Wednesday, November 26, 2008

ODER JE

Aku balik keje semalam, si kenit dua tahun Enysh tengah makan biskut.

Aku cium kepala dia, aku kata "Enysh dok sini ye, Ayong nak gi buat air."

Dia dongak kepala, "Ayong, kefefe, shejuk..."

Amboi amboi amboiiii.....

Tak padan dengan kenit, cakap pun pelat lagi, ada hati nak oder aku buatkan nescafe ais.... cheh!

Monday, November 17, 2008

MACAM SIUT

Hari Jumaat, menapak jauh sikit untuk makan tengahari. Biasalah keje gomen, waktu rehat hari Jumaat kan panjang sikit.

Dah berbulan-bulan tak makan ayam peri-peri. Jadi aku pun singgah la di restoran ayam peri-peri di Sogo. Huh. Servis lembab nak mampus, dah nak habis ice-lemon tea segelas aku minum, baru dapat ayamnya. Tak apa, aku maafkan, sebab ice-lemon tea tu boleh refill... hehehe. Sementara tu, pelanggan kat meja sebelah dok merungut. Udah le kena tunggu lama, pastu waitress silap hantar order pulak. "Ni table service ke, atau nak suruh kita self-service?" kata akak tudung merah tu.

Lepas makan, aku panggil sorang waitress, minta bil. Oh, cuma RM23.90. OK, aku hulurkan RM24.00. Berapa bakinya? Ya betul, 10 sen aje. Tak apalah, aku kira halal jelah 10 sen tu. Aku pun bangun dan menapak keluar dari restoran peri-peri tu.

Tetiba depan orang ramai tu, ada satu waitress bangang dengan suara kuat kata "Oiiii... tu dah bayar ke belum?"

Aku toleh belakang dengan mata buntang.

Nasib baik sorang lagi waitress signal kat si waitress bangang tu "dah bayar la!"

Kalau tidak, mau aje aku tuang sebotol sos peri-peri kat kepala waitress bangang tu.

Macam siut.

Friday, November 07, 2008

BLANKY

Masa kecik dulu, korang ada security blanket tak? Well, tak semestinya lah selimut aje kan. Actually it's a term for a familiar object that makes a child feel safe and comfortable. Can be a pillow, doll, teddy bear, blanket, clothing etc. It's commonly known as 'blanky'. First time yang aku find out about blanky tu bila baca kartun Peanuts - ada satu karektor budak lelaki yang dok usung selimut ke hulu ke hilir tu.




Jepun ni suka buat benda pelik-pelik, kan? :-)


As far as I recall, aku dulu takde blanky yang spesifik. Cuma aku kalau nak tidur mesti ada 2 bantal, satu untuk kepala dan satu untuk dipeluk. In fact, kalau ada satu bantal aje, I'd rather hug it than have it under my head. Masa membesar dulu aku tido satu katil dengan Angah, dan selalu jugak berebut bantal, dan curi bantal each other kalau terjaga tengah malam.

Need I say more? Yes, it is an actual pillow, dari Jepun huhuu!

Pakcu, well, he's always had a bantal busuk. Camana nak buat bantal busuk ye? Rasanya bucu bantal tu digentel dan dihisap kot, sebab tu la bau busuk bila air liur melekat dan kering kat situ eww......! Mula dari bantal baby yang kecik, Pakcu's bantal busuk progressed in size, sampai lah ke saiz bantal biasa. Bila dah busuk, Ibu cuci bantal tu. Tapi Pakcu tak suka bantal yang dah wangi, so dia busukkan balik. Bila Ibu buang bantal yang dah busuk, no problem, Pakcu busukkan bantal lain pulak. Aku cukup geli dengan bantal busuk Pakcu dulu... busuk ya amat! Aku harap la ni dah takde bantal busuk la, nanti dah kawin, bini pun pening kepala huuuhuuuu!


I remember one Raya open house, where one of the guests' child insisted on taking his blanky along. Tak kisah je, cuma blanky dia tu, is a comforter. Adeh la... dia seret bahagian depan comforter tu, dan maknya terpaksa usung bahagian belakang, yelah comforter kan ke berat & besar. Naya betul hehe :-)



My nephew Enysh now has a blanky. Selimut lama Abah yang telah di tuntut hakmilik oleh Enysh - kalau dia tengah pegang selimut tu, orang lain tak boleh pegang sama, nanti dia nangis. Nama blanky dia "Shimok". Ngan Shimok ni pun aku geli sket, sebab Enysh akan lap air mata la, hingus la, dengan Shimok. Kalau berjalan, Shimok tu meleret le atas lantai, sib baik dalam rumah je.


Bila dah lena, barulah Shimok jadi selimut


Some kids hug a soft toy to sleep. I used to have a yellow teddy bear to play with and sekali-sekala bawak tido jugak, called Bear-bear. But I discarded that one after it started to smell. Salah aku jugak, aku pegi mandikan Bear-bear, lepas tu berhari-hari kena tunggu kering. Bau hapak la, padan muka aku :-P A friend used to have a teddy bear as a blanky. Teddy bear dia melayu, sebab namanya "Talib". Huh? Ada ke budak namakan teddy bear dia Talib? Adaa... hahaha wierd la! Kaezzzzz..... that's you! Huuuhuuuu!


OK walaupun blanky ni dah kira biasa untuk budak-budak, tapi aku rasa la, mungkin menyumbang kepada masalah kesihatan anak-anak. Selain dari bakteria dari air liur yang kering pada bantal busuk, I'm sure banyak juga kuman-kuman lain yang melekat bila blanky ni diletakkan merata-rata. Think of these two monsters below - dust mites - lurking on and in your child's blanky!



Creepy crawlies... ewww....!




Tuesday, November 04, 2008

SECOND CAR


Angah & Bangah dok reccy kedai kereta sekitar PJ & Shah Alam, nak beli second car. Their existing car is a 7-seater MPV, sebab kalau berjalan tu memang berhangkut dengan anak-anak, maid & barang-barang (dan selalu jugak aku pun menebeng ikut diorang berjalan hehehe).
Second car ni is for Angah to drive to & from work, dan untuk hangkut bebudak gi tadika ke, kedai ke, bila time-time Bangah takde kat rumah la. Memandangkan depa ni semua kaki panjang dan besar saiz anak gajah, kena carik kereta yang bersaiz sesuai la. Dan memandangkan anak-anak Angah yang lasak, kereta kena ada safety features yang bagus.

Angah suka Honda CRV, tapi mahal sangat as a second car. Angah punya second choice Suzuki Grand Vitara, interior luas dan smooth driving, tapi exterior tu tak sporty, macam kotak sket. Aku suggest Toyota Rush, tapi cc kecik untuk saiz kereta - 1.5 cc untuk 7-seater.

Pakcu mencelah "Angah, pakcu tau kereta apa yang enjin bagus, ruang luas, dan paling selamat sekali, orang tak hijack kereta ni."

Kami toleh ke Pakcu, "Kereta apa?"

Pakcu dengan muka selamba kodok "Black Maria"

Cikobeng betul hehehe :-)

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

CREAMPUFF

This Friday, ada jamuan lagi. When do we ever stop gorging ourselves la, aiyo! Sampai bila pun diet aku tak berkesan kalau ofis dok buat makan-makan gini hahaha :-)

Anyway, bos mintak aku buat creampuff. Tak aci, orang lain oder je makanan, aku kena buat sendiri. Tapi no hal, sebab boleh buat the night before. Since I don't have anything interesting to write about today, aku tulis pasal resepi creampuff la plak, ok?

For the Pastry :-

2 cups water
1 cup margerine (Planta works better than other brands)
2 cups plain flour
7 eggs (medium size)

Bring to boil the water, add in margarine and stir until completely dissolves. Reduce heat, chuck in flour and stir continuosly until dough is smooth. Using electric mixer, add in eggs one by one. Spoon mixture into piping bags (will fill 3 disposable piping bags). Pipe out mixture (in a circular motion) onto a pre-greased mini cupcake pan. Bake on 175 degrees for about 15-20 minutes until pastry is golden. Cool before serving.

For the Cream Filling :-

I can evaporated milk (I prefer Ideal brand)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup custard powder
1/2 cup water

Heat water, sugar and half can of milk over medium heat. Meanwhile, mix custard powder into the remaining milk. When the water, sugar & milk starts to froth, pour in the custard mixture a little at a time, stirring continuosly to ensure the cream doesn't burn or turn lumpy. Continue stirring over slow fire until cream thickens to the consistency you like. If you hold a spoonful of the cream and it pours down in a ribbon, that should be just about right. If cream gets too thick, you can always melt it down a little with a spoonful of boiling water.

To serve, make a slit in the pastry, spoon or pipe in the cream filling. Enjoy!

I'll upload some pics on Friday, when I've actually made them creampuffs hehe :-)

Friday, October 24, 2008

STAF KONTRAK

Lahhh.... baru je cakap sal job interview semalam... tup-tup keluar berita 50,000 kakitangan awam taraf kontrak akan kena terminate hujung tahun ni 'berikutan kekangan kewangan kerajaan'.

Isy.... camana ye, depa kata ekonomi kita OK... tapi nampaknya dah macam 'eko-no-money' la plak.

Nak kena belajar buat side-income la. Ada sesiapa nak tempah creampuff? Fruit tartlet? Errr... outsource assignment PTK? Hahaha :-)

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

INTERVIEWS

Job interviews - they're like having diarrhea after eating stale food. You get tensed, stomach cramps, you feel like throwing up. You go into the little (interview) room, (bull) shit around, and then only will you feel relieved *phew!*. Did you stink or not? Well, "don't call us, we'll call you" hehehe :-)

Anyway, the HR is conducting interviews for temporary clerical staff, to be upgraded into the permanent employment scheme. OK, for their level, interviews are not as subject-oriented as interviews for professionals. But I think sometimes the interviewers just take it as their personal entertainment lah, jahat!

Here's some of my friends' experiences - but these are not necessarily interviews conducted at my office, okkay?

One candidate said her hobby was reading, so the interviewer asked her to name her favourite author, to which she answered "Ramlee Awang Murshid". The interviewer asked her to recount the novel "Hatiku di Harajuku", since the interviewer herself had just finished reading that novel. Well, she was so nervous that she muddled up the ending - she said that Noriko died, when the actual ending was Hisham married Noriko and they opened up a strawberry farm in Cameron Highlands. What a sad 'reason' for losing interview points *sigh*.

Another candidate was asked her opinion about a certain procedure practiced in her department. She was still in the midst of her first sentence, when the interviewer cut her off and proceeded to tell her HIS opinion about the procedure, how ineffective it was, the problems caused by it, and ways & recommendations on how to improve the procedures. Well, who's actually being interviewed here, huh?

One candidate in an interview for a promotion, exited the interview room royally pissed. The interview took only about 5 minutes, and just the basic 'introduce yourself' questions were asked. So the candidate asked the panel, how come I am not asked about my current job performance - the normal question in an interview for job promotion. One of the interviewers said "oh kami dah ada calon, awak ni cuma untuk cukupkan kuota temuduga aje". Buat sakit hati je!

There are some who actually bully the candidates, just to see them menggelabah. One of my clerks was told by an interviewer "saya dengar awak ni kat pejabat ada masalah sikit ye? apa hal nya ni?" The clerk was tongue-tied and panicked, before he realized the interviewer was laughing his head off "muka awak kelakar la bila awak takut!" Oh yeah, have some laughs at someone else's expense. Why don't you just drop dead?

Some candidates also go through embarassing moments. One clerk was asked what events led to her divorce, and whether she feels lonely now. I can't see the relevancy of this question to her job interview, can you?

Menyampah tul dengan interviewer yang mulut sampah macam ni!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

RAINBOWS

You may have come across this line before, but I just found it this morning -

" Kadang-kadang Allah sembunyikan matahari
Dia datangkan kilat dan petir.
Kita menangis dan bertanya, ke mana hilangnya matahari?
Rupa-rupanya, Allah nak beri kita pelangi..... "

Anyhow, I like it - it's inspirational :-)

So friends, don't fret, and keep an eye out for our rainbows!






Monday, October 20, 2008

ENYSH & KOJIQ'S ESCAPADE LAST NIGHT

We had a hysterical moment last night hehehe :-) Apa lagi, melayan budak-budak tu punya kerenah la.

My sis had bought some cupcakes, and Enysh dok 'pau' semua orang punya. After some time, sis thought he's had enough, so tak mau kasik dia makan cupcake lagi. Dia pun mencebik-cebik la...

Enysh : "nakk.... mama, naaakkk...."
Mama : "nak apa?"
Enysh : "nak tuuuu.... *pointing to the cupcakes* "
Mama : "sebut dulu - nak cupcake"
Enysh : "naaakkk..... tuuu.... *nangis* "
Mama : "nak apa? sebut dulu - nak cupcake"
Enysh : "naakkk.... *meraung*.. naakk kepepek...! nak kepepekkkk....!"

Adehhh.... hahaha! 'cupcake' disebut 'kepepek', obscene la pulak!

Yang si abangnya Kojiq plak, terjumpa his dad's self-inking stamp... ala cop nama yang tak payah pakai stamp pad tu. Sibuk la dia mencari kertas putih, nak main cop nama tu.

Dia tak jumpa kertas putih A4, tapi dia substitute dengan another white flat surface that he could use the stamp on and see the results.

Noo.... bukan dinding. He used.... tada! His dad's white briefs. Hahaha! Chantek je dia letak briefs tu atas meja, pastu dia cop. Budak sekolah asrama pun takde bubuh cop nama dekat spender tau! Anyway, his dad's now got patterned briefs :-D

Friday, October 17, 2008

ENYSH LEARNS WORDS


My nephew Enysh is 2 years old, and he's at that stage where he's dilligently trying to increase his vocabulary. I say 'dilligently', because he's forever poring over his picture books, magazines, cookbooks, anything with pictures-lah. Whenever he sees a familiar pic (also on tv), he'll call out it's name. Even when he's playing with toys, he'll pause often to recall and say the words he's currently learning.

We're coaching him in both Bahasa Melayu and English, starting with single-syllable words, and then two-syllables, like names of animals (although he calls any grazing animals as 'cow'), vehicles, fruits, foods like 'cookies', 'burger', 'pizza', 'coffee' etc. I just realized a lot of his vocab is food-oriented hehe :-) Dasar kuat makan!

Lately, mom's teaching him a few three-syllable words (also food-oriented, argh!) like 'banana', 'potato', 'papaya', 'tomato'.

This is where I get mean huuuhuuuu! I'd call out to him, "Enysh, babana! Payaya! Popeto! Tomamo!" Just to confuse him lah. But he's never, ever said these wrong words, instead he'd correct me, "Ayong, bananaaaaaa. Papayyyyyya."

He's also picked up some cute tricks. One day last week, when my brother told him to pick up a toy, he held out his hands with palms facing my brother, and said "ayahsu, no way!"

Damn. This kid's either gonna grow up to be a teacher, or maybe a lawyer? hehehe :-)



Wednesday, October 15, 2008

DIVA AKHIRAT

Berilmu tu bagus, suka mencari ilmu juga bagus. Bila suka berkongsi ilmu, itu lebih lagi bagusnya. Nak-nak lagi berkongsi ilmu keagamaan, sudah jadi berdakwah lah juga. Ganjaran dunia pun dapat, ganjaran akhirat pun dapat.


Tapi cara mesti betul, beb.


Kita kongsi ilmu, kita terangkan dengan lembut, ajarkan perkara yang baik dan tegurkan yang kurang baik, kita ajak kawan kita perbaiki apa-apa yang perlu dibaiki. Kita buat dengan cara yang hormat, insyaAllah orang akan lebih hormat kita.


Tapi kalau berlagak 'diva akhirat' apa-orang- buat- salah- tapi- kalau- aku- buat- tak- salah- sebab- aku- niat- hati- murni- aku- masuk- syurga- korang- masuk- neraka, hmmm... susah lah. Mungkin juga jadi sampai tahap riak, berbangga sebab banyak ilmu agama sedangkan orang lain cetek pengetahuan.

Bukan saja apa yang didakwah tu tak sampai, tapi juga menyakitkan hati orang lain dan mengundang umpat-keji, malah memutuskan ukhwah pula nanti. Orang tak tegur-sapa, tak tolong buat kerja, tak ajak makan sama, tak mesra.

Sudahnya, ofis yang ber-aircond pun rasa panas macam neraka...

Isunya? Ambil gambar berkumpulan (bercampur lelaki perempuan) dengan big boss, sebagai kenangan majlis hari raya.

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

JAMUAN HARI RAYA 2008

Jamuan Hari Raya is baaacckkkkk!

*burp*

As is the tradition here, every department will host a 'open house' during the month of Syawal. We held ours today! However, at the agency's level, the 'openhouse' for all staff & public has been scrapped off, due to 'langkah berjimat-cermat' so as to save our budget allocation for something else more important.

We had the usual fare - nasi beriani, lemang & rendang, sate, roti jala. Yang lain sikit, cuma mi hailam. Same old, same old. I wish the committee had been adventurous enough with the menu, like maybe have a popiah table where guests can choose the condiments to be assembled in the popiah - but my idea was shot down unceremoniusly *bummer*. Last year, one department included ubi rebus in their menu, and it was a hit! We had fun trying out ubi rebus cecah sambal cili goreng, sambal bilis, sambal belacan, ikan kering, ikan pekasam, kelapa parut manis, kelapa parut masin etc. Another department had rojak buah - choice of more than 6 fruits including kedondong & green apple, yummy!

Anyway, all ends well although a few guests just dropped in to say hi, as they were fasting (Puasa 6). Most invited guests turned up, and some uninvited ones as well. I'm glad that this year we managed to include our 2 cleaning ladies, some building maintenance crew and some of our security guards as our guests. It's these 'rakyat marhaen' whose service we use daily, but they are rarely appreciated.

I'm dead beat. Gonna get an early shut-eye tonight :-)

Monday, October 06, 2008

BACK TO WORK

Salam Aifilfitri, dear all!

Back in the office today.

Bosan nak mampus, food court penuh sesak sebab 2 gerai je yang bukak. So pepagi subuh sepihi, terpaksa menapak ke restoran mamak seberang jalan untuk sarapan. Kira OK jugak, dah sebulan lebih tak pekena roti canai, so sedap ajelah bedal pagi ni.

Tengahari nanti, nak makan kat mana pulak?

Isy... inilah penyakit aku. Sebulan puasa, berat turun sket. Tapi habis je posa, perut dok keriuk-keriuk, lapaq!

Friday, September 26, 2008

KOJIQ'S WORLD

Dear friends, do visit my second blog, Kojiq's World.

This blog - and it's subject matter - is close to my heart.

I hope you will enjoy reading it, and maybe share any experience, info or questions you may have, and we shall all benefit from it!

Thank you.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

A READER'S RESPONSE : TRANSGENESIS

We have a 'Book Club' of sorts here in my office. Just some staff sharing some novels we own. Actually it was more for the benefit of some of our clerks who do like to read novels, but can't afford to buy them. Us officers take turn to buy at least one new novel a month. But enough about the Book Club.

What I want to post about today are these comments made by a young clerk who had borrowed my copy of the novel Transgenesis : Bisikan Rimba. I mentioned that the author has a blog, and she asked if he would be interested to hear her comments. So, Amir Husaini, this one's for you... hehehe :-)

Unfortunately for her, internet access in my office is not extended to clerks, so I shall reproduce her comments 'almost' verbatim.... I said 'almost', because these days my memory sometimes needs to be jumpstarted with ginkgo biloba in the mornings *sigh*. Don't fret, she actually wrote her comments on paper, point-form.

On her feelings while reading the novel :-
"Secara keseluruhannya, best dan menarik. Masa mula baca, rasa excited, tapi di bahagian tengahnya, rasa macam dah boleh agak apa ending cerita so macam malas sikit nak baca. Masa sampai suku penghabisan, rupa-rupanya banyak kejutan lain! Ending tak sama seperti yang saya fikirkan, dan kejutan-kejutan tu macam memberi suntikan kepada kemalasan tadi. Ending, rasa nak marah dan tak puas hati pun ada, rasa macam "ni mesti akan ada sambungan ni...". Dalam masa yang sama sebelum noktah akhir, saya fikir "harap-harap semua terbongkar, Ixora, Cempaka, mak sedara Razilan..." Tapi rupanya sengaja dihadkan... rasa makin nak tahu misteri cerita tu, dan harap sangat ada sambungannya!"

On the story line, which she'd like to ask the author :-
"(1) Moga diceritakan, boleh ke Flora yang baik tu kawin dan beranak?
(2) Flora ada perasaan simpati, kemanusiaan, maknanya ada juga cinta dan sayang... agaknya siapa pilihan dia? (minat tak dengan Buraquzzaman...??)
(3) Tambahkan humor lagi ye...
OK tak nak tanya banyak, nanti tak surprise kalau ada novel kedua.."

On enlightenment from reading the novel :-
"Baru sedar betapa selama ni kita tak endahkan tumbuhan, buat macam-macam, tak jaga persekitaran... mana tahu, kot betul tumbuhan berdendam dengan kita! Teringin nak cium bau wangi kenanga, camana ek?"

Her last comments for the author :-
"Walaupun first time baca novel sains fiksyen, tapi saya suka! Orang yang suka berangan macam saya ni memang suka cerita-cerita gini. Sambung lah lagi ye...???"

This is a good start, methinks. Now not only do they not waste time gossiping during lunch hour (elak buat dosa kering huuhuu!) but at least they are thinking, gaining knowledge and giving opinions. InsyaAllah if there are any other comments on any of the novels in our collection, I'll try to put them up and notify the author (if he/she blogs la).

Friday, September 12, 2008

YANTI SPEAKS ENGLISH

Our helper, Yanti, is really trying to learn English.

Last weekend, dalam kul 10 pagi, semasa Angah mamai-mamai baru terjaga dari napping, terdengar suara Yanti sayup-sayup dari luar rumah....

"No Ajiq... don't you take the cock... don't you touch the cock..."

Angah bingkas bangkit! Apa ke hal tu...???

Oohhhh.................. shuttlecock....

Ajiq dok hambat bulu tangkis dengan reket badminton kat tepi longkang *kuikuikui*


* Actually, she's learning English quite well, 'coz she really tries. She even curi-curi baca masa bungkus sampah dengan suratkhabar The Star. She reads the kids' books as well, and loves watching Barney & Friends and Bob The Builder.

Thursday, September 04, 2008

RAMADHAN COMES AGAIN

Still not too late to wish you guys out there, have a good Ramadhan. Let's hope this month of trial serves to strengthen our faith. Use up the opportunities to 'collect points' wisely!

Oh well, one should take her own advice, 'eh?

In a recent conversation, the Nadra Tragedy was mentioned. You remember? The Dutch girl who was put into the care of a muslim lady in Indon, who later took her to Singapore and married her off to Mansor Adabi. Thereafter, Nadra's parents, through technicalities of law, managed to regain custody, and ended Nadra's life as a muslim. Anyway, Sit remarked that in those days, people are willing to sacrifice their lives for religion, as the public outcry to protect Nadra almost caused a war. But that was then. What about now?

Yes, what about now, Jie?

One small example. You surf the net almost daily, you come across so many offensive writings against your religion, not only from unbelievers, but also from among supposedly-fellow muslims whose secular and deviant opinions leave you wondering if they are really only wearing masks, that inside, the seeds of kuffur are nurturing, waiting for a suitable time to jump out. Recent cases regarding conversions are, well, scary. But the scarier thoughts are the hidden foes, kan?

What do you do, Jie? Do you try to correct them? Do you try to rebut them? Do you even try to give your own opinion? That's the mildest thing that you could do. But do you do it? Hell, no!

Why? Because you suddenly realize that in the course of your daily life, you go through the 'wajib's like an automaton, and rarely do the 'sunnah's anyway. Religion takes up a minimal portion of your daily routine, which probably means it doesn't take up too much space in your mind either, 'innit?

Yes, now is the time to amend your dalliances!

SubhanAllah....

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

PONDERING

OK, not (much) interested in politics, and not interested in putting up any political posts in this blog, yes?

But I remember this quote which I found in a novel I read in the early 90s, I don't know why it stuck to mind. The novel is a periodic set in Japan during the shogunate years, and supposedly this quote is taken from the teachings of Zen (The Book of Zen) :-

"A Government is always for the benefit of the Governors at the expense of the Governed. Sages who observe this are ever beset by the question : Why is it that the most able to govern, is not always the most worthy?"

Hmm....

Last night's by-election results came as not much a surprise. But there are things that the vast majority may not know, that will happen in the near future and have tremendous effect on our lives. We at the office are just starting to feel the heat...

On another note, there's a massive traffic jam in KL today, as they've closed some roads for the Merdeka day Celebration rehearsal. Parked buses line the roadsides all the way from Dataran Merdeka right into Chow Kit. Some helicopters just flew by bearing flags and emitting coloured smoke. Good luck in getting all my staff to concentrate on their work today *sigh*.

Friday, August 22, 2008

WHAT TO DO IF YOUR STAFF IS A CROSS DRESSER?

Seriously, what to do if your staff is a cross dresser?

He does his work okay, keeps to schedules etc.

He's respectful of bosses, and makes friends easily with his peers, although the majority of his friends are female.

Always volunteers to do non-official work for the office, i.e to emcee an event.

Pleasant personality, humorous and ceria.

But occassionally, he turns up at work in a kebaya.

And lately, wearing more make-up than I do!

Well, we try to be as objective as possible, no prejudice la. Tapi udoh le awok tu koje gomen, sesekala koje jaga kaunter pulok tuuuu.... tak sesuwey langsung *isk*

I know people are more tolerant these days, but not here. Yelah, nanti hilang la pulak imej gomen yang selalu korang kutuk tu, singkat fikiran la, otak kampung la, mana boleh orang gomen tetiba jadik open-minded, kan? kan? :-P

Buat masa ni, ok ajelah because he is a good staff. But seeing as to how we are now under public scrutiny, I wonder what will happen if the Management gets a complaint from a dimwit joe about his 'sotong-ness'?

Cuma aku harap gosip pejabat tentang night-time activities mamat nih, semuenye pelesu belaka laaaa.....

Thursday, August 21, 2008

MERDEKA ACTIVITIES DAY

Today the whole office is one big childcare centre!

The library is holding a Merdeka Activities Day :
- fancy dress contest (the kid whose costume has the flag's motif, will win),
- colouring contest (the kid who uses red, white, blue and yellow colours, will win),
- drawing contest (the kid whose drawing includes a flag in the background, will win),
- Merdeka quiz (ok, ya gotta know ya history here),
- poetry reading contest (the kid who waves a small flag in one hand while reading his poetry, will win),
- Merdeka singing contest (the kid whose costume is draped with the flag, will win)

Thing is, it's the same events every year *sigh*. And so predictable, kinda like the current political scenario, isn't it?

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

BREATH





Unpleasant is when you are in the company of someone with bad breath.

Sufferance is when said person is intent on speaking directly to you.


Absolute torture is when you are in a car with three other people, two of whom have bad breath and both are enthusiastically discussing a topic and repeatedly asking for your opinion, to which you weakly smile and nod your head, trying to hold your breath until you start seeing stars during the whole two-and-a-half hour journey. That's what I had to endure on Monday, travelling (five hours!) to and from one of our branch offices.


With all due respect, halitosis really is a big booboo on the social front. It creates a bad first impression, no matter how pretty your curly-lashed eyes are and how sexy your curves may be. And really, can you get up-close-and-personal on the loveboat if your partner has bad breath?


We should really take good care of our oral hygiene. Yes of course, poor dental hygiene is not the only reason for halitosis. Certain medical conditions can also cause halitosis, such as chronic liver failure, bronchial infection or even some tummy problems. Oh, even fasting can cause halitosis, if you don't drink enough upon breaking fast. Those people are excused, but for the rest of us, we really should take care with daily brushings. See your dentist as and when you have any dental complaints, or at least every 6 months if your chops are problem-free.


Done?

OK, now go kiss someone!





Wednesday, August 13, 2008

MERDEKA !



Selamat Hari Merdeka!

It's going to be a pretty quiet Merdeka celebration this year, methinks. There was a recent announcement in the papers - no fireworks like usual-, kan?

Anyhow, it's pretty subdued in my office also. They've only started putting up flags today, and none the creatively, like in the past years. Just some normal-sized flags put outside our windows.

No giant flags flanking the sides of the building, like in 2006 (strong winds tore the flags in a few places, but no one bothered to replace the flags - I wonder how much they costed?).

No merdeka celebration ceremony officiated by the minister by attaching a small flag on a staff's car (cheap way to get your mugshot in the local papers lah!).

No 'Pertandingan Menghias Sempena Hari Merdeka' where each department is expected to thematize their front counter/waiting area (as if we don't have enough work already! Anyway, if the Pertandingan is won by the Library dept every year, what's the point? They don't deal with the public, they have ample time and no deadlines, and people with degrees in Creative Arts to do that job!)

Heck, not even distribution of free small flags to be mounted on our cars. Langkah berjimat-cermat, indeed!

But I think that's okay, it doesn't mean we are any less patriotic.

Frankly, I have never attached any flag to my car, or dressed up in clothes with our flag design, or even eaten a flag-decorated cake. Unpatriotic?

But I never fail to sing our national anthem or watched the raising of our flag in a ceremony, with a feeling of pride in my heart. And although I cannot divulge the confidentiality of my work (saya bukan SB atau apa-apa secret service okkay, cuma pegawai gomen cabuk je), I go home everyday with a clear conscience that my day's work does contribute to the betterment of our nation.

The Merdeka spirit resides in our hearts, and is reflected through our daily actions, our work, our lives, our sacrifices, our contributions to this beloved country called Malaysia.

What have you done for your country today?

Monday, August 11, 2008

Huh

Sometimes life seems..... pointless.

What for to wake up early in the morning?

Life? What life, anyway?

Friday, August 01, 2008

SLEEPWALKING



Have you ever woken up in the morning, feeling like you did something last night but you just don't remember what it was? Or worse, wake up in a place not where you went to sleep the night before? I'm talking about sleepwalking.


As far as I know, I don't sleepwalk. Well, so far no one has told me that I do, so oklah tu. Some friends have related their sleepwalking antics, some are funny, but some are pretty dangerous.


Lina once woke up with a toothbrush in her hand, and a slightly foamy mouth. Apparently during the night, she had gone to the bathroom, put toothpaste on her toothbrush and started to brush her teeth. But she didn't rinse her mouth before falling back to sleep, urgh!


At her school hostel once, Mai took her pillow and blanket and went to sit on the stairs outside her hostel. Luckily one of her roomates saw her empty bed and went looking for her, and guided her back to bed. She went to a 'sekolah agama', so it would've been havoc if some boys were to have found her first, in her caftan and with tusled hair, hugging her pillow on the stairs!


Faz once went to bed in a t-shirt and kain pelikat, then woke up naked and freezing in the middle of the night! Luckily he was in a room by himself. I really dunno what to think about this guy though, haha!


Why do people sleepwalk? No specific reason, but I think one of the triggers is stress or anxiety. Usually the sleepwalker does normal everyday things, but unconsciously. These normal things can turn deadly though. For example, Mai is worried because a couple of months back, she had tried to open her apartment's main door in her sleep. Had she succeeded, who knows what could've happened, as her apartment is on the 14th floor!


Well, if I ever sleepwalk, I hope I jump straight onto the treadmill, which is right now just gathering dust in my bedroom. At least I'll get some exercise hehe :-)

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

takde tajuk

Seperti biasa, waktu rehat tengahari aku tidak ke mana-mana, di ofis saja. Tetiba empat-lima orang staf aku berkumpul tepi tingkap, dok menjenguk-jenguk keluar. Apa hal?

Pandang keluar, nampak ramai orang berkerumun keliling sebuah kereta yang dok parking tepi bangunan ni. Beberapa orang sedang cuba buka pintu kereta, kemudian menarik keluar orang-orang yang berada dalam kereta tersebut, lalu dibaringkan di atas kakilima bangunan. Beberapa orang lain 'mengipas' dengan suratkhabar. Ohh... rupanya orang-orang dalam kereta tu semuanya pengsan.

Tak lama lepas tu, ambulans sampai, dan orang-orang pengsan tu diangkut masuk ke ambulans. Harap-harap ada orang berhati mulia yang tolong jaga handbag, wallet dan kunci kereta diorang ni. Pantang lepa sikit, orang mati accident pun, ada pencuri yang sanggup larikan barang berhaga simati, kan?

Macamana boleh semua orang dalam kereta tu pengsan, siang hari buta ni dalam kereta yang parking di tempat awam? Aku agaklah, mungkin sistem aircond kereta tu ada bocor, menyebabkan karbon monoksida ter-salir masuk ke dalam kereta tu balik. Malang tak berbau, dan sesungguhnya karbon monoksida ni pun tak berbau.

Hmmm... bila last korang pegi servis kereta?


p/s - ini post malas. sebenarnya kepala aku tengah weng ni, tadi kul 9.00 pagi - 1.00 tgh mesyuarat pengurusan bahagian, dan kejap lagi 2.30 ptg - 5.00 ptg mesyuarat dengan konsultan pulak... fenin.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

MADS'S CALL

A few days back, I received a call from Mads. Assalammualaikum - waalaikumsalam etc. Then he said, "Aku nak tanya satu benda la. Kenapa orang suka aku?"


Nak pecah perut aku gelak. Sib baik la aku dah lama kenal dia, so aku tahu bila dia tanya soalan gini, it's an innocent question, walaupun bunyi soalan tu macam sombong bongkak, kan? :-)


What he meant was, kenapa orang suka berkawan dengan dia. So I said, because you are a good listener, you are quite observant and sensitive, therefore pandai jaga hati orang dalam pertuturan. Your mind works in a very warped and mysterious way, so you always come up with interesting things to say, in which conversations will either end up in a serious discussion or in guffaws :-)


I wonder what my friends would say, if I asked them the same question that Mads asked me. Oh well, they'd probably puke first hehe :-)


Anyway, Mads related a funny story that happened recently. Dia ikut another friend pegi dusun buah kat kampungnya, and masa tengah kutip durian, his friend sakit perut, pegi ke bilik air. Tak lama lepas tu, kawan dia datang balik and sambung kutip durian, but Mads's eyes dah buntang pandang kawan dia. Sebabnya, atas kepala kawan dia ialah sehelai seluar dalam. Whaaa....????


So dia tegur la kawan dia, apsal ada seluar dalam atas kepala kau? And his friend raba atas kepala, amik seluar tu dan kata "ooohh.. padan la aku cari tadi tapi tak jumpa... jap ye aku nak masuk bilik air balik" Apparently when he undressed to do his business, dia letak seluar dalam yang dipakai tu atas kepala - I think it is quite common practice to cover your head when you are in a toilet - aku tak pasti, tapi sunnah ke ni?. But aiyohh... gunalah sapu tangan ke, towel kecik ke... toksah ler guna spender yang kau baru tanggalkan kejap tadi tu! Eeeewww.....!


Aku gelak giler sampai semput terbatuk-batuk. Ingatkan Superman je yang sanggup tunjuk seluar dalam dia kat orang hahaha :-D



Monday, July 14, 2008

Transgene-huh? TRANSGENESIS lah! :-)

Huuu... lama tul aku tak menjenguk ke sini. Things have been so hectic at the office for the past few weeks. Last week of June, me & colleagues conducted a 4-day inter-department seminar. Rutin, 2 kali setahun, dah 3 tahun kami buat, tapi setiap kali lepas kursus, mesti pancit punya hehe. Habis je kursus, aku terus demam 5 hari, selsema & batuk teruk, sampai la ni pun dok batuk lagi.

Anyway.

Aku dah habis baca novel tu. Alaaa...yang aku sebut dalam post sebelum ni la. Dah lama dah habis baca, cuma tak berkesempatan nak tulis komen lantaran masalah kesihatan yang tidak mengizinkan aku berbelog. Chewah! Kira OK gak la penulisan BM aku ek? :-P

Tajuknya Transgenesis : Bisikan Rimba. Penulisnya Amir Husaini. Terbitan PTS Publications.

Kiranya aku ni baru je mula minat membaca novel Bahasa Melayu dalam setahun-dua kebelakangan ni. Jadi mungkin aku tak boleh terlalu kritis dalam memberi pandanganlah, sebab tak banyak pengalaman lagi kan. Tapi satu perkara yang aku boleh katakan disini, aku puas membaca novel ini. Lain dari yang lain, dan kalau nak bandingkan dengan cerita di tv, boleh masuk kategori CSI jugaklah, dari segi pengisiannya. Dan aku memang suka CSI! Huuhuuu!

Temanya, ada sains fiksyen-misteri-thriller-islamik-alam semulajadi. Cerita ini digarap dengan kemas, bermula dengan prolog yang macam takde kena-mengena, oleh itu membuat kita tertanya-tanya siapakah 'atuk' dan 'Ammar Qusyairi' tu? Tapi obviously ada kaitannya, sebab 'atuk' tu yang bercerita tentang kisah Flora. Aku dah belek prolog dan epilog beberapa kali, tapi aku masih tak boleh teka siapa 'atuk' tu sebenarnya. Haaa... this gives you an idea of how mysterious the story is hehehe :-)

Basically, tema utamanya ialah bio-teknologi dan genetik. Aku takmoh citer banyak, kalau nak tau, korang kena baca sendiri novel ni hehe :-) Tapi sinopsisnya kata "Teknologi memindahkan genetik haiwan dan tumbuhan kepada embrio yang diklonkan daripada manusia sudah ditemui... subjek eksperimen yang terbebas dari makmal mula membunuh orang awam..." Hmm... cerita ini ditulis berdasarkan fakta saintifik, dan tak mustahil teknologi ni memang sudah ujud atau akan ujud dalam tempoh beberapa tahun lagi. Manusia nak jadi tuhan!

Jalan ceritanya teratur walaupun plotnya mak aiii... berbelit-belit macam ular sawa. Baru je nak predict ceritanya jadi 'A', tapi tetiba cerita jadik 'B' pulak. Itu yang membuat pembaca geram dan nak terus membaca sampai habis. Aku suka cara penulis menerapkan nilai-nilai islamik dan nilai kemanusiaan dalam ceritanya, jadi bukan setakat membaca 'cerita kosong', tapi ada pengajarannya juga. Aku kira novel ini bukan saja sesuai untuk bacaan orang dewasa, tapi juga sangat sesuai untuk bacaan remaja (young adults).

Kenapa aku kata macam CSI? Sebab penulis obviously membuat research yang banyak sebelum menulis cerita ni, jadik setiap 'ke-pelik-an' dapat diterangkan dan boleh diterima akal. Aku mulanya cuak juga, sebab background aku bukan sains jadi mungkin aku susah nak faham. Tapi what I like is that the scientific facts are explained in such a way that it doesn't make non-science people feel stupid huuhuuu! Satu lagi, penulis banyak memberi 'soalan' dalam jalan ceritanya, memberi stimulasi minda kepada pembaca. I loike!

I don't know about you, but when I read a good book, I sometimes actually visualize the story. Well, this time around, bukan saja visualize, tapi ada masa yang aku baca waktu tengah malam, I could actually smell the scent of 'kenanga', which is the trademark of one of the main characters. Seram! Tak, aku tak gila, but my imagination sometimes does run a little on the wild side hehe :-D Kalau dijadikan drama atau movie ni, I can just imagine the computer graphics that will go into it, sulur pokok tetiba belit kaki orang etc, mesti menarik kan?

Kudos to Amir, for being brave enough to venture into a somewhat 'new' genre of malay novels. Tak banyak novel sains fiksyen di pasaran, tapi mungkin lepas ni aku akan cuba cari novel sebegini. Aku harap Amir akan sambung lagi kisah Flora ni, nampaknya macam ada banyak angle yang boleh dikembangkan lagi. Flora terus menetap dalam hutan? Datin Kay dapat ke lepas dari penjara? Buraquzzaman terus memburu Flora? Yang Ixora tu plak, apa ke 'he?

Dalam puji-puji ni, ada juga benda yang aku nak tanya. Kalau Flora ni klon manusia dan digabungkan dengan DNA tumbuhan, dia punya sistem reproduktif macam mana? Dia dah remaja, kalau reproduktif macam manusia, dia datang haid ke tidak? Kalau Flora boleh beranak, aku nak cadangkan nama anak dia - 'Florette' hehe :-) Tumbuhan perlukan klorofil untuk fotosintesis, tapi kulit Flora tidak berwarna hijau pun? Eh, tapi ada jugak pokok bayam yang daun kaler merah, dan kobis daun kaler ungu, tu kira klorofil jugk ke? Isk... fenin. Ni nak kena tanya sendiri kat Amir Husaini lah.

Cuma satu je la yang aku paling tak puas hati. Toloooonggglaaahhh.... Amirrrrr.... siapa 'atuk' tuuuu??? Tension aku, sebab sampai la ni aku masih tak dapat teka! Hahaha!


p/s - aku cuba upload gambar kulit buku ni, tapi blogspot malam ni mengong sket. Anyway korang leh tengok gambarnya kat post aku sebelum yang ini. Better still, visit the author here.

Monday, June 23, 2008

IQRA' !

Errr... actually this post's title is a bit premature hehe :-)


Spent the better part of today reading this book, but with all the interruptions from my pesky (haha!) nephews, am now at page 247, and the suspense and mystery is gripping! Will write a sort-of review soon. Yelah, siapalah aku nak tulis proper review hehehe can't even write a mono-lingual post in this blog! *LOL*

Anyhow, there aren't too many science fiction-drama-mystery novels written in Bahasa Malaysia, and so aku sungguh teruja membaca novel baru ni, hot out of the oven youuuu! And IMHO, very well-written and well-researched.

Go get your copy! MPH ada, Popular pun ada.


Friday, June 20, 2008

TODAY


Age is just a number.
Age is just a number.
Age is just a number.
Age is just a number.
Age is just a number.
Age is just a number.
Age is just a number. Age is just a number. Age is just a number. Age is just a number. Age is just a number. Age is just a number. Age is just a number. Age is just a number. Age is just a number.
Age
is
just
a
number.
Ya mon, age is jes' a numbah!

Happy XXth Birthday Jie.

[ Haha! kenapa tak tulis nombor :-P ]


btw, who came up with the idea of setting fire to your food huh?

Saturday, June 14, 2008

RESPECTABILITY OF A (only married) LADY

Lewat petang Jumaat, sambil aku pegi punch card, aku sapa Mai yang juga sedang bersiap nak balik.

“Have a good weekend. Apa plan hujung minggu?”

“Thanks puan. Err... pegi kenduri En. Shah kawinkan anak kot. Puan pegi ke?”

Aku dah tahu si Shah buat kenduri hujung minggu ni, tapi “Hmm... saya tak dapat kad jemputan pun.”

“Oh, saya pun tak dapat kad. En. Shah kata dia bagi kad jemputan untuk orang kawin aje, untuk yang bujang, dia tampal kad dekat notice board aje.”

Oh. Aku terkedu.

Begitukah pandangan masyarakat melayu kepada seorang perempuan tanpa suami? Disamakan dengan budak muda berhingus yang bujang? (*disclaimer – bukan semua orang bujang itu berhingus hehe...) Tak layakkah seorang perempuan tanpa suami mendapat jemputan untuk hadiri majlis keramaian seperti walimah?

OK, OK, mungkin juga sebenarnya Shah tak suka aku dan memang taknak jemput aku pun kan hehe :-) Aku langsung tak rasa kecil hati, for whatever reason yang dia tak beri kad lah. Things like this is too petty to bother me, banyak benda lain aku nak fikirlah. Tapi selama ni aku tak pernah ada masalah dengan Shah, atau dengan sesiapa pun dalam department aku. Rasanyalah.

Cuma. aku pelik. Mengikut norma, sebagai pegawai senior, aku biasanya akan dapat kad jemputan, especially dari staf department aku sendiri, tak kira la samada dia yang kawin, atau anak/adik/kakak/abangnya yang nak kawin. Yang tak pernah dapat cuma kalau bapaknya yang nak kawin lagi hehe :-)

Adakalanya kalau dari staf department lain, aku sekadar kenal gitu-gitu je orang yang menjemput. In which case, aku dijemput kerana aku pegawai senior dan sebagai tanda besar hati dan hormat dari orang berkenaan. Dan ada antara majlis tersebut yang aku hadiri, sebagai tanda balas hormat kepada orang yang menjemput. Kalau tak hadir pun, mungkin dikirim buah tangan, sebagai tanda menghormati jemputan tersebut.

But this time around, bukan saja yang berkenduri tu staf department aku yang level lebih rendah dari aku, tapi kenduri tersebut diadakan dekat dengan bangunan pejabat aku, maksudnya tak ada isu tentang distance lah.

So putting aside the possibility that Shah really had no intention to invite me (haha!), then what conclusion can I draw ?

One – Shah terlupa beri aku kad. Yeah, right.

Two - harga kad mahal dan tak berbaloi beri aku kad kerana untuk satu kepala saja. Tapi kalau aku hadir, tak rugi langsung sebab harga hadiah atau ‘salam kaup’ aku pasti lebih mahal dari harga hanya sepinggan nasi minyak yang aku akan makan, as opposed to harga makanan untuk satu staf yang bawak 5 ahli keluarganya.

Three – kalau bagi kad pun mungkin aku tak datang sebab aku janda. Datang atau tidak adalah soal kedua, tapi kalau tak jemput, sah-sah memang aku tak datang, kan?

Four – in Shah’s eyes, I do not have the respectability of a married lady, who earns it by virtue of her husband.

I think it’s the fourth reason.

Unless and until we are rid of this kind of malay mentality (or is it asian mentality?), women will always be regarded as second class citizen whereby her position in society depends on her male counterpart. No wonder the divorce rate is so high these days, and some women in good positions carreer-and-financial-wise opt to stay single. Because no self-respecting woman wants to be regarded as second class if she has indeed proven that she is an independant first class person.

Syukur tak semua lelaki berfikiran begitu.

Having said all that, I do still want to marry and have my own family. It’s what nature intended anyway. But I do wish we as a society, try to break from the mouldy mould of judging and generalizing (unmarried) people, and see an individual for who he or she really is.

Amin.

Oh, terkeluar sikit dari topik, tapi perasan tak, sekarang ni orang dah jarang beri bakul telur atau joran kepada tetamu. Selalunya orang bagi kek, coklat, gula-gula, cupcakes, jelly. Dulu orang jawa suka bagi sebekas jajan kerepek etc, la ni semua orang dah ikut, bagi satu goodie-bag penuh dengan bermacam benda, termasuk la tuala kecik, kipas, cermin kecik. Minggu lepas untuk satu walimah tu aku dapat set sudu & garfu, dan satu walimah lagi aku dapat key-chain. Go figure!

Friday, June 13, 2008

BANDUNG... & ALSO JAKARTA (Part 2)

Long overdue second post of my Bandung & Jakarta holiday...


Petang on the second day tu, habis shopping in Bandung, we drove to Jakarta. The journey took about 2 hours, ocassionally passing by beautiful landscapes of terraced sawah padi bukit. Sampai ke Jakarta dah malam, so we just had dinner and called it a night.

Third day, we started out early to Tanah Abang. Manusia macam semut, begitu ramai sekali, busy, busy. As KakZ says, locals shop according to their status, because the price of goods greatly varies from one place to the other. Tanah Abang is where the lower income group go. Shops sell stuff similar to that in Pasar Baru, at even cheaper price. Dina borong lagi telekung & tudung. Aku beli telekung untuk Ibu & kain pelikat untuk Abah. We bought some nice blouses, as cheap as Rp50,000 (abt RM17.50).

Macam biasa, aku pun tukar tune sket, cakap indon "waduh mahal banget ni mas, dikurangin lagi, bisa ya?"

And that cheeky-faced chap behind the counter said "tak mahal la, Rp20,000 je makcik"

Hey! Who you callin' "makcik" huh? huh? "Amboi, dah pandai cakap melayu ek?"

"Yalah makcik, ramai orang Malaysia berbelanja di sini loh"

Hmmph.

I felt a bit disturbed though that at a few of the shops that I bought stuff from, the shopkeepers ended the conversation with "hati-hati Ibuk bawa wang dalam tas tangan, nanti dicopet". Uh-oh.

Poverty is a fact of life there. Asal kereta berhenti je kat traffic light, mesti diserbu dengan orang-orang menjual macam-macam benda, dari suratkhabar ke jajan dan air botol, even strawberries (di Bandung). It was worse in Jakarta, ada ramai juga 'pengamin' - peminta sedekah. Dari budak kecik seusia 4-5 tahun, ibu mendukung anak, sampai ke orang tua rambut putih yang cuma duduk di atas divider dan hulur tangan bila ada kereta berhenti dekatnya.

Felt like crying one time, watching this family with 3 little kids, duduk beralaskan suratkhabar di bawah kolong satu flyover, the parents feeding the lil 'uns from sebungkus nasi. Kids being kids, nampak ceria saja walaupun berbaju lusuh dan tak berkasut. KakZ kata, most probably malam nanti pun depa akan tidur di situ, it's a common scenario. Oh ya, banyak juga 'bencong' (betul ke perkataan ni?) - tranvestites - dengan eye shadow biru, kasut tinggi & payung kaler pink, datang ketuk tingkap kereta, minta duit. Alahai ngeri.

After Tanah Abang, we moved on to Mangga Dua where prices are slightly higher and people from the middle income group come to shop. We found more shops selling office apparel, and this time around, aku pun borong 4 pairs of suits.

Again, "Ibuk, yang ukuran gede harus ditambah sepuluh ribu (Rp10,000) lagi" Isy, cucuk mata tu kang haha!

"Ibuk maunya yang ama celana atau rok?" Rok? Rok? Apa kebendanya rok tu? "Ini, yang bawahannya" Laa... kain rupanya. Vocab aku belum cukup, nanti kena belajar lagi dari Yanti pembantu rumah aku hehe.

Aku suka Mangga Dua, ada banyak lagi variety of stuff. Handbag cantik-cantik and nampak macam ori, nampak je laaa... It's another shopping heaven for artis-artis atau mak andam, methinks. Ada banyak kedai jual kain lace cantik, ada kedai jual rambut palsu etc. We bought kebaya material yang ada kerawang cantik, dipadankan dengan kain batik silk. Also material yang ada sulam riben, untuk baju kurung. Ha, kalau ada mem yang badan 'gede', kena minta material kebaya untuk ukuran 'gede', otherwise the position of the kerawang will 'lari'.

We stopped by a little shop to buy foodstuff - jajan yang pelik-pelik macam kerepek bayam, kerepek pisang dengan cheese, kerepek belut (errk!), kerepek usus ayam (double errk!). Aku jumpa jugak 'jangek' yang selalu Abah sebut tu, tapi tak lalu nak makan sebab jangek ni kerepek kulit lembu, eww...!

Malamnya, Mr.Joe & KakZ ajak ke tempat shopping for the upper class people pulak. "Korang tengok je la, tak mampu nak beli pun". Cheh! KakZ ni... hehe :-)

So we went to Senayan City mall. Mak aiii.... ramainya security guard depa, kereta nak masuk kat entrance pun dah kena scan, kalau kereta cermin tinted, depa siap buka pintu nak tengok siapa ada di dalam. Ada valet parking, and nak masuk lobi mall pun, kena pass by security check lagi, siap ada pintu metal detector macam kat airport, and handbag pun depa bukak. I wonder what they are really scared of? Mungkin sebab banyak matsaleh kat situ kot, takut ada anti-west bombing ke haper ke.

Anyway, sekadar cuci mata je la, lagipun harga barang lebih mahal dari di KL! Ada satu perfume yang aku suka, harga di Senayan City tu mahal RM50 dari harga KL. Dan ada handbag yang aku dah intai di One Utama (I love Braun Buffel!) harganya RM900+, tapi di Senayan jadik RM1100+. Ya udah, pulang aja yuk!

Posting aku ni asyik dok citer sal shopping, kan? Sebenarnya aku ni bukanlah kaki shopping sangat pun. Itulah kelemahannya pulak bila berjalan dengan orang, sebab KakZ dan Dina kaki shopping, so kenalah ikut rentak diorang. Aku sangat berterimakasih di atas hospitality dan bantuan MrJoe & KakZ, jadinya trip kami tu begitu mudah dan selesa. They are very nice people, and I hope I can repay their kindness someday!

Tapi, aku tak berapa puas sebab ada benda-benda yang aku plan tapi tak menjadi. Kalau ikutkan aku sendiri, bila travel, aku lebih suka experience the local culture, rather than mere shopping. Aku teringin nak makan local foods, like bakso yang ori di sana, tapi KakZ tak kasik, takut sakit perut. Tu kira nasib baik je la dapat minum es alpukat tu hehe :-)

Aku teringin nak pegi visit angklung factory di Bandung, perhaps catch a show. Aku plan nak pegi tengok tempat handicrafts, tapi Dina tak minat langsung. Aku teringin nak pegi spa yang best dan murah di Jakarta - for about RM60, you can get a 3-hours package, complete with sauna, tangas, urut (full body, face & head massage), lulur, boreh, masker, mandi rempah & mandi susu. Mana nak dapat kat KL camni? (It would cost at least RM350 in KL)

Nantilah, insyaAllah aku akan pegi lagi, tapi kena cari travelling companion yang lebih sekepala dengan aku hehe :-)

Thursday, June 05, 2008

TUKAR KERETA

Aku bawak kereta Toyota Vios. Roda empat. Fuel tank capacity = 42 liter.

Satu minggu sekali, aku isik penuh tangki = 1.92 x 42 = RM 80.64

Satu bulan = 80.64 x 4 = RM 322.56

Sekarang?

2.7 x 42 = RM 113.40 seminggu x 4 = RM 453.60 sebulan.

Mahal nak mampus!

Harus kena tukar transport aku nih, dari roda empat ke roda tiga.


Cantik tak my dream car sekarang ni? Bubuh rambu-ramba sket, ala-ala letak spoiler gitu la.

Kumpul duit sket, boleh upgrade dari roda tiga takdak horse-power (sebab kayuh sendiri) kepada roda tiga yang setengah horse power macam 'bajai' ni. Bunyi enjin 'kepeh-kepeh-kepeh'. Memang la pakai petrol, tapi satu tangki penuh baru 5 liter kot.

Hmm... tapi kalau pakai roda dua kayuh sendiri bagus gak kan? Tak payah la naik beskal bodoh tak bergerak kat gym tu. Jimat duit bulanan gym, banyak exercise, cepat kurus!


Tapi alaaa... leceh la. Ofis aku takde shower. Takkan nak attend meeting dengan berpeluh busuk-busuk plak. Poning palo den...


Tuesday, June 03, 2008

PARLIAMENT DUTY

Parliament Duty sucks *bleargh*

For those not in the gomen, every time the parliament is in sitting, all ministries will draw up a roster for it's officers (and officers from it's agencies) to attend the sitting as an observer cum 'stand-by sally'. Main duty is to take note of issues affecting your ministry brought up during the sitting (especially hot questions from the opposition... huuuhuuu!), and to report such issues to the minister, and if required to do so, to seek the necessary info for the minister to use in his answer/rebuttal.

Bab hok kije tu, no problemo. Yang sucks so much is the boredom of having to sit on my tush all day long, listening to mundane voices reading out their answer/ presentation, and all the while I'm thinking "banyaknya keje kat ofis yang aku boleh siapkan ari ni, if only I don't have to be here!"

Bored out of my skull. Bored!

Boring sebab kali ni kena duty kat Dewan Negara. Kalau duty kat Dewan Rakyat, best sket sebab banyak interaction from both sides of the dewan, including comments from hybrids of primates haha!

Sib baik jumpa kawan lama, yang kebetulan duty on the same day.

Yang telah belanja aku minum masa breakfast... hehe :-)

Satu benda yang paling tak best tadi, tapi benda ni jadik luar dewan la. There were people smoking cigarretes in the cafe, which is right next to the dewan. Allooooo... parlimen yang gubal & luluskan undang-undang 'no smoking in public places', tapi kat parlimen sendiri yang orang buat derk tentang undang-undang tu.

Cakap tak serupa bikin? Adeeehhhhh....

Sunday, June 01, 2008

BANDUNG... & ALSO JAKARTA (Part 1)

The Bandung trip was great shopping at bargain prices... and also an observation of contrasting lifestyles.



OK, the original plan was for 6 of us ladies to go to Bandung, check into a 3-star hotel and spend the days shopping to our hearts' content. But since us cheapskates (haha!) wanted to get the el-cheapo AA tickets, the booking was done well in advance (November last year!), and by the time we actually were supposed to go, they've all dropped like flies, tinggal aku ngan Dina je. I was a bit sceptical nak pegi berdua aje, but Dina had a friend working in Jakarta, and him & wife generously offered to host us. So we ended up spending 2 days in Bandung & 2 days in Jakarta, where we stayed over at their house, cool!



Bandung Airport

Mr. Joe & KakZ met us at Bandung Airport, terus bawak pegi makan nasi padang - maklum le flight takdak makan. Nothing like the nasi padang we get in KL la weh. Sodap hingga menjilat jari! Plate after plate of lauk, they really piled 'em up. A dear friend mentioned 'es pokat' and I was really curious to taste it, so I ordered. Rupanya avocado milkshake tinged with chocolate, simply delish! The whole time that we ate out, itu ajelah air yang aku order hehe :-) Asked the waiter what the ingredients were, so semalam aku cuba buat sendiri, sedap gak. Nanti karang aku letak resepi 'es pokat' a-la Jie, ok?

Delish food!

Habis mentekedarah (Dina makan dua pinggan!), we went to Cibaduyut, the leather footwear heaven. Since we had just arrived, and feeling like millionaires (literally, millions of rupiah mah!), kitorang pun lupa diri la tengok kasut cantik-cantik, rasa nak beli semua hehe :-) I bought a pair of ladies boots, nice! Harga? Half the price of what it would cost in KL.



We checked into the very nice Hotel Jayakarta, 4 or 5 star, I'm not sure, standard room rates at Rp600,000+ (abt RM230). Nice pool with a jacuzzi on the side. First time watching Indon tv. Less censorship IMHO, but their adverts are kinda cool, I like!


Counter at the hotel

The next day, we headed out to Pasar Baru, where M'sian makciks shop for telekung & tudung, and M'sian bakal pengantin shop for kain lace, hand-made wedding cards & doorgift knick-knacks.

Murah giler, the exact same telekung I saw in Jalan TAR priced at RM270, was a mere Rp220,000 - tak sampai pun lapanpoh hengget. Tapi pelik ah, telekung ada macam-macam kaler & sulam yang sarat, telekung budak even dari kain yang bercorak bunga. We bought telekung from the 'katun paris' - parisian cotton, katanya. Nice soft cotton embroidered lace, tak panas, and cantik sulaman 'bodir'nya - border/edging.



We found a shop selling pantsuits for officewear, good material & nice designs. Dina bought 3 pairs, at Rp150,000 each. Yelah badan regular size, senang ah nak carik. Aku punya, tokey kedai tu kata "Ibuk, yang ukuran gede, tambah lagi sepuluh ribu". Aku nak tergelak ada, rasa nak tampar pun ada. Mentang-mentang la pakai kain lebih sikit, kena extra charge le pulak haha! But seriously, the material used is very nice walaupun takde jenama. Merely about RM50-60, kalau kat KL maybe RM150 onwards la.



Oh ya, tawar-menawar harga ni, syok jugak. Aku pun tukar tune sket, belajar cakap indon. "Brapa arganya mas? Waduh mahal banget! Dikurangin ya mas, 15 (Rp150,000) ajak" KakZ dah setahun kat sana, so fasih la. Yang bestnya, penjual semua tak marah kalau dah tawar tapi tak jadi beli. Cuba kalau buat gitu kat Petaling Street, paling kurang mesti kena maki punya.



Aku memang nak beli kain lace, sajalah nak cari lace yang 'subtle' design untuk buat baju dinner. Unfortunately semua kedai lace yang aku masuk, jual jenis design garang macam baju pengantin punya. Ada juga kedai jual kain langsir, cantik! Tapi memandangkan AA yang kemot cuma allow 15kg of baggage, excess kena RM15 per kg, so lupakan ajelah nak beli kain langsir yang berat tuh. Benda 'wajib' lain, biasalah, tudung jenis ready-made-sarung-aje tu.



Lepas Pasar Baru, pegi pulak Cihampelas, the jeans heaven. Apa jenama kau nak, semua ada! I bought 2 pairs of Lee Cooper, Dina borong 4 lai Levi's. Original or fake? Entah, aku pun tak pasti ekeke... :-D Tapi aku pernah dengar orang sebut 'asli-palsu'.



All the while, we traveled around in Mr.Joe's supir-driven Toyota Highlander. Hmm... kalau tengok kenderaan kat jalanraya, separuhnya MPV/SUV mewah, separuh lagi kereta buruk kemek yang cat dah mula tanggal. Jauh sangat bezanya. Kalau keta yang middle-range macam Vios aku tu, jadik teksi Bluebird aje hehe :-)

Motor banyak juga, but mostly locals naik 'angkot' atau 'mikrolet' - vans converted into minibus. Atau naik 'bajai' - a hybrid (ewah!) between a motorcycle and a carriage, so jadiklah kenderaan kecik beroda tiga untuk mengangkut sorang supir dan dua orang penumpang. Kalau penumpang saiz gajah, aku rasa muat sorang je kot. Oh ya, pedati atau kereta kuda ada jugak, dan kalau nak naik kuda untuk jalan-jalan pun boleh.



Aku tak terperanjat dengan trafik kat sana, sebab masa pegi Cambodia ari tu, trafiknya lebih teruk. Tapi si Dina sepuluh kali sekejap asyik mengucap tengok kereta yang jalan rapat-rapat, memotong kiri-kanan. Aku dah berbelas tahun driving pun, rasanya tak berani nak bawak keta kat sana. Sungguhpun gitu, KakZ kata kat sana jarang berlaku accident. Mungkin drivers there are more careful & sabar dari KL drivers kot?



Dari dalam kereta tulah, aku observe realiti kehidupan. Banyak orang susah di Bandung. Asal kereta berhenti aje kat traffic light, terus diserbu dengan orang yang menjual macam-macam benda, from newspapers to canned drinks, even strawberries (tempting!). There were buskers too, bawak gitar buruk, nyanyi & harap dapat wang. Kenapa diorang tak cari kerja? Kata Mr.Joe "nak kerja jadi buruh binaan pun kena ada kabel, atau bayar duit kopi Rp20 juta kat tokey dulu, baru dapat keje". Hmm, bersyukurlah kita ada kerja kat sini.



Yang menjaja makanan, bawak kereta sorong satu roda. Sudahlah kena berpanas-berhujan menjaja, terpaksa pulak guna kudrat sendiri untuk tolak kereta sorong tu. Padan la takde orang gemuk kat sana, semuanya banyak exercise, tulang besi urat dawai! It's all about survival.

To be continued...

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

HOT CHOCOLATE PHILOSOPHY

Aaaa... cerita Bandung, next instalment okkay. Hari ni nak share satu email which was forwarded by an old friend. Original author, unknown, tapi aku rasa kalau benda baik apa salahnya dikongsi. Walaupun tak dapat bagi kredit to the author, tapi sekurang-kurangnya dia dapat pahala hehehe :-)






A group of graduates visited their old university professor, now retired. During their visit, the conversation turned to complaints about stress in their work and lives. Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot chocolate and an assortment of cups-- porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain, some expensive, some exquisite--telling them to help themselves to the hot chocolate.

When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand, the professor said: 'Notice that all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.

The cup that you're drinking from adds nothing to the quality of the hot chocolate. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was hot chocolate, not the cup; but you consciously went for the best cups, and then you began eyeing each others cups.

Now consider this: Life is the hot chocolate; your job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life.

The cup you have does not define, nor change the quality of life you have. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the hot chocolate God has provided us.

God makes the hot chocolate, man chooses the cups. The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything that they have.



*pondering* how true, kan?

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

SHOPPING THERAPY

I'm going holiday-ing in Bandung on Thursday!
Nak makan Mee Bandung & minum Sirap Bandung kat sana, ada jual ke?
Huh, serupa macam aku cari selipar jepun di Tokyo le, haram tak jumpa.

Tengahari kang, nak pegi tukar duit.
Mrasalah, jadi jutawan sekejap!
Jutawan rupiah hehehe...

Eh, nak shopping apa kat Bandung ye?

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

ALAHAI ABAH

Hari Ahad tengahari.
Abah, Ibu & aku singgah makan di sebuah restoran.
Adik pelayan yang comel-lote tu ambik order.

Abah : "Pakcik nak ABC ye"

Ibu : "Bagi makcik bihun ladna, sama teh tarik"

Aku : "Saya pun nak ABC lah"

Abah : "Tu aje? Tak lapar?"

Aku geleng kepala.

Abah : "Oder je la, apa tu.. sup hidrolik..."

Aku terus tepuk dahi,

Aku : "Abah, bukan hidrolik la... sup gearbox..."

Belum makan pun, kitorang dah senak sebab gelak kuat sangat hehehe.

Dah habis makan, Ibu tanya abah : "Awak nak oder sup radiator tak?"

Alahai.... Abah den.... :-D

Thursday, May 08, 2008

HANDWRITING


Had a nice chat with a friend yesterday, and among other things we talked about is handwriting. Both of us have been involved in marking and grading exam answer sheets. Dia punya, mahasiswa. Aku punya, mahasitua hahaha :-) I happen to be in the pool of examiners for my agency, so my examinees range from budak kerani baru lepas SPM sampai officer yang dah nak pencen. So jumpa all kinds of handwriting la, yang cantik macam typewriter ada, yang cakar harimau pun ada. Several times I was tempted to just put a very big 'X' over those and just bagi markah 'kosong' je, hmmpf!


Anyway, I recently read an article about handwriting analysis which says that you can tell someone's personality from his handwriting. This science is called graphology. Basically your handwriting reflects how your brain guides your hand while you write. Here's the basics :-


Pressure
How hard you press the pen to paper, reflects your emotional energy. The harder you press, the higher your emotional energy is, and the more successful you are likely to be. Kalau kau jenis yang tekan pen sampai tembus kertas tu, esok-esok boleh jadi Perdana Menteri huuhuuu....


Slant
The slant reflects your emotional response to external forces. Right slant (///) shows that you respond strongly to emotional situations - heart rules mind. Vertical slant (l l l) means you keep your emotions in check - mind rules heart. Left slant (\\\) means you conceal your emotions - cold fish! Kalau tulisan kau kejap senget kiri, kejap senget kanan, mungkin reflect otak yang senget huuhuuu...


Baseline
Baseline is the (imaginery) line where the small letters rest, and it reflects your emotional control and reliability. Normal baseline is slightly wavy. Very straight baseline indicates tense and discipline. Ascending baseline shows optimism, while descending shows pessimism or depression. Kalau tulisan kau very the wavy, you might be emotionally unbalanced. Psychotic! Huuuhuuu....


Size
It does matter! Small writing indicates an ability to concentrate on minor details for long periods of time, and a conservative person. Very large writing shows that you are easily distracted. Kalau tulisan kau kejap kecik kejap besar, kau kena segera berjumpa doktor sebab mungkin jari kau kena arthritis... huuuhuuuu


OK, apply all that to my sample of writing from an earlier post :-



Pressure - agak keras juga, tapi taklah sampai patah mata pensel aku tujah kat kertas hehehe -so a little high on emotional energy
Slant - vertical, so mind rules heart - rational, baguih...baguih...
Baseline - slightly wavy, slightly ascending - otak normal dan agak optimis
Size - moderate - cukup sabar untuk buat crochet, tapi tak cukup sabar buat jigsaw puzzle 5000 keping

Conclusion - okkay la tu! (a-la Saida AF6)

OK have fun analyzing your own writing!

Kalau aku rajin, next aku tulis about a few tips lagi concerning 'writing zones' which reflects imagination and desire, and how to pick a good lover, and his compatibility with yours. Ahaha.... panjang le artikel ni, lain kali la sambung!

* info taken from article by Gary Thomas, an expert who studied criminal justice & psychology. eh, awat hang tak join CSI?

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

WEIGHT TICKER

Aaaa.... nampak Ticker kat atas tu? Ha serious ni, kena lose a whole LOT of weight!

Dari minggu lepas dok pikir nih. Aku memang segan sangat nak letak actual weight, biasalah pompuan mana yang suka nak mengaku gemuk kan?

But I figured this is a hell of a push factor. Lagi segan kalau takdak weight loss, atau worse still kalau ada weight gain (na'uzubilLah!). You'll know if this happens... kalau lamaaaa tak apdet weight data la... huuhuuuu...

Why the four-leaf clover? 'Coz I need all the luck I can get, haha! :-)

Wish me luck, people!

Sunday, May 04, 2008

RECENT HAPPENINGS

Blog post yang caca-merba :-)

Had a reunion dinner of sorts dengan 4 old friends, my first friends masa mula kerja back in the late-90s *alamak! rasa tua!* Seronok catching up with latest news. Ada yang dah kurang rambut, ada yang dah beruban di janggut hehe, age is also catching up! Aku? I'm the youngest of the lot, so aku leh eksyen lagi ngan diorang hehe :-) Dinner kat Restoran Rebung, too bad the handsome angkasawan wasn't there *bummer*, but the food is really good and the chef is friendly, although dia paksa some of us to nyanyi karaoke hehe... sumbang!

Talking of eating out - Kelana Seafood has closed down for good on 30th April. Reason? The property which they have been renting all this time has been bought over by Glomac (I think) and will be redeveloped. Kesian. Walaupun food diorang taklah best in the world gitu, tapi boleh tahan gak la. Agaknya kalau pegi makan sana on the last day, ada tak depa bagi bawak balik pinggan mangkuk lepas makan? Huuhuuuu...

Parliament sessions live broadcast - ok ke tak ok? Takut penonton lak confused - tengok persidangan betul ke, atau tengok movie Planet of the Apes? Bigfoot lah, big monkey lah. Yang dulu panggil bloggers 'monyet' tu, sekarang majoriti YB semua dah ada blog... camno? Tulah terlajak perahu boleh diundur, terlajak kata, sama-samalah memberukkan diri sendiri. Apa-apapun, kali ni aku kena duty parlimen lambat sket, 2nd June. Anyone going to be around there on that date? Leh join aku for lunch hehe :-)

Tower of Cancer kat SS3, Kelana Jaya - betul ke? Wallahua'lam, it's being investigated now. But some of mom's friends living around that area memang ada yang kena kanser, two of them passed away recently. Ada satu kes tu, sampai 3 orang yang tinggal dirumah sama, kena diagnosed with cancer within a year. If these cases are related to that communication tower, tak heranlah kebanyakan yang kena tu pensioners, sebab diorang yang akan duduk lama kat rumah masa kita keluar bekerja *sigh*. Is there any Erin Brokovich out there, tolong check sikit, boleh ke buat class action untuk kes ni?

MPH Book Sale in Kelana Jaya - teringin nak pegi, tapi takde bajet la bulan ni. Sebab kat Pesta Buku ari tu dah borong sket, weekend tu pulak borong buku kat Borders *pokai!*

New minister - baru nak rasa lega, tapi rupanya mamat ni lebih agresif dari yang dulu hehehe... aku harap sangat, jangan tabur janji dalam majlis ke atau dalam media sebelum bincang dulu dengan agensi pelaksana, sebab kalau turn out janji tu tak boleh dikotakan, penat kitorang kena hambat dengan public.

My house kat Subang tu, dah dapat tenant baru. Aku dah bagi kunci mid-April ari tu, depa dah pindah masuk. Esok gi collect deposit & sewa bulan Mei, yay! :-D Ya Allah, berilah aku kekuatan untuk tidak melangkah ke Jusco ke KLCC ke Sogo ke, sebaik saja cek deposit tu ditunaikan! :-)

Maiwaibee ada buat sesi pemimpin berjumpa rakyat, last week. Macam menarik gak, sebab dia turut jemput lain-lain Waibee, termasuk Nurul Izzah yang comel tu hehe. Abah kata nak pegi, ibu tak kasik, "nanti kalau kena tahan polis, dengan kita sekali kena bungkus..." Tapi sekarang kat Selangor, depa bukan pembangkang dah, takkan polis nak tahan kot?

Lately ni ada rasa mood agak menurun sket, God forbid, tamau go into that downward spiral thing again! Kena carik aktiviti to fill my time la. Currently trying to read motivational books, selain dari novels je. First attempt - The Secret. Next one will be La Tahzan, insyaAllah. Any other suggestions?

Have a nice weekend, everybody!

Thursday, May 01, 2008

CHICKEN SHIT HOTEL

Half-boiled eggs for breakfast, anyone? At least that's what I asked the F&B staff to prepare for me, and that was what he assured me of getting. But eggs as runny as snot on your first day of having the flu, is surely at most, a quarter-boiled, kan?

Oh hey, look closer... tak payah taruk kicap ke, garam ke, lada sulah ke, lada hitam ke.



My breakfast came with complimentary chicken shit, for that extra ummph!

And you dare call yourself a five-star hotel??!! Memang chicken shit betul la. And that breakfast is the least of my complaints tau.

Udah le dapat bilik yang bau hapak, sampai terpaksa mintak pindah ke bilik lain. Toilet plak tak boleh flush dengan betul. Air paip ada sikit karat. Aircond pun tak berapa sejuk. Masa guests tengah makan, sibuk remind sampai dua-tiga kali "Mam, you have to pay for your guests' breakfast, your room only comes with one complimentary breakfast". Apa, ingat kitorang nak makan pastu terus blah ke? Helloooo.... aku tau le hukum halal-haram, takde nye nak biarkan makanan haram (haram sebab tak bayar) masuk ke tekak dan sampai jadik darah daging tau. Macam ni ke layan tetamu, five star konon, bleargh!

Hah! Grand BuluWave, yang tak grand langsung!

Monday, April 28, 2008

GIMME YO MONEY!


Driving around the neighbourhood last week, I was kinda surprised to see some new tenants occupying several newly opened shoplots area near my house. In all my years living in Kelana Jaya, this is the first time I've come across the likeness of them.

Two of them are licensed moneylenders.

The other three are bill collector companies.

What does this signify?

*shudder*

God help us all!

Monday, April 21, 2008

RANDOM READ

Spent a little time at Borders @ The Curve last week. Browsed around, not looking for anything in particular, randomly reading a little here and there. Among the many books I picked at, was a book on autism.


The author says that, when he was in medical school, the disorder affected 1 in 10,000 births in USA. Today, the odds are 1 in 150 births. Yowzers!


What causes autism? Environment? Pollution? Food? Genetics? Could be one of the reasons, or could be all of the reasons, science can't pinpoint the exact cause yet.


Scary.


Bukan scary because autism is shunned, no. An autistic person has every same rights as you and me, and more! But what is scary is how much the odds of affliction has increased in the last 50 years. What is scarier is that we don't know what causes it, thus we have no defense against it. And scariest, there is no cure for it.


OK, that's as far as I got on the random reading. Alamak, potong stim la hehehe :-)


Sorry!


Anyway, ada sorang kakak kat ofis aku, anak bongsunya ada down syndrome, dah belasan tahun jugalah. It's good that she doesn't hide her son, selalu jugak dia minum petang lepas kerja ngan hubs & son dekat-dekat ofis tu. Orang kata, kesian you ada anak cacat. Tapi dia kata, syukur I ada my little boy who will always be my little angel, who will never hurt me in this world, and who will save me in the hereafter.


*sigh*


Jie's current mood : sayu tak tentu pasal