it is supported, nay, 'protected' as a cultural practice, even by some of the women there.

There are some nice bits in her story too. The beautiful desert sun. Sleeping under the stars. Being truly connected with nature and the animal kingdom. Her mother's strength of character and sense of humour. How simple and stress-free their life was, except when there is a drought. Taking pleasure in the simplest things, like occasionally eating plain rice with milk, as a treat. I learned a thing or two about their 'must do' attitude, where nobody ever comes up with excuses for not doing their part. For example, if you're supposed to go look for water, you won't come home without it, as there's no point in coming home with excuses only to see your family and livestock die from dehydration. Even without thinking about it, they take their responsibilities very seriously for their daily survival in such harsh environment, and yet they're happy.

Btw, you might wanna know what happens to the infibulated girls on their wedding night... aiyah, go read the book la. All I can say is... sick b@st@rds *pardon my french*.

:-)

Friday, December 23, 2005

CHEDA'S MYSTERY CALLER

Cheda has been getting calls on her mobile from a mystery number with a '07' prefix for the past three days. The caller was a young woman who refuses to state her name and reason for calling, answering all questions with 'tak tahu's. We joked that maybe she thinks that her husband is having an affair with Cheda *LOL* - why do people always assume the worst, even in jest? hehehe it could very well have been a wrong number, or even a prank.

Anyway, this morning we decided enough was enough, the calls were giving us the creeps. Cheti being the most 'makcik' type, was given the task of calling up the mystery caller's ('MC') number.

Cheti : Hello ni siapa?
MC : Saya
Cheti : Siapa nama awak?
MC : *silence* saya Nor
Cheti : Kenapa awak asyik call kawan saya?
MC : *quiet sobbing* Tak tahu...
Cheti : Kenapa awak ganggu dia?
MC : *silence* Mengganggu ke?
Cheti : Mana awak dapat nombor dia?
MC : *sobbing* Tak tahu *more sobbing* Saya macam terpanggil untuk talipon....
Cheti : Siapa suruh awak call?
MC : *moan* Tak tahu... Ada orang suruh....
Cheti : Siapa?
MC : *louder moan* Orang dalam diri saya.....*moan*
Cheti's jaw dropped!
Cheti : Awak ni sakit ke?
MC : *sniffle* Selsema sikit
Cheti : Awak ni sakit jiwa ke? Minta family awak bawa awak jumpa doktor, ye?
MC : *in a loud voice, no more sobs or moans* Ya! Dengan izin Allah!

Mental case la pompuan ni agaknya. Said that both parents are gone, and she is staying with her sister, but at the moment is home alone because she's unemployed. Gave us her name, her sister's name, and home address. She might be depressed, delusional, or have some other mental illness. I hope she gets some medical attention soon. Anyway, should we try to get in touch with her sister to alert her? What do you think? {Oh, btw, that question only applies assuming she's telling us the truth la hehehe}

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

MAMA BOSAN!

I have a pretty normal life according to the normal standard. Right after uni, I chambered, got a job, then got married and ten years later I have these; 3 lovely kids, a car, an apartment, a highly stressful job that pays for all my bills and not forgetting a partner (we agreed from day one that the marriage is on equal footing, after all marriage is a contract what!!!) so understanding sometimes he makes me feel suffocated. I know some people would kill to get what I have now, but deep down inside I feel something is still not quite right. Till now I still can't figure that out.

It's not that I'm not gratefull, I feels that I need more excitement and away from the boring rituals. In short, nothing exciting happens in my life anymore. Bosan, mama bosan!

Tracking back, I had so much excitement during my uni days. Most things were done impromptu, with only minimal planning. At one time, I just pack a bag and together with Nore, Reyh and Am spent five blissful days in a budget chalet at Pantai Chenang, Langkawi. That was very memorable, we decided that we should do the same getaway, in Bali, on the 10th anniversary of that trip. I remembered telling Nore that most probably she cannot join us then due to commitment towards hubby and children. You see, Nore was the social butterfly and can attract the opposite gender just by batting her eyelid (lebih kuranglah, I know I exaggerate, Jie please correct me if I'm wrong!). Man, was I so wrong! The opposite happened, me and Reyh got hitched along the way while Nore and Am are leading a fabulous single life.

Another time, me and a few bunch of friends, decided that after library closed at 11 pm on Tuesday, we should go to Cameron Highland to eat fresh strawberries. So all of us pack a bag and start our journey at 12.30 am Wednesday. We drove to Tapah and catch forty winks in a carpark near a chinese school there. 7 am on Wednesday, after breakfast of roti canai, we continue our journey uphill. In 1992, Cameron Highland was still unspoilt unlike now. I remembered, it was so cold, fresh and breezy, we were hugging each other for some warmth. We hunt for fresh starwberries at one of the farms there, then by lunchtime we head to Ipoh for some mean nasi kandar somewhere near some famous padang (till now I don't know where it was!). After lunch, someone came out with the idea of having picnic by the sea, so we bought some food and head to Pantai Teluk Batik in Lumut, about an hour journey from Ipoh. Reached at the beach 4 pm, had great time swimming and picnicking, by 7 pm we went to Ipoh again for dinner before making our move back towards KL. When we reached Bidor, everybody were too tired to continue the journey, so we slept in the car in front of Bidor Caltex petrol station till Thursday morning. Left Bidor about 7am and reached KL around 10. The moment my head reached the pillow in my room at the hostel, I zonked out till the next day.

Now I can only reminiscing all the good old days. Nothing happen nowadays, I'm so, so bored! Am I asking too much? Am I ungrateful?

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Tumpang Sekaki...

Jie has been pestering me to do my own blog for quite sometime. Me, being me, one of the most malas person on earth, don't have dedication to religiously update and anything that requires maintenance is a big no no for me. So, the solution is to allow me tumpang sekaki at her blog. Jie, tumpang lalu ye....

I have a lot to bitch about. In fact, we have been having the regular bitching session, sometimes over nothing! Just to blow some steam off our head. But, be warned! I'm not so creative or eloquent as Jie. She very clever write one, I on the other hand merapu a lot! So Jie, jangan menyesal ye...

Till next time, adios!

GAJI DAY

Minggu lepas banyak muka keriut-keriut *fikir* "beli baju sekolah, kasut sekolah, buku teks, buku kerja, alatulis, bayar yuran sekolah, yuran sekolah agama, tambang bas..."

Hari ni banyak muka dah cerah *fikir* "yahoo! gaji masuk hari ni! boleh beli baju sekolah, kasut sekolah, buku teks, buku kerja, alatulis, bayar yuran sekolah, yuran sekolah agama, tambang bas..."

Hati-hati berbelanja bang, akak.

Jangan nanti pertengahan Januari muka keriut semula *fikir* "ari ni nak makan maggi ke biskut ke?"

Tapi tulahnya, memang mahal belanja nak sekolahkan anak sekarang ye?

Sunday, December 18, 2005

GAMEL LAN

I've wanted to do this post since adam, but have not had the time. Tonight, my insomnia got the better of me, so I might as well do something productive :-)

I first fell in love with G in my uni days. I heard his voice first, before I ever saw him. I was passing by the entrance of my uni's Grand Hall, when I heard him. I suddenly stopped and stood transfixed. Where did that voice come from? Such deep intonations, such melodious rythm, beautiful beautiful voice. How does he look like? I've got to see him! But oh, I'm a freshie, wouldn't it be inappropriate if I just barge in like that?

In the end my curiosity won over, and I peeped in. There he was in all his glorious ensemble, looking stately and proud! I was dizzy with excitement, so excited I could scream. I want him! I want him! Alas. We only got formally introduced a few weeks later. I remember sitting demurely 'bersimpuh' in front of him, smiling and gazing longingly. The first time I held his stick, touched his hard shiny surfaces... I knew he's the one for me.

Hahaha... I can't go on, otherwise this will be an 18SX post :-D

'G' stands for Gamelan, the traditional musical ensemble! It's true, I fell in love with it in uni, and I played it all the years that I there, initially as a co-curriculum activity, but later on as a member of the uni's gamelan group. After I graduated, I pursued learning gamelan for about a year at Kompleks Budaya and obtained a Certificate. I actually got nominated for KBN's gamelan instructor course, but by then work was taking over my life so I had to leave the class. That's as far as it got, though I sometimes wish I had continued. Anyway, here's a little something about gamelan. This is a long post. OK, don't say I didn't warn you!

The word Gamelan derives from the javanese word 'gamel' which means 'to strike'. The Malaysian Gamelan originates from Riau-Lingga and was first performed in the courts of Sultan Ahmad of Pahang. When a Pahang princess, Tengku Mariam married Sultan Zainal Abidin II of Terengganu, she brought gamelan with her, and it flourished under her creative attention. She even wrote some songs herself, and in all it totaled at 39 songs. The Terengganu gamelan differs from the javanese in the type of instruments used, the range of notes and scales used. The Terengganu uses the slendro scale (pentatonic) while the javanese uses the pelog scale. In the past, it is only played in the royal courts or at special ceremonies.

Here are some members of the clan :-


GONG
The spiritual leader of the ensemble is the big black gong called the 'Gong Agung', usually played only twice, once to signify the start and once to signify the end of a song. These bronze gongs have varying notes and tunes, and are infrequently hit compared to other instruments, maybe once or twice in a 4-notes bar, as punctuations.


GENDANG
The leader of the song, le capitaine, he determines the tempo and rythm of the song, how many repeats to be played etc. The rest of the clan depends on him to orchestrate the presentation.






GAMBANG
The wooden xylophone, much like a normal xylophone. It is played using wooden sticks in the 'cincang' motion. The only instrument I suck at :-(


KENONG
Big bronze kettle drums, like the gongs, are infrequently hit and used mostly as punctuations. Played using wooden drumsticks.






SARON
In the ensemble I played with, we had 2 of each 3 types of saron namely Saron Peking, Saron Penerus & Saron Demong, making a total of 6 sarons in all. These are metallophones, bronze bars suspended on the frames. The Demong and Penerus are played using a wooden mattel with the right hand, while the left hand softly touches the the stricken bar to reduce its vibrations so that it's note won't merge into the next note to be hit. The Peking however, have a horn-shaped mattel, and the notes are played double-time. The sarons differ in sizes, Peking being smallest and Demong biggest. Easy-peasy.


BONANG
And this, people, is my instrument of choice, the bronze kettledrums. There's two types of bonang, namely Bonang Barung and Bonang Penerus, the Barung being the main instrument playing the melody. There are ten kettledrums suspended within the frame in 2 rows, and played using two wooden drumsticks. The righthand drumstick controls the top three and bottom two kettledrums, while the lefthand controls the other five. They are also played using the 'cincang' motion, where the righthand strikes one note and the lefthand strikes the corresponding note a fraction of a second later, to create a melodious rythm. Advanced players can play the 'bunga' where some music bars are totally altered and played at double time, for more ummph. The player's hand movements are graceful and seemingly 'dancing' atop the kettledrums. This one is a real toughie.

The sounds of the gamelan is very unique, soft and melodious sometimes, loud and passionate at others. The tempo can change widely within one song. Some songs I remember are Togok, Timang Burung, Antawada, Perang Manggung, Ketam Renjung and Ayak-Ayak, lovelies! The songs are sometimes accompanied by dances with graceful flitting movements, swaying and weaving to the music, using specific limbs and fingers movements and facial expressions to tell the story behind the songs.

Gamelan being a royal court performance, has a certain 'spirituality' in it. If a song is played properly and 'dihayati', it can be quite a moving experience for both performers and observers. Indeed in the olden days, gamelan dancers sometimes enter a trance-like state, and will have to be 'dipulihkan' or revived by using a specific song - I forgot the title of this one.

Being spiritual also means that the instruments are respected and treated accordingly. The instruments are moved with care, and must never be stepped on or stepped over. Players have to take off their shoes and sit in the proper manner when playing them. Players must not abuse or monkey around with the instruments. It is believed that if the instruments are ill-treated, it will anger the 'semangat' which will spoil the key or note of the instruments.

Of late, there have been many efforts taken to popularize gamelan. The Rythm In Bronze concert by a local theatre group, for one. Most local universities and quite a few foreign universities too have their own ensemble and clubs. They write new songs, modern songs, and try to incorporate new sounds or techniques into their performance, or use it to accompany theatrical or musical performances. Some groups even have a repertoire of 'fun' songs which listeners can better relate to, like 'Sukiyaki' and 'Madu & Racun'.

As for me, having been under the tutelage of a traditional and highly respected mentor, En. Othman Abdullah, who is a direct descendant of one of Terengganu's royal court performer, Mak Nang, I am a purist for this particular art. I am glad that gamelan has gained popularity in that the instruments will be kept alive for and by the next generation. But I am also sad that in such due process, the gamelan might lose it's spirit of life.

Chewah, macam nak buat thesis aje hehehe :-)

KETUK KETAMPI

Hoi hoi tak habis lagi orang bercerita sal ketuk-ketampi ni. Inkuiri dah selesai, tapi witch hunt still going on, hmmph.

Ramai yang blame polis, tak sepatutnya buat gitulah etc etc. Tapi kira OK la tu polis kita suruh buat ketuk ketampi aje. Depa berdiri jauh & tengok je, takde physical contact. Hangpa prefer body cavity search ka? Isy.... korek-korek ni, lagi trauma tau.

Aku rasa la, method tu tak keterlaluan, kita je over-reacting sebab tak boleh imagine diri kita terkena something like that. But polis pun, bukan la semua tahanan kena gitu, only if they have a valid suspicion yang orang tu ada conceal drugs etc. I got to know from an obgyn, that the pelvic muscle can be trained to hold in stuff like drugs. Tapi no matter how well trained pun, after alot of ketuk ketampi, the muscle akan strain and let go juga. Ala, hangpa yang biasa gi Phuket tu mesti tau kan, siap ada tiger show dancer yang guna pelvic muscle to shoot darts etc. {Err... orang cakap la, Jie tak pernah gi Phuket pun hehehe} Hmm... *thinking* Tapi kan, orang yang rakam benda tu, especially kalau inside job, memang patut kena semelih.

So, nak mintak maaf ngan kerajaan China? Nak suruh pelancong yang tak setuju tu balik negeri sendiri? Nak replace ketuk ketampi dengan x-ray? Susah betul, bila mulut berjalan dulu daripada otak, kan? Hehehe :-) Tapi aku paham. Sesiapa yang biasa pegi nonton pakleman pun mesti dah lali dengan aksi-aksi orang gadang ni. Siapa kuat bercakap, dia akan lebih fofular, so bila keluar je isu yang menarik, maka berlumba-lumba la si luncai terjun dengan labi-labinya... lalalaaaa... nonton komedi di pentas dunia...

BUJANG BERANI

Remember our trip to Balai Seni Lukis Negara years and years ago, Kaez?

This particular sculpture caught our attention. "Bujang Berani" by Bayu Utomo. Walk up to an art piece, view, ponder for a while, macam la paham sangat pun hehehe. After that, the more important part of the trip - crossover to the Railway Station A&W to gobble up waffle, rootbeer, coney dog, heaven la zaman tu!

Suddenly pikiranku melayang-layang, teringat those days, when we had time to go outing, meraban, tengok wayang - you're the movie nut who can actually watch 2 movies back to back kan. Hehehe this is all your fault, for bringing up that 17-years bit in your earlier comment!

btw, I still love that particular sculpture.

ALBUM STAF

Semalam tengok gambar album staf dalam intranet, pastu gelak sampai pecah perut hehehe. Ada yang muka cam budak sekolah. Ada yang remos panjang cam hero filem tamil. Ada yang mekap tebal selepet eyeshadow biru dan lipstick merah biji saga. Ada yang frame cermin mata bulat besar menutup satu pertiga dari mukanya. Medem, fuuuhhh... dengan rambut ala Farah Fawcet dalam Charlie's Angels gitu! Semuanya gambar yang staf hantar masa mula report duty, tu yang style macam-macam tu.

Nak nengok album ni, kena isi borang untuk dapatkan password. Aku dapat access ni sebab jadik web rep. So selain dari tugas-tugas extra tu, I can amuse myself looking at these photos, some of which are quite kelakau. Aku pernah query pada member aku officer MIS, apa tujuan diadakan album ni dan kenapa ada sekatan to view it? Bagi aku, elok kalau sebelum meeting ke apa ke, kita dapat nengok gambar siapa yang kita akan bermeeting tu, takdelah nanti tercangak-cangak wondering who's who etc. Kalau staf tak boleh tengok album ni, tercapai ke objektif diadakan album ni in the first place? Member aku senyum kelat je :-) Jawapannya, ada orang sensitif bila orang tengok gambar lama dia.

Alahai... alasan ciput je tu. Sensitif sebab apa? Gambar tak cantik? Gantikan dengan gambar baru la. Takde masalah sebab tahun lepas kita buat operasi besar-besaran ambik gambar official (taken in the office by our own photographers) to be used for our library database. Cantek je semua orang pakai kot & nametag. Import je la gambar tu ke dalam album staf. Apa ada hal?

KOMPUTER KOMPUTOT TERBANTUT

Aiseh, dapat assignment baru. Kena jadik web rep untuk department aku, walhal aku ni rabun IT hehehe. Rabun, but learning la. Semua Bahagian dalam agensi aku kena nominate 2 officer jadik wakil web ni. Tugas khas balaci ni ialah 'membangunkan laman web Bahagian masing-masing, dengan bantuan MIS'. Waa... gomen sekarang kan menuju ke paperless organization, semua orang kena jadik IT savvy. Hatta tukang jaga lif pun sok-sok nak cuti, kena apply guna borang online.

That's all & well, tapi kemudahan dan latihan kenalah bergerak seiring dengan visi. Kalau komputer jurutaip masih guna 486 dengan Windows 98 dan printer dot matrix (sungguh, ujud lagi printer zaman jurassic ni kat ofis aku. Buktinya, aku sendiri ada sebijik. Hah!) , jangan la harap surat atau dokumen yang dihasilkan tu cantik belaka. Kalau pengarah yang dah nak pencen, diberi laptop canggih-manggih, jangan lupa ajar depa cara menggunakannya, takut nanti laptop tu bawak balik, anak depa plak yang guna untuk chatting.

Officer cabuk cam aku ni, setelah sekian lama guna komputer zaman batu - punyalah kuno, takde port nak cucuk thumbdrive pun - barulah minggu lepas dapat komputer baru. Idak le canggih ke mana pun, tapi at least guna Windows XP. Yang tak syoknya komputer aku tu bisu, takdak sepikar. Admin control habih, tak boleh ubah sebenda pun kecuali desktop & screensaver, tu pun yang sedia ada, tak boleh download atau install lain. Internet, takyah cakap la mostly kena block, even Yahoo! No downloading anything.

Bukan apa, kalau gini keadaannya, nanti yang 'kurang ilmu' dan 'kurang kemudahan' dikatakan tidak cemerlang dalam tugasan. Yang ada kemudahan canggih tapi 'kurang ilmu', alamatnya kemudahan tu jadik tukun je la. Yang 'kurang kemudahan' tapi sangat berminat untuk mencari ilmu, bila disekat atas bawah kiri kanan depan belakang, terus la terbantut....

Sunday, December 11, 2005

PIZZA HOOD

We ordered pizza last night.
From the nationally-reknowned pizza place.
One number for the whole nation.
Where pizzas get delivered in 30 minutes.
The pizza comes piping hot in it's own bag.

We ordered pizza assam laksa.
Cause we like it hot, tekak melayu la kan.
The pizza got delivered.
In 45 minutes, 'because we're busy tonight la cik'

First bite onto the first slice.
We were mystified.
It looks like pizza asam laksa.
But it doesn't smell nor taste like assam laksa.
The Sauce! The Sauce!

We knew then it was the mystical mediterranean sauce.
Which was smothered all over our pizza.
But sprinkled with the regular assam laksa topping.
How can this be?

So we called them up again.
One number for the whole nation.
We were told that the branch manager.
Kelana Jaya, Kelana Jaya.
Will call us right back.

And his explaination was :-
They ran out of assam laksa sauce.
So they substituted it with the moroccan sauce.
And try to pass if off as the original
Our original Pizza Assam Laksa

Eh, boleh pulak ke buat camni?????
Dah la mahal, main tukar silih-ganti ikut suka hati tok nenek dia je?

Hut? More like Hood. With an L and a U and an M.
Geddit?

STOP WALLOWING, START WALLOPING?

Actually mood kureng sket lately ni. On top of all the happenings in the office, I just found out yesterday that sis is pregnant again. Don't get me wrong, I really am very happy for her, because she's been trying for about a year now, so this is a much-awaited blessings, but it's salt unto my wounds. I am just wallowing in self-pity here.

I'm tired of looking longingly at what isn't currently within my reach.
I'm tired of sharing other people's joyous occassions, only to be empty-handed at the end of the day.
I'm tired of listening to the mind-numbing 'my hubby did this, my hubby did that' chatters from colleagues (which I tried to avoid even when I was still married)
I'm tired of ooh-ing and aah-ing over other people's babies pictures, even though some of them are, frankly, un-cute (to call babies ugly is quite mean la kan)
I'm tired being asked 'anak berapa?' which seems to be the standard questions by one malaysian to another, even if it's to a stranger.
I'm tired of loving other people's kids.
See a pattern here?

I love kids, but as fate would have it, I have yet to get a chance to undergo the motherhood experience. Such a loss, years of theoretical & mental preparations are now gone to waste. In a different place (say, US) and a different condition (if it is permissible in my religion), I might even consider in-vitro conception with an anonymous donor. But of course, that's wishful thinking.

So please excuse me, if lately I don't seem to be so eager to visit a relative or friend who's just given birth, or if I fail to attend your baby's cukur jambul kenduri, or if I don't turn up for your kid's birthday party. If we do meet, no need to automatically hand over your baby for me to carry. Don't expect I'll be cooing or singing lullabyes to your baby.

This morning a friend tried to pep talk me out of my doldrums. Thanx a bunch, honeybunch, like I said, you're a good buddy :-) I know I shouldn't feel this way, and I know what I should do. But I also know that I am human, with very fragile innerness. Things have been going around in circles lately, been there done that bought the t-shirt, now here we go loop de loop, woohoo! "Stop wallowing in self-pity, and focus on what you have that can lift you up", right? Honeybunch, this wallowing trip, I have to walk it alone, by myself, at the moment.

And this blog where I sometimes let my hair down, well, please bear with me, people.

Meanwhile, to 'manja' myself today, I wallop almost a tubful of Ben & Jerry's Butter Pecan. Yummy yummy, I tell you! Maybe tomorrow I'll get the Chunky Monkey pulak :-D

HELLO DECEMBER

Haven't logged in for quite some time. Busy busy busy at the office and at home too. Many things happened, I'll just give the gist of it :-

1. We had our office's Majlis Aidilfitri on the last week of Syawal. As usual, the Badan Kebajikan (BK) will sponsor the main menu (this year being nasi dagang, from Sheila Rusly's restaurant. Yummy I tell you!) and staff members will bring potluck for other dishes, absolutely voluntary la. Then medem keluar fatwa, 'biar BK bayar semua, orang lain tak payah sponsor'. Adeeehhhh makcik ni, orang bawak potluck tu sebab niat ikhlas nak share food dengan kengkawan, kenapa nak halang orang bersedekah? Jawabnya senang je - sebab dia takde nak sponsor apa-apa.

Aku memang tak faham kepala hotak dia ni. Maybe jugak api amarahnya pasal family day dulu tu belum padam, sampai terbawa-bawa ke majlis raya. Pastu ada hati jemput semua pengurusan tertinggi plus chairman lagi, walaupun tau BK dah takde bajet (buruknya perkataan ni). Tapi staff tak peduli, ramai yang senyap-senyap contribute jugak. Last-last medem termalu, dia pun contribute ketupat palas & rendang. Rasanya majlis raya tahun ni paling hambar walaupun ada orang besar-besar datang.


2. The cat is out of the bag. Rahsia yang aku simpan dah dekat 3 tahun ni, akhirnya terbarai secara terpaksa kat ofis. Semuanya gara-gara terpaksa mengisi Borang Perisytiharan Harta, biasalah ofis gomen. Aku dah agak dah, sebab kat borang tu kena declare harta both hubby & wife. So awal-awal lagi aku beritahu Cherin (medem's PA), on a need-to-know basis. Dia terperanjat sampai termenangis, sebab tak sangka, selama ni nampak aku OK je (heroin tenang, beb).

Unfortunately masa Cherin kumpul borang semua staf & bawa masuk ke bilik medem, medem terus sebut a few names yang dia interested in sebab 'orang lama ni, mesti banyak simpan harta'. My name kena sebab 'husband dia doktor mesti banyak duit'. Adeehhhh mentaliti dia ni mentaliti URTV rupanya. Yang nak sibuk tahu sal harta orang kenapa, nak compare ke, kiasu betul la. Anywhichways, bila dia query kenapa borang aku tak declare harta suami, Cherin terpaksa explain, dan Cherin sempat sound kat medem "takde siapa tahu kecuali saya, sekarang puan pulak tahu, rasanya dia memang taknak beritahu orang lain". And then whaddayaknow, she's already told Cheti dan entah siapa-siapa plak lagi, most probably half the female department heads yang selama ni menjadi rakan gosip dia la. Isy isy... how sad when bosses takdak keje lain, dok gosip sal anak buah, kan?


3. One day last week, the Ex called my h/phone, but I didn't answer the call. I hope to goodness it didn't have anything to do with Dik S calling me a few weeks back. Maybe he found out about it, and wants to know what we talked about. But we'll never know now, since I'm not picking up his calls anymore. Dik S, you are still in my prayers.


4. Cheti was offered (and she did take it up) an official trip to China for 4 days, as part of our minister's entourage. We were all trying to discourage her, the reason being she's almost 8 months pregnant! But she was adamant, because this is her first time ever being offered an overseas official trip, and she's afraid of not getting such chance in the future. Faham la, sebab recently Chetun got to go to Korea, and last year I got the Japan trip. Hey, before you guys think 'orang gomen jalan makan angin', I'll just clarify that both the Japan & Korea trip was JPA's friendship/exchange programme, so bukan duit gomen yang keluar, it's mainly sponsored by the Japanese & Korean government, OK?

Back to Cheti, dia ni frame besar, dan historically memang semua anak dia kecik, birthweight 1.8kg etc. So even dia pregnant dah masuk 8 bulan, perut nampak cam 4 bulan je, especially covered dengan baju kurung & tudung. So OK, maybe 'lepas' la kat airport nanti, but we are worried about her & baby's health. Furthermore the weather in China is quite extreme at the moment, also there's the bird flu scare etc. Minister's entourage pun bukan gi sana duduk dalam hotel je, group tu akan visit various depts/inst/plants etc, they'll be moving around. I hope Cheti's well-prepared for all that.


5. Chesa's baby boy is currently warded at Hospital Putrajaya, suspected dengue. I hope he gets well soon!


6. Chedah's hubby just underwent a knee operation early this week, hope everything goes well & he gets to walk again soon.


7. Three of our staff got transferred out, and we're getting only one replacement staff. Someone in HR seriously needs to learn to count! Demand kerja macam-macam, tapi staff yang bagus asyik kena pinch aje.


8. Cheton got promoted to E44 because she passed her PTK last year (yang aku, Cheti & Chedah kantoi tu), and she's in a new department doing something totally different from her last post. She's still excited, hari-hari ada je cerita baru :-)


9. I've picked up a new hobby - Sudoku! Masa sekolah dulu, akulah orang paling benci numbers, kalau Add Maths tu selalunya cukup makan je nasib baik tak kantoi. Tapi Sudoku ni best, actually it's just a puzzle using numbers, bukannya maths pun. It can really get so engrossing tau, I bought a sudoku puzzle book and I've been snatching a few minutes here & there to do the puzzles, and I'm now on to puzzle number 64.


Well, that wraps it up for now, I guess.