Saturday, August 12, 2006

TO DO, OR NOT TO DO?

I guess someone tried to be funny and pulled one over the admin people at Melaka's Muzium Samudera. The best part is that the museum people haven't realized the gag, otherwise this signboard wouldn't still be standing beside one of the stairs in the museum.


I wonder who's the joker who scratched out the words 'NO' and 'NOT'? Buat malu je kat tourist.

The other question of course is, how long before the museum people actually realize that the signboard has been tampered with? Lagiiii la buat malu, tak perasan yang 'rumah' depa dah kena kacau...

Friday, August 11, 2006

RM 2.80

What food can you get for RM2.80 these days?
Not much apparently, if you buy lunch at the cafeteria in my office building.



Nasi putih - separuh.
Telur goreng mata kerbau - sebiji.
Tempe goreng kicap - sesenduk.
RM2.80


Dua hengget lapan posen?????
Huh!

For the same price, I can get 10 good eggs at the pasar tani. Kalu teloq gred C macam yang cafe ni guna, boleh dapat 14 biji. Tempe kat gerai Wak Kasbon, singgit 5 keping, so for that price I can get 14 blardy pieces!

Not one to create a scene, I meekly hand over my hard-earned ringgits to the tokey kedai.

I hope you choke on that money, Pakcik Janggut!
Hah!

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

MELAKA GET TOGEDE-GEDE

Was walking along Jonker Street... oh ini rupanya Jonker Street yang selalu disebut-sebut tu. Been to Melaka quite a few times, but this is the first time I did the touristy-thing.

We don't see too many of these
beautiful old buildings anymore, kan?

Oops, masuk reverse gear sat. Last weekend, me & some of my college buddies had a mini-reunion of sorts, and Roddy played host kat rumah dia di Melaka. Dah lama buat plan ni, dan macam-macam aktiviti ada dalam itinerary. But I guess Roddy forgot to consider our age factor hehehe.

Nothing grand or malatopss, just a group of friends having a sleep-over, dragging their respective spouses & kids along la. We hadn't really met and regrouped for quite a few years, even though we work in KL. It was perfect timing to refresh our friendship.

Despite having to ditch a few of the original plans, everything else went super sweetly smooth. I didn't want to drive alone all the way to Melaka, so I took the KTM Commuter at KL Sentral to Seremban. Nore picked me up at the Seremban train station, and drove us both over to Melaka. Reached Roddy's home at 4.30 pm, rehat & makan-makan sikit. Since we were the only singles, Roddy gave us the master bedroom with the attached bathroom. The suite gitu... sweet! Tapi serampang dua mata, sebab lepas tu bilik kami jadik port lepak for us girls hehehe. Kaez & Jojo were there too, so that makes 5 of us old birds.

Malam, had a very nice seafood dinner at Muara Sungai Duyong. Very clean place, fresh seafood, cooked Malay-style seafood la. Very much preferable than Umbai, and much less expensive too!

Nasi lemak 'cute'... agaknya tiga sudu je nasinya kot

After dinner, we walked along Jonker Street, enjoying the night scenery. Adehh... panas giler, ramai orang, but it was nice jugak, totally different from the regular pasar malam over here.

Bigfoot in Jonker Street

Balik dah pukul 12 lebih, but the spouses were sporting enough to play baby-sitter and tidurkan anak memasing, meanwhile us girls dok gebang sampai kul 2 lebih. Rasa macam kat hostel balik hehehe

Next day, supposed to have breakfast at 8.30 am, then samada gi Pantai Kundur atau gi Zoo. Hampeh! Semua pakat sambung tidur lepas solat subuh, dan turun breakfast kul 10 lebih. Me, Roddy & Nore pegi pasar to buy all those sweet stuffs that people buy in Melaka lah - dodol, cakar ayam, bahulu, biskut kelapa, wajik, and of course not forgetting the cincaluk, yum!


Muzium Samudera

Muzium Samudera was OK, fun for the kids. It's in a huge ship, lotsa displays regarding the history of Melaka, ships models etc etc... makes me wanna go watch PGL again. Anyone got free tickets to give away? :-) Had lunch at the foodcourt opposite the museum, killer asam pedas, yum! Then on to A Famosa, where the kids insisted to climb up the hill, and us old
birds insisted we didn't want to challenge father gravity.

My train ride back was uneventful, except that at the Batang Benar station (who the eff came up with the name of this place?? So wierd!), a group of Mak Arab boarded. There were no more seats, so they proceeded to the rear of the train, pastu dengan penuh selamba kodok pakat duduk atas lantai ramai-ramai sambil gebang. Uiihh... budak punk ke mat rempit ke, pun takde
buat gitu tau.

My suggestion of venue for next mini reunion : Kota Bharu or Kuala Trengganu, sure best punya.

Go on, take a break guys, refresh old friendships, catch up with each other's lives. Syok tau!

Saturday, August 05, 2006

SABAH, BAH

Another long hiatus *sigh*.

Was in Sabah last two weeks, on work matters. It’s only my second time in Sabah, but I do so like the refreshing feeling I get when I’m there. The first time there was in Ranau, where I got to enjoy Sabah’s natural beauty. This time around, I had a pleasant stay in Kota Kinabalu town.

The flight to KK was quite bumpy due to bad weather. It was a transit flight to Kaoshung. so masa part yang bumpy tu there was a constant cacophony of chinese voices.

Rain rain go away, come again another day...

Aku yang orang M’sia pun dok pikiaq “selamat ke sampai ke KK ni?”, mesti those foreign passangers lebih lagi risau kot-kot tak sempat sampai kampung halaman dan terpaksa berkubur di M’sia… hehehe. So many morbid thoughts came to my mind – will they be able to identify my body? will I be in one piece, or many? any missing bodyparts? jatuh dalam laut, habis la jadik fish feed, ugh! Tulah suka sangat nengok CSI with all that gruesome mayat, padan muka aku.

Petang-petang lepas rehat sikit dan solat, gi merayau kat pasar Filipina dengan colleagues aku. Oops.. dah tukar nama, “Pasar Kraftangan” kalau tak silap. Aku sengaja tak bawak banyak duit, tapi kantoi jugak tengok berlambak-lambak brooch & gelang kristal dan mutiara. As usual la, beli untuk diri sendiri sebijik je, selain tu untuk mak, adik, makngah, sepupu, kawan, isk… kena la pi carik ATM plak.

Matahari baru nak tenggelam...

dan tak lama selepas tu...

Makan kat gerai tepi laut tu sambil menikmati sunset. Eh tapi toleh meja kiri-kanan, ramai plak yang muka & bahasa tak serupa orang Sabah bah… later found out that they were foreigners from the two neighbouring countries. Dah jadi macam KL gak nih, dalam kita tak sedar, ramai sungguh bilangan mereka. Kalau masuk secara sah, OK la. Tapi kalau hok yang langgar sempadan, pastu kat sini langgar undang-undang plak, isk…

Kira-kiranya sebelum balik KL, banyak kali jugak la masuk pasar – pasar kraftangan, pasar udang harimau, pasar ikan kering, pasar sayuran, pasar malam – adoiii macam la kat Kay Hell ni takdork pasar hehehe :-)

On one of the trips in our branch office’s van, dok sembang dengan driver. “Puan bila nak datang KK lagi? Marilah datang bercuti, kalau nak daki Kinabalu, saya boleh uruskan semuanya.” Deknon oiii… hajat tu memang la ada, tapi body cam ahkak ni susah la sket nak panjat gunung. Kot halfway ahkak tak larat nak panjat dah, boleh ke sherpa kau tolong dokong ahkak? Ekekeke…

Hmm… udang harimau masih ada satu pek beku lagi, nak buat masak apa ye?

MAKLONG, TWICE OVER!

Announcing the arrival of Muhammad Amir Danish, 3.05kg, 45cm length, on July 26th 2006 at 4.41pm via caesarian section.

Fair skin, straight hair, not so mancung nose, tiny lips with moncong macam mak menti, uhuh.. uhuh… so far sama la dengan abanglong nya si Haziq. Tapi isk… tang mata, camana leh sepet? No hal la tu, cuma in our family so far memang takdork trait mata sepet, so his eyes are unique la.


Abanglong who's just realized that suddenly the world doesn't revolve around him anymore... hehehe

Tu sebab la maklong dah jarang apdet blog sekarang. Ari-ari balik keje, dok penat buat part-time cuci poopoo Danish aje (his mom had a C-section kan, kena rehat banyak), and this little boy, like his brother Haziq, sure poos a lot! Busuk punya worang. I love you anyway Danish & Haziq, poopoo notwithstanding!

Friday, July 21, 2006

KOMPETEN KE?

Dulu, kita sibuk sangat dengan Balance Score Card. Maka berkampunglah kita 5 hari di Genting Highlands, kemudian di Port Dickson, sampai 4 orang wakil tiap jabatan, dikerah memerah otak untuk isi kotak-kotak carta dan anak panah dalam hand-out yang diberi. Then one year down the lane, BSC pun dah go down the drain...

Lepas tu kita sibuk dengan k-worker. Maka setiap ucapan yang dibuat oleh pihak pengurusan, pasti diselitkan perkataan 'k-worker' tu. Dan orang bawahan yang mendengar ucapan pun ternganga-nganga dengan bahasa bombastik bos-bos kita, tapi sampai la ni masih tak faham apa itu k-worker...

At the same time, kita sibuk dengan menegak-melintang-mendatar. Maka kak nam-kak nam pun asyik meneliti carta skala gaji jawatan masing-masing sambil menekan kulkulator dan muncung mengomel-ngomel. Yang aku nampak, sikit yang menegak, banyak yang mendatar, tapi kerja pulak banyak yang melintang-pukang...

Sekarang ni sibuk PTK pulak. Betul ke boleh ukur tahap kompetensi kakitangan kita? Masalahnya kita terlalu rigid, diuji mengikut skim jawatan dan tidak diambilkira tugas hakiki terkini. Kalau seseorang masuk kerja dengan diploma dan berjawatan Pen. Pegawai Tadbir gred N27, kemudian beliau buat degree dalam bidang IT dan menyandang jawatan sebagai pegawai IT , tapi beliau akan kekal dalam skim 'N'41 (Pegawai Tadbir) walaupun tugas hakikinya adalah Pegawai IT (F41). Jadi bila PTK, beliau diuji dengan kerja-kerja pegawai tadbir N41 yang tiada kena-mengena dengan tugas hakikinya. Uji kompetensi ke tu namanya? Tak logik langsung!

Susah la, semuanya nak ikut-ikut orang, tapi perlaksanaannya belum tentu baik. Tapi, Aiman tak kisah.... untungnya ialah penggubal dan pemeriksa kertas soalan yang dibayar elaun khas peperiksaan, 2 kali setahun, mesti ada masyuk side-income... hehehe yang terbaru ni exam PTK dibuat 4 kali setahun... pakcik kayo!

^ Jie bosan sebab ari tu baca nota tebal-tebal bagai nak rak, tapi haram jadah tak keluar pun dalam soalan PTK... ergghh ^

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

BEAUTY & THE BISnessman


21st August 2006, Masjid Wilayah.
28th August 2006, KL Convention Centre.
Shah Reza, Radzuan Radziwil, Michael Ong, Khoon Hooi, Embun, Anna Avanti.


Mystery solved.
Case closed.
Move on, people, nothing to see here.

Karim Singh Wahliat : "Eh, itu paper dalam ada cirita, itu worang kawin punya parti mau bikin sana dewan keyelsisi juga, itu wang ada mau blanja RM5 juta. Ada butul ka? Aiyoyo itu macam punya wang, brapa ribu anak yatim ka, yibu tunggal ka, worang miskin ka, worang sakit ka, dia boleh kasi tolong?"

Jie : "Aisey Karim... dia punya wang, suka hati dia la...."


Sunday, July 16, 2006

PASARAYA BOTA

Puuhhh... lama tul aku tak apdet belog (pinjam kat jokontan). Tonnes of excuses, but why should I try to justify that to myself? Sobab alasan yang sobonaeh, maleh yo hehehe :-)

Semalam gi pasaraya Bota, beli barang dapur sikit. Apa itu Bota? Tak, bukan tempat kat Perak tu. Bota yang ni asalnya satu kedai runcit kocik yo. Dari dulu, dekat ngan rumah aku ada sebijik, kami selalu gak membeli di situ sebab pilihan barangannya leh tahan, ada kelas gitu. Yelah zaman aku sekolah dulu, kalu nak buat spaghetti, ada duo tompek yo jual spaghetti mentah ni, samada kat TMC Bangsar, atau kedai Bota yang sepelaung je dari rumah aku. Kedai Mutusamy ke, Kedai Runcit Ah Kor ke, jual majerin planta je, takdork spaghetti atau mozarella cheese. Then, masa kedai ni tengah boom, kedai ni dijual kepada satu syarikat matleh, manakala tokeynya migrate ke Australia ke Kanada ke, aku dengar cerita orang la.

Anyway, it used to be the friendly neighbourhood store. Now, not anymore. Oh, that particular kedai bota kecik is still there walaupun abangnya bota hyper ada dibina betul-betul kat belakang bota kecik tu. Tapi bota kecik tu dah tak friendly. Dulu siap boleh kenal muka akak cashier yang selalu senyum kat aku, tapi sekarang sampai aje kat entrance dah kena jegil dengan pakgad nepal - aku agak la nepal, sepatah haram cakap melayu ke inggeris ke, dia tak faham.

Dalam tempoh beberapa tahun yang singkat ni, bota ni dah beranak-pinak dan anaknya bertaburan seantero negara, dari Bayan Baru nun di utara sampai ke Plentong di negeri selatan. Tu baru anak yang hyper, anak yang super plak dah naiki bilon sampai ke Miri, kat Karamunsing pun ada tau. Tiga-empat bulan lepas, aku dapat kejutan bila pegi ke Atria. Memang aku dah lama tak ke sana, so ingatkan saja nak jalan kat parkson. Lak eh, rupanya parkson pun dah kecundang di tangan bota yang sekor ni...

Tapi itulah, bota ni memang menawarkan harga barangan yang kompetetif, tapi kualiti barangan... dah Jie, jangan komen lebih-lebih, nak kena saman ke? hehehe :-) Kita pun sekarang ni agaknya dah jadi masyarakat 'pakai-buang'. Beli barang untuk digunakan hari ni aje, esok bila rosak, campak je dan beli baru, bukannya mahal pun kan? Lagipun kita sekarang selalu mengejar masa, sebab tu senang kalu pegi bota hyper, bukan setakat 3-in-1, tapi segalanya ada kat sana. Oh ya Lily, i-Gallop pun ada jual kat outlet dalam bota hyper, kan? hahaha...!

Sekarang, kalu aku ada banyak masa terluang dan aku nak cari barang yang berkualiti dan pelbagai, aku prefer pegi ke Bangsar Shopping Centre. Masuk ke supermarket, cuba kira berapa jenis tomato yang ada dijual... lalalala... rambang mato den, rabak poket la plak :-P

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

KAK NAM KAT OFIS

Gosip Korner Kak Nam Buyu-Buyu kat ofis aku hari ni sibuk bercerita tentang topik hangat akhbar hujung minggu baru ini. Mengalahkan berita nasional, ekonomi, atau berita dunia, hatta berita Pak Lah sekalipun. Topik apa? Cinderella story with a short ending.

Kesian ye si polan si polan tu. Bercerai juge akhirnya. Tulah aku dengar si polan tu g@y, sebab tu bininya mintak cerai. Betul ler tu kot, sebab tu dah tiga tahun tapi takde anak. Eh mana ada si polan tu mintak cerai, laki tu yang sendiri ceraikan si polan lah. Eleh betul ke boleh jadi kawan biasa je lepas ni? Eh, kau dah tengok kain batik baru yang aku bawak ni, beli ler boleh bayar ansur tiga bulan. Jom turun minum, aku rasa nak pekena teh tarik ah. Bola malam tadi, saper menang?

As much as I hate the cliche - that orang gomen ni takde keje, dok bergosip sambil jual kain, keluar minum atau menghilangkan diri sesuka hati tok nenek dia - yes, as much as I hate the cliche, tapi ujud juga umat Kak Nam ni kat ofis aku. Kekadang tu rasa nak smackdown je depa ni, tapi apa hak aku nak buat gitu kan? Agaknya depa ni ada boring personal life kot, sebab tulah mai ofis depa kena create entertainment untuk diri sendiri kot.

Cemerlang, gemilang, terbilang?
Yeah. Right.
Crap.

Monday, June 19, 2006

MAKAN BUFFET

Hari minggu lepas, birthday Ibu. We had a mini gathering, keluar makan ramai-ramai. Ibu ni agak adventurous juga bab-bab makan ni, she enjoys good food. Tapi memandangkan taste semua orang berbeza-beza, we decided on the next best thing - buffet la, apa lagi!


Aiskrim... yahoo!!! Nak makan sendiri


Boy who enjoyed his ice-cream...

... too much!

Nak tengok perangai makan sebenar orang M'sia ni, pergilah ke buffet hotel mana-mana. Ramai sungguh family yang keluar makan, sampaikan ruang cafe tak muat dan terpaksa 'buka' meja kat luar cafe. Adakah sebab makanan di situ sedap sangat? Atau keluar makan beramai-ramai pada hari minggu ni dah jadi satu budaya (kawan aku kata 'kultura') orang kita? Ataupun orang kita memang dah malas masak?

Sambil orang dewasa sibuk melantak, kekanak pula dihiburkan oleh seorang badut. Memang saban minggu pihak hotel ada sediakan badut. The last time we came, badutnya lelaki dan asyik memberi belon panjang yang dibentuk jadi pedang kepada kanak-kanak lelaki. Huru-hara juga lepas tu bila bebudak mula berlari-lari di antara meja buffet sambil bermain lawan pedang. Yang minggu lepas, badutnya wanita. Dia lebih suka buat belon berbentuk haiwan.


Ajiq dapat belon bentuk arnab

Belon Awin bentuk anjing poodle

Sambil makan, aku perhatikan orang keliling. Yah, ada yang makan ikut aturan, mula-mula roti, sup, salad, kemudian main course, dessert dan last sekali kopi. Ada yang tak kisah main blasah je apa yang berkenan. Ibu pun buat terbalik, dia makan dessert dulu, sebab dia memang suka pastries di buffet hotel ini. Anyway, it was a nice treat, seronok dapat berkumpul begitu, semua makan sedap-sedap dan tak perlu nak basuh pinggan selepas makan :-)

Aku terperasan satu benda la, tak tahulah samada kebiasaan atau kebetulan, dan samada relevan atau tidak. Sebenarnya tiap kali aku pegi buffet pun, aku memang selalu nampak perkara ni. Meja sebelah-sebelah kami, diduduki oleh bangsa yang matanya sepet. Bila aku jengah ke meja mereka, kebanyakan pinggan yang ditinggalkan adalah licin. Jarang kelihatan makanan yang diambil tapi dibazirkan. Adakah sebab mereka kuat makan dan akan makan semua benda yang diambil? Ataupun, mereka hanya mengambil apa yang mereka hendak makan sahaja?

Apa pun alasannya, aku suka dengan cara mereka yang tidak membazirkan makanan ini. Memanglah bila pegi buffet, sekali bayar, ambil saja apa dan sebanyak mana yang kita mahu. Kalau dah ambil dan lepas tu tak larat makan, tak apa. Waiter akan datang dan angkat pinggan makanan itu. Tak payah la kita nak rasa kesal sebab membazir makanan, tak payah rasa rugi sebab membuang rezeki, tak payah fikirkan orang lain yang kurang beruntung dari kita yang mungkin akan amat menghargai makanan tersebut jika diberikan kepada mereka. Tak payah ingat pada saudara kita di Afrika yang kebuluran, saudara kita di negara-negara zon perang yang tak cukup makan, saudara kita di negara zon bencana alam yang serba kekurangan. Tak payah semua itu, tak payah lah.

Apa-apa pun, aku tak lah rasa guilty sebab pinggan aku licin juga. Eh, ini sebab aku tak membazir ke, atau sebab aku kuat makan? Errrkkk......

Saturday, June 17, 2006

SI JANGGUT DARI KUANTAN

Tengahari. Perut dah mula keroncong.
Semua orang nampak dalam mood rileks.
Yelah hari Jumaat tengahari, dah hampir nak hujung minggu kan.
Aku pun dok sembang dengan Nash.

Kringg kringgg.

Panggilan dari branch office di Kuantan.
Oh, Janggut rupanya.


Hello - assalammualaikum - alaikumsalam - pekabar etc etc


Janggut
:
Aku dengar kat department kau ada kekosongan ek?

Jie
:
Ha'ah la, minat ke nak mohon?

Janggut
:
Tulah aku ingat nak juga mohon transfer ke KL. Dekat sikit ngan bini aku kat Seremban.

Jie : Eh, bukan bini kau kat Kuantan ke?

Janggut
:
Kat Raub. Bini nombor satu, kampung kat Raub.

Jie
:
Ohhh....

Janggut
:
Yang nombor dua tu kampungnya kat Seremban. So kalu aku transfer KL, senang la aku nak berulang, ke Raub pun dekat ke Seremban pun dekat.

Jie
:
Ohh.... gitu.... aku ingatkan dua-dua dok Kuantan dengan kau. Dulu masa kau kat branch Kota Bharu, depa ikut duduk Kota Bharu gak kan?

Nash
(mamat ni enter frame - menyampuk) :
Yang kat Kota Bharu tu nombor tiga daa....

Jie : Errrkkk..... !


Hebat kawan aku si Janggut ni, multi-tasking - manager, organizer, PR dan macam-macam lagi. Mesti dia pandai bahagikan masa, susun jadual, atur bajet, travel ke hulu ke hilir, banyak pakai tenaga nih.

Janggut, kau minum tongkat ali power root ek?

Saturday, June 10, 2006

FAITH

A friend asked me this today - have you ever wanted something so badly, prayed to the Almighty so often asking Him to grant you this thing, then one day, your prayer is answered and you become the happiest person on earth. But after a while, you find that it's not as good as you expected it to be. You feel so angry at the Almighty, no less. Have you experienced this before?

Well, that's a very big question, Muds, even from you who have constantly been the 'mind-boggler' in our circle of friends. (Note : Muds is the nutcase who comes up with questions like 'what is the function of underarm hair?' and 'apa pengertian fardhu kifayah?' all in one breath)

Flashback. I don't remember exactly praying hard for a certain something. But in my mid-twenties, in the midst of the usual after-solat doa of 'diampunkan dosa, dipanjangkan umur, dimurahkan rezeki, dibukakan pintu hati untuk belajar' for myself & family, I started inserting 'dipercepatkan jodoh' in my doa, and it became a part of my regular doa. Later on, I modified it into 'dipertemukan dengan lelaki yang boleh membimbingku menjadi manusia yang lebih baik'. Then after I met him, that bit of my doa was modified again into 'dipercepatkan jodoh dengannya, jika itu yang terbaik buat diriku'. Not long after that, we were united. Happily ever after? Yeah right.

On top of emotional trauma, the spiritual post-trauma was awful. I became a lost soul for a while. Merajuk dengan Tuhan. Boleh ke? I've never ever done any of the big sins You forbade upon us. I know I'm not perfect and perhaps I didn't do as much of the sunnah as I should've done, but at least I try to make sure the wajib is performed. And this is what I get? Is it too much to ask for, to grant me a normal family life, which you've already given to billions of others around the world? I did ask you to grant me that jodoh if it was the best for me. Why did You give it to me, if you know it was going to be temporary, why don't You just not give me it at all? I felt betrayed, I was so crushed.

It took quite a while and much support from loved ones to enable me to recover. I owe much of the spiritual guidance to an old friend, Brass, who lovingly helped me find my way back to Him. Something Muds once said, now made sense to me - "satu perkara yang amat sukar ialah untuk bersangka baik terhadap Allah".

Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt. And yes, I can verify that memang amat sukar untuk bersangka baik terhadap Allah, bila kita telah berhadapan dengan berbagai ujian yang datang dariNya. This is where faith comes in. Think about it.

*sorry folks, no pics today. Jie is in mulling mode*

Sunday, June 04, 2006

MISYAR ME PLEASE.....NOT!

I haven't been a good blogger lately. As usual la kat ofis tu kengkadang kerja bagai tsunami, tiba-tiba je terlalu banyak yang landing kat meja aku. 'Kaklong' department aku pun lately ni menyinga aje, biasalah minah perpetual pms tuh.

Anyway, been meaning to write a little on this 'misyar' issue that's been in the news lately. An esteemed Professor was quoted in the newspaper suggesting that 'misyar' marriages be allowed in Malaysia. A simple description of misyar was "whereby a couple enters into matrimony with the understanding that the husband is free of any material obligations (nafkah zahir) and only has to perform conjugal obligations (nafkah bathin)"

Nice one, Prof. And to think, in uni I actually read your book which was a textbook for one of the course subjects, peh! Sorry, I'm not well-versed in religious matters to delve too deeply into what the arabs are practicing, but the way you put it (that is if the media quoted you correctly) looks like nothing better than to legalize f*ck-buddies. Cool! A toast, bring out the bubblies! Oopss sorry, no bubblies, because alchohol is still haram (f*ck all you like, as long as you don't get drunk??? LOL)

My take on this one - berbalik pada asal je la... apa tujuan perkahwinan?
Nak bina institusi keluarga ke.... atau nak puaskan nafsu aje?
Apa perasaan anda kalau adik atau anak perempuan anda kena, boleh terima ke?
Alasan-alasan yang diberi, sungguh menghina wanita, sedangkan nabi & Islam muliakan wanita!

- 'bagi mengatasi masalah ramai wanita tidak berkahwin', - solution dah ada, sebab lelaki boleh kahwin 4... tapi kena penuhi semua requirement la. Kalau ada misyar, amboi lesen besar la untuk buka 3-4 cawangan, dan bini pertama tak boleh halang laki kawin lagi, sebab 'tak rugi' (harta) pun. Btw, many single or single-again ladies I know, for various reasons, make a choice of not getting married (yet/again), and they don't find singlehood a problem at all.

- 'perkahwinan tersebut juga mampu mengurangkan perlakuan maksiat di dalam masyarakat' - impliedly, kalau ada misyar dan laki dah beri nafkah batin, pompuan takkan buat maksiat lagi. Apa, ingat pompuan ni nak sex aje ke? Helloooo... it takes two to tango.... and only one aggressor to rape... how? Pompuan saja yang ada potential for maksiat ke? (no offence, guys)

- 'berdasarkan situasi mashalahat berlakunya ramai janda dan gadis yang tidak berkahwin' - this is so cliche, tanggapan negatif masyarakat pada janda dan pompuan single. To be honest, semua orang ada nafsu, that's normal. Tapi banyak lagi benda nak dibuat dalam hidup ni selain sex, dan banyak kekangan yang boleh kita bina sendiri untuk elakkan diri dari maksiat, terutamanya faktor ugama dan faktor hormat & jaga air muka ibubapa kita.

Kalau tujuan misyar ni untuk membantu wanita, I beg to differ. In fact, it will only lead to more misery for the womenfolk, who will have added responsibilities and yet no one to share it with. Habis manis, sepah dibuang. Kalau dapat anak, adakah misyar-ness (my word for 'irresponsibility') ni will be extended to the children?

These days, promiscuity is usually a matter of choice, not need. That's why some married people (also among my friends) have sex outside marriage just as much as some single people, clearly negating the Prof's suggestions of misyar to 'mengurangkan perlakuan maksiat'. Each to his own, kubur asing-asing, beb!

I'm sorry, I really cannot accept this misyar idea!!!!!! Do we really need to legalize unfaithful & irresponsible spouses? So kalau nak kawin misyar ni, tak payah bayar mahar (maskahwin) la pun kot. Sebab mahar tu sepatutnya adalah pemberian nafkah zahir pertama diberi oleh suami kepada isteri. Kawin free aje, datang bawak diri (dan jangan lupa bawa k*nek sebab yang penting ialah kena beri nafkah batin). Yezzaaaa.......

So after that, to balance out, and just for the fun of it, why not give the kuasa talak to the ladies? Scenario in a syariah court : "Tuan Hakim, saya mahu ceraikan suami saya sebab dia gagal memuaskan nafsu saya". OK whaaattt.....

*Sumimasen, Jie is emotionally stressed out lately, she's been on a diet, but the weighing scale needle still stubbornly points to the same number. Aaaarrrgggghhhhhh!!! So she had a double scoop of lecka-lecka's nockies yesterday afternoon.*

Incidentally, here's a pic of a mass wedding ceremony held in Saudi. The grooms are so brave, no? Tak takut tertukar bride ke hehehe :-)


Have a nice weekend, folks!

Monday, May 08, 2006

MY 100TH POST

Aaaahhh.... 100th post.
Somehow when I started this, I didn't really expect to last this long hehehe I'm such an inconsistent betty.

*what to write...what to write...*
This 100th post means something to me, and so I should write something good and meaningful, maybe even a tazkirah.

After a quite hectic week at work, and ocassionally mulling over what to write for my 100th post, fate decided that it has to be THIS :- MY CAR GOT HIT LAST FRIDAY

!!*##???&&%$#@#%%$!!!!

Bah!

Petang jemahat tu kan ke hujan. I was on my way home, traffic was slow. Kat situ jalan uphill, kereta depan aku dah stop, aku pun memang dah stop, tetiba satu perodua kenari mai hentam kat belakang aku. Cilakak betul amoi tu, apsal tak tekan brek sampai habis? Keta aku jadik 'sandwich filling', sebab the force of the hit caused my car to bump the one in front of me plak. Siap la kau kenari, pi hantam toyota satu, honda satu, sapa suruh? Sabor je la.













The rear bumper got hit pretty bad, and the reverse sensor's gone sensitive and crazy like it's on perpetual PMS - pantang masuk gear reverse je, dia pun dok teet teet teeeeettttt tak berenti walaupun takde benda yang in the way.












From the outside, bahagian depan nampak OK, except for the plate number. Semua number berderai kat atas jalan tu, yang tinggal cuma nombor 4, which is unlucky according to chinese numerology. Choi!

Buat report malam tu jugak - for traffic accidents in PJ, kena buat report kat balai PJ State. Aku tatau jalan, terpaksa hangkut Abah tolong tunjuk jalan. La ni senang tul buat report ek. Mula-mula isi slip pendaftaran, then depa key-in terus the details masuk dalam database, pastu depa bagi komputer sebijik, ikut suka hati kita la nak taip apa dalam report tu. Habis mengarang esei tu, klik 'simpan', dah siaaaap. Pastu gi jumpa Sarjan untuk angkat gambar keta dan buat sketch tempat kejadian. Hmm... adik polis yang key in details tu comel gak la... hehehe.

So tomorrow aku terpaksa ambik emergency leave, pegi pick up a copy of the police report. Then gi toyota, submit report & insurance details, mintak depa buat assessment of damage sekali. Hiii.... ado yo bondo yang nak monyosahkan den! Story of my life :-(

Lepas aku amik gambar keta tadi, sikenit ni datang meleseh kat aku, so aku amik gambar dia plak :-)










Sibuk sangat dia belek-belek kamera aku, so aku ajar dia butang mana nak tekan untuk amik gambar. Dua gambar last tu, Ajiq yang amik hehehe :-)


Hope you guys had a better week & weekend
*sigh*

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

FAMILY FUNTIME

PD was a blast for the kids :-)

Kecoh gak, 6 families in all. We were supposed to have a bbq picnic lunch on Saturday, tapi everyone started out late from their homes, sampai ke PD dah pukul 12 lebih dan perut dah berqasidah. So we decided to have the picnic lunch (lotsa food!) minus the bbq, and have the bbq later in the evening. OK jugak macam tu, takde la berebut-rebutkan ayam, ikan etc bbq tu.

Yummy bbq chicken!

After the bbq, sempat gak pegi pasar malam PD. Beli kuih, jagung bakar, makan sambil gebang.

The hotel apartment we stayed at was quite good actually. Rooms were nice & spacious, aircond & hot water OK, TV reception OK. One thing it lacks though, is a private beach. Kat tepi hotel tu ada public beach, boleh access dari gate tepi hotel. Tapi gitulah, public beach tu a little crowded and not very clean, tapi OKlah kalau just nak lepak for the bbq. Nak sewa kayak boleh, waterski, banana boat ride, jetski pun ada.

View from the balcony of my room

Views always look nicer from a distance *sigh*

Kiddies apa lagi, terjun tiruk kat swimming pool, berjam-jam sampai kecut jari pun masih tak mau keluar. The pool is very family-friendly, ada tiga separate kiddies pool, each with a waterslide and waterjets to keep 'em entertained. Senang nak monitor depa.


Ajiq very happy on a waterslide

Yana & Awin, sakan!

The hotel also has a volleyball court, kids playground, and gardens to stroll around in, siap ada gazebo kayu berkelambu kain kasa putih, so romatic. Tapi tak syok la jalan-jalan sorang kan :-( Oh yeah, there were pony rides too - f.o.c for kids under 12 years. Rasa cam nak join, tapi kesian plak tengok kuda padi tu, sakit pinggang lak dia nanti hehehe.

Sunset...

Check out at noon Sunday, parted ways after a nice lunch, everyone chatting happily and wearing smiles on their faces.
How I wish my smiles were genuine.


Another view from my balcony, I like this one.

Saturday, April 22, 2006

WHAT'S THE WEATHER LIKE TOMORROW?

Really, what's the weather gonna be like tomorrow? I really wanna know. Sebab? Sebab esok nak gi family holiday in PD, yay! So OK, PD tu tak le exciting sangat, sebab pantainya dah tak berapa ummph sekarang ni. Hak yang private beach tu, eden tak tau la. Tapi hak public beach tu... takpelah kita mandi kat swimming pool je lah. But we're planning on having a BBQ picnic lunch tomorrow, so I really hope the weather's gonna be fine.

Meanwhile, here's a good weather forecasting tool :-D


Have a good fun-filled weekend, everybody!

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANGAH

19th April, Happy Birthday Angah!


Sampai rumah lewat tadi, jalan jem sebab hujan, tak sempat singgah Secret Recipe untuk beli cheesecake yang Angah suka. The nearest cakehouse is King's, so I bought her a blueberry cheese cake, like in the pic. OKlah, sedap jugak. Dah tua-tua ni, segan plak nak tiup lilin, so potong je la kek tu hehehe.

My growing up years shared with Angah, were sometimes happyville, and sometimes turbulent. Beza umur aku ngan Angah cuma tiga tahun. I seem to recall masa Ibu dodoikan Angah yang masih baby, aku asyik nak menyempil dan mintak didodoi juga... hehehe jeles le gamaknya tuh!

Tapi jeles gitu-gitu je le, mom says tak pernah la pulak dia nampak aku cubit ke cocok mata dia ke. Oh no, we reserved the violence until we were school-age, hah! :-) Weh, gaduh sampai cakar-cakar, cubit, tarik rambut bagai. Tapi kejap je gaduh, lepas tu we had no choice but to make-up, kalau idak mati kutu dibuatnya. Being city dwellers cooped up at home in a new residential area with not many kids around, most of the time we only had each other to entertain us hehehe. Also, we were schooling in KL, where mom used to teach, so takde le kenal kids in the neighbouring area.

My parents always showed fairness to both of us. Masa kecik dok boria la, baju sama, kasut sama, haircut pun sama. Equally share mainan, share makan, but that didn't stop us from berebut, of course! Then, I went away to boarding school. Bila balik cuti sem, punya la seronok jumpa Angah, pokpekpokpek dari pagi sampai ke petang. Masuk 5-6 hari, mula la bocokak balik hehehe :-) But by then, the fights were usually verbal, takde cakar-cakar dah. Ada satu insiden tu, kalau tak silap masa aku Form 4, Angah pernah jerit "Pegi balik asrama la! Angah lagi suka kalau Along takde kat sini!" Adeeehhh... terhiris boto ati den dibueknyo, den nangis sampai bongkak bijik mato laie.

But all that is water under the bridge la. Sekarang dah dewasa, we are much closer, we help, communicate, share opinions, confide in, seek advice more with each other, and I truly enjoy her company. I still remember the tender moments, one of which was just as she was being wheeled on a gurney into the delivery ward for baby Ajiq's birth, I held her hand, kissed her forehead and wished her the best of luck. *alamak, dah rasa syahdu plak isk isk..*

Baby Ajiq, Angah & Bangah

Sesekali tu mesti la ada gak muncung sket, biasa la, sisters. At a time when I was most emotionally-fragile, Angah & hubby had been very kind in 'sharing' their baby Ajiq with me, and for that I am grateful. But I suspect the sharing, especially during Ajiq's poopoo times, is sometimes due to her malas-ness to cebok her son hahaha :-D

Whatever it is, I love my sister very much, as I love the rest of my family! My do'a for you, dear sister, is to always be in Allah's rahmah, blessed with good health, happiness & prosperity, for you & family.

And oh, you'd better buy me a nice cake for my birthday plak nanti, ya hear?

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

MINDARAYAU... MINDAKACAU !


"sad days indeed"
Asbjorn Lonvig
154,5 x 122 cm.
Acrylic on hardboard.
US$ 45000
inspired by a state of mind - sad days indeed
Inspired by keywords like mental health,
state of mind, manic depression, major depression,
bipolar condition, serotonin syndrome...disintegration...
...then red paint has been thrown temperamentally...

Let's hope this state of mind is temporary
Hah!
Meanwhile...

Bermula sebuah cerita
Di zaman dulu kala
Mudahnya sederhana kehidupan
Mereka riang sentiasa dan gembira
Tanpa duka
Waktu berpesta pawana pun melanda

Meresap fikiran dan jiwa
Berubahlah semua
Jadi sombong serta alpa
Semua inginkan kuasa
Rebut dengan sengketa
Yang lemah jadi hamba

Berpecah antara mereka
Musnah di hembus pawana
Begitulah kisah hidup
Dari zaman ke zaman
Pawana menghembus akan hati insan

Cinta musnah dihembus pawana
Keinginan menghancur manusia


Sorry guys, stuff happened at the office earlier this afternoon, kinda disrupted my mood today.

Friday, April 14, 2006

LIFE, AS IS

Had a nice lunchdate today, with Kaez & Nore. Face-stuffing and bitchfest, of course we had fun la hehehe. Biasalah orang gomen, hari Jumaat lunch-hour menjadi lunch-two-and-a-half-hours. Muslimin melangkah ke masjid untuk solat Jumaat, muslimah melangkah ke shopping complex *sigh* life, as is.

Kaez was pi$$ed at an ex-classmate whom we've known for 17 years. When you've been friends for that long, if you need to ask anything, just ask it to my face, right? Don't try to play coy, pretend you didn't know, drop hints and hope I take the bait and start pouring my heart out to you. I know for sure that I prefer candid honesty. Either that, or just shaddap. I'm with you there, Kaez.

Moving on.

Some conversations today made me sit back and think. Yes, I DO think on a regular basis tq v much. Kaez was saying that despite all the seemingly unfavourable happenings in her life lately, she's pretty much happy & satisfied. Nore also says that she's happy as she is now, even though people might think her life to be 'incomplete' (a.k.a unmarried).

Me? Maybe I have less of that positive aura at this point of time. I'm not satisfied. I look around and observe other people, and the green monster peeks out. There is so much that I want that's just outside my grasps. Yet I can't (and shouldn't) put any blame on anybody/thing, que sera sera. (*whiny whiny whiny* I need to let it out, ok?)

They say 'you are what you make of yourself'. If you are positive and thrive to make yourself happy, life would be all that sweeter for you. If you are negative, life would be miserable. Well, I think I'm kinda 55:45 on the satisfaction percentage scale, being just a little less than satisfied.

Obuden, that scale is very individual. I mean, if you want 10 things in life, and you get only 6, than you'd be unsatisfied. But if you had only wanted 6 things in life and you obtained all 6, then you would have gotten your fill. It all depends on whether all those things matter or not to you. Well then, does wanting 10 things instead of 6 things in the first place, make you a greedy person? I dunno, I really don't. There's a much bigger Force at work here, ya know?

Please oh Merciful, show me!

Pasrah.


Mood tonight : Sombre

Thursday, April 13, 2006

TWO-LINE RHYMES

Got this email today, funny lorrr hehehe :-) I'm about to reproduce it verbatim, but dunno who I should credit it to. So whoever the original author is, please don't sue me ye!

These are entries to a poetry competition, asking for a rhyme with the MOST romantic first line, but the LEAST romantic second line. Entah hape-hape entah, tapi kelakau la.


Love may be beautiful, love may be bliss
But I only slept with you, because I was pissed.

I thought that I could love no other
Until, that is, I met your brother.

Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet, and so are you.
But the roses are wilting, the violets are dead,
the sugar bowl's empty and so is your head.


Of loving beauty you float with grace
If only you could hide your face.

Kind, intelligent, loving and hot;
This describes everything you are not.

I want to feel your sweet embrace
But don't take that paper bag off of your face.

I love your smile, your face, and your eyes
Damn, I'm good at telling lies!

My darling, my lover, my beautiful wife
Marrying you screwed up my life.

I see your face when I am dreaming
That's why I always wake up screaming.

My love, you take my breath away
What have you stepped in to smell this way

My feelings for you no words can tell,
Except for maybe "go to hell."

What inspired this amorous rhyme?
Two parts vodka, one part lime.


Beddy-bye, Jie dah ngantuk... zzzz......

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

ANIMAL LOVE II

I once wrote about my pet cats in this post. I really am a cat lover, yes. But along the years, cats aren't the only pets I've had.

Ayam Origami. Paling mudah untuk dibela.

Let's see. When I was a kid (dinosaur years ago.... sheesh), we used to bela ayam kampung, even though we live in PJ. Tak tahu la kenapa, at that time memang ramai neighbours yang rumah sederet ni, minat bela ayam. Well, my parents being from kampung, memang suka bela ayam, kalau boleh itik pun nak bela. Bagus bela ayam ni, nasi yang tak habis dimakan, taklah membazir sebab dijadikan nasi ayam - nasi untuk makanan ayam daaa. The chickens were reared for our consumption, but me being a kid, of course treated the chickens as pets la.

"Cock-a-doodle-doo... ayam patuk, itik suduuuu...."

The usual number of chickens we had adalah dalam 20 ekor kot, silih ganti antara yang baru menetas dengan yang jadi lauk (masa awal-awal tu, aku tak tau ayam aku jadik lauk). Me & sis named all the hens & roosters. Petang-petang keluarkan depa dari apartment depa, and we played with the jinak & manja ones. Tak percaya ayam boleh jadi manja? Huuu.... memang boleh la. They recognize their names (or maybe actually just recognize the intonation of our voices kot), datang bila dipanggil, makan dari tapak tangan, let us hold them and actually endured our petting & cuddling, even kisses (kat atas kepala la, bukan kat molot, giler aperr? mampuih bibir kena catuk hehehe). Eh, ni cakap pasal ayam betul tau, bukan ayam 18sx ye.

"Che Yam, meh rapat sket, ada gosip baru nih.... soksek soksek..."

My sis punya fav were Miss Snowy and King. Miss Snowy putih melepak, lived a long life sebab dia pandai bertelur (hence, lambat kena semelih hehehe). King was the biggest rooster with a beautiful red carnation-like balung and long beautiful plumes pada ekornya, ala-ala jalak lenteng la ni. My fav was a hen, named... Isabella Rochester. Hahaha...! Aku pun tak tahu what was in my head when I named that particular hen. Siap ada nama manja lagi, 'Bel Roche'. Hey, I was 8 years old, OK?

The chicken rearing lasted a couple of years, they all ended on the dinner table somehow.
My pet! My pet! Oh nooooo.......!

Masa tu, ibu tak kasik kami nengok bila ayam kena semelih, so we didn't realize we were eating our pets. Masa first time tahu, aku punya lah sedih, berkoyan air mata jatuh dan terus mogok tak mau makan. And since then, ibu makes it a point to inform me if the particular lauk of the day is one of our own chickens, so that at least I wouldn't feel 'tricked' into eating my own friends.

Dig the cute chickas!
Can you tell which are males and which are females?


OK, aside from cats, hens & roosters, I've had various other pets including several tankfuls of fish, birds, and sea-monkeys. Tapi tak tau la, semuanya tak serasi dan aku tak minat. Aku rasa mungkin sebab aku tak dapat appreciate pets yang cuma untuk dilihat dan bukan untuk dibelai. I think I need a two-way communication, an ability for expression of love for and from my pets. Hmm... same principal applies for a.... hehehe :-)

Beddy-bye Jie, toksah nak merapu panjang-panjang!

"Huuuaaarrgghhhh" * big yawn, like the bear in Grizzly Adams tv series dulu tu, remember? *

Good night, everybody.

Monday, April 10, 2006

POST-KURSUS

Ah... two weeks outstation, and I missed a lot of goings-on in the blogworld. I missed the birth of a fellow blogger's sixth child - so very de cute one, rasa nak cubit pipinya. Tahniah Jo! There were so many updates in my favourite haunts, that I spent all of last night just catching up with them. Someone wrote a series of some sort of love story, which may or may not be true :-) Another someone wrote about a recent heartbreak (hang in there, sis!). Someone's parents started blogging (u rock, uncle & auntie!). Someone met Ujang (of the famed 1980s 'Aku Budak Minang') .

Anyway, last 2 weeks aku berkursus di KB. Isnin lepas masuk ofis, ada surat tawaran untuk kursus lain plak for the whole of last week, in a reputable hotel in KL with a buffet spread that stretches 'lunch hour' into 'lunch two-hours' *sigh* Macam ni, bila aku nak kurus? So petang Isnin tu balik keje terus gi check-in kat hotel tu plak.

Selalunya orang berebut nak gi kursus and bos usually kasik kat staff seniors. Kat ofis aku plak, orang yang indispensable to the boss tidak dibenarkan berkursus away from the office, ala-ala kena pasung emas gitu. Memandangkan aku bukanlah dah-ling medem, sebab tu kot aku & some others dapat peluang berkursus hehehe takpe, at least kami dapat belajar benda2 baru untuk diaplikasi dalam kerja harian nanti.

Oh ya, tak lama lagi besday medem. Aku sebagai bekas ajk kelab, menjalankan tugas dengan memberi 'reminder' kepada adik-adik ajk yang baru. Yelah, nak sumbangkan RM, rasanya idak le kot, cukup le sekadar mengingatkan depa. Kita tengok la plak camana sambutan besday medem tahun ni, gilang-gemilang tak?

Situation at the you-know-where has not quiten down much. We are constantly bombarded with 'wahyu-wahyu' dari langit. Buat ini, jangan buat itu, who cares about procedures? Polisi? Eh semua kat tangan dewa la. Kompeni keroni aku nakkan projek juta-juta tu, kasik aje lah. Aaah.. tak payah tender-tender la, buat lambat je tu. Oh projek tu tak masuk dalam RMK9? Takpa, hang slash bajet dari projek lain, cekau mana-mana yang dapat, janji projek keroni tu jalan. Ni projek dewa-dewa, siapa berani bantah? Certainly not ikan bilis! Saya Yang Menurut Perintah!

On a personal note, well the time has come for me to acknowledge my current status to my officemates, I guess. Sebelum ni very few people yang tahu, then rahsia aku terbocor kat medem masa isi borang declaration harta tu, then masa kursus tu ada orang terdengar Chemin bercerita dengan Chefah tentang status aku [mana minah ni dapat cerita ye? aku pun tak tahu]. Dan Chefah yang aku kenal karektornya sikit lebih kurang pemancar parabola tu, aku boleh agaklah efeknya. True enough bila aku berdepan dengan Cheda dan Cheti, depa dua-dua tak surprised sebab dah dengar dari grapevine. [Nasib la Jie, nak buat camno klu persekitaran hang ni memang banyak 'pemantau' tepi kain orang lain] Takpe, heroin tenang, beb. Yang penting, time has healed a large part of my wounds, so kalau orang nak bercakap sekarang pun, insyaAllah aku boleh senyum kat depa. Oh well, perhaps it IS time to start afresh, kot.

Aik, graf mood penulisan aku makin merudum malam ni hehehe....

OKlah, meh sini aku letak gambar buah hati penawar duka aku. Just looking at his photo makes me smile and lightens my mood :-D
No, bukan anak aku, anak sedara lah.


Haziq, age two and a half. Love him to bits!

How I wish I have one of my own, though *sigh*.

Beddy-bye Jie, sleep now, while your smile is still on your lips, and your tears are not yet in your eyes.

Mood tonight : Solemn

Saturday, April 01, 2006

MAGHI KELATE

"Mek, u kena pegi kursus minggu depan." [Eh, bila plak aku jadik 'mek'?? ]
"Kat mana?"
"Kelate. Ni ha surat tawaran kursus." [Ohhh... eh, yabedabedu!]

Pergh, seronot! Sebab Kelantan is the only state in Malaysia yang aku belum sampai lagi. Aku scan last page surat tawaran, ternampak a few nama peserta from department lain yang aku kenal. Eh OK la, ada geng nih.

Tak lama pas tu, Cheni call, ajak aku pegi saing naik bas. Yelah, officer cabuk cam aku ni gi kursus tak layak naik kape terobang. Memula ingat nak naik Air Asia (own expense), tapi bila dah ada geng, seronot gak naik bas ramai2. So terpaksa le pulak menapak ke kaunter teket bas... RM30.80 OK la, tak mahal.

Beautiful greenscape, taken on the third day, view from inside a bus.









Life at the riverside.


To cut a long story short, kitorang naik bas malam, sampai KB pagi buta, check in kat hotel, rehat sket, mandi, solat, dan kemudian bermulalah pengembaraan... SHOPPING! Tak senonor betul, kursus belum mula, dia dah shopping dulu.... hehehe :-) Tak ganggu jadual kursus pun la, just kena atur jadual perjalanan dengan bijak la.

We stayed at this hotel, OK room & service, good food.

OMG! Rambang mata aku tengok banyak-banyak kain tudung yang cantik giler and A LOT CHEAPER than those sold in KL. Tu belum kira shopping kain batik lagi tuh. Cash abis, gi cucuk ATM. Cash yang tu pun abis, bantai card plak. Adeehhhh..... Tapi takpe, berbelanja tu, masih beringat jugak, ikut kemampuan. Beli banyak pun, bukan untuk kita sorang. Yelah, klu yang ada anak remaja pompuan 5 orang, takkan nak beli tudung selai je. Che abang pun nak jugak shirt batik. Kengkawan pun ada yang kirim. Siapa yang ada semangat keusahawanan tu, boleh buat niaga bila balik ke KL. Pasar Siti Khadijah, Pasar Buluh Kubu, Pasar MPKB semua kami round. Rantau Panjang pun sampai juga, dan ada juga yang sempat pegi Pengkalan Kubur. Weeiii... jangan kata pompuan je, yang lelaki pun dok shopping gak tau!

Checklist aku :-
(1) Tudung = 14 helai. Oooopp.... aku punya 2 aje, yang lelain tu untuk mak, adik, makngah, kawan dan orang kirim.
(2) Kain batik = selai je, untuk diri sendiri. Nak beli banyak tak mampu, sebab taknak over-budget.
(3) Murtabak spesel = 6 bijik, memang sedap giler, besar, tebal dan sangat berbaloi dengan reghenya, 2 untuk rumah, 2 untuk makngah, 2 untuk kawan.
(4) Serunding / sambal daging = 3kg, buat pek kecik-kecik dan distribute.
(5) Pauh mah ite = 3kg, sedap weh!
(6) Telur penyu = 8 biji. Aku tak makan, beli untuk mak aku.
(7) Keropok = 5 paket, buat stok.
(8) Selainnya, barang makanan i.e kuih-kuih (ye, aku sejuk-bekukan kuih akok dan angkut balik KL), snek (gajus, asam etc), pulut hitam. Nak beli beras siam, rasanya tak dibenarkan kot.

Beli tu je pun, dah habih enam ratus lebih. Start minggu depan, kena makan roti je la kat ofis.... hehehe :-)

Cakap sal makan ni [dia dah start dah.... favourite topic nih!], masa di pasar dan di pasar malam, aku jadik orang peghak. Banyak betul makanan yang aku tak pernah jumpa! Sibuk amik gambar & beli sikit-sikit untuk rasa. Here's some pics. Eh, kalu aku silap tulih namanya, hangpa pebetuikan, ye?

Kuih Akok, yum! Tapi le ni depa buat kurang manis sket



Pulut Dakap - comelnya, dibuat sebesar ibu jari pastu diikat dua bijik sekali.
Tepung Pelita, kuih biasa tapi lebih besar & murah, singgit lima bijik. Sedap!


Yang ni semua aku tak ingat nama, apa ye?
Tapi rasanya main ingredient is pulut kot.


Sate Perut! Tapi perut ayam daa... aku tak pernah jumpa kat KL.
Buah Tanjung dibuat dari kuning telur & dimasak dalam air gula.
Too sweet for me lah.



Nasi Tumpang - layered rice-lauk-rice-sambal etc, exciting discovery!
Kuih Sekaya dibuat dari telur, gula, santan.
Perrrgh.. lemak berkrim disukai ramai!



Jala Mas, made from egg yolk & boiled in syrup.
Au contraire, the second one, Tahi Itik, made from egg white.
Interesting, kan?

Mak aih... tu belum kira nasi dagang, nasi kerabu, solok lada, tomyam, laksam segala yang aku bedal kat cafe hotel tuh. I'm in food haven! Seminggu je aku kat KB, bila balik, tak berani nak dekat dengan weighing scale aku ataupun buat blood sugar/cholesterol check, sure kantoi punya!

Thank you Darul Naim, for showing me ur peaceful greenscapes, ur beautiful batiks, ur delicious foods, ur friendly people, a totally enjoyable stay! Eh, aku takde pun citer pasal kursus yang aku hadiri tu kan? Ahaks :-D