Wednesday, October 14, 2009

SLEEPLESS & LESS SLEEP

Tak cukup tidoq malam tadi.

I've resumed my support for local writers & novelists. Bought a few books last week, and borrowed a few others from friends. Last night was spent reading "Cinta Kau Dan Aku" by Siti Rosmizah (ISBN 978-967-5234-28-6) and crying buckets towards the ending. OK, OK, am I getting soppy or what? Hehehe :-)

I don't have time to really comment on it, and anyway it's quite a predictable girl-meet-boy novel that's flooding the market these days. Tomboy who likes cars, becomes the CEO's driver, ends up marrying her boss, the boss's biatch-lil'-sis breaks up the marriage, revenge, undying love, forgiveness... arrrgh, what'd I tell you about it being predictable? Hehehe.... but it's a nice ringan-ringan read before bedtime la, I loike.

I also kinda liked the author's other novel that I read a couple of weeks back, "Andai Itu Takdirnya" (ISBN 978-983-3669-65-3). Will explore other works by other authors also, insyaAllah.

Will I be reading a sci-fi sequel soon, please...? :-)

Wanna catch a few winks before lunch break is over - mata dah berpinar ni sebab tak cukup tidoq, padan muka aku!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

SORRY, NO HELP U

Kejamkah aku, menolak permintaan bantuan dari seseorang secara point-blank?

Orang yang pernah menangguk cintaku selama lebih tiga tahun, di saat bodohku yang baru melangkah dari alam pelajar ke alam kerja, dari alam remaja (plus plus) ke alam dewasa. Dia bijak merangkul tangkai jantungku, pandai bermadah rupanya berhelah, kerana dia memang lelaki yang berpengalaman! Apalah dayaku seorang budak hingusan dalam bab berkasih, pasti tewas dengan ayat-ayat cinta seseorang sepertinya! Saat aku diberitahu statusnya, hatiku luluh, tetapi.... aku suci hati percaya yang cintanya ikhlas walaupun rintangan terbentang di depan mata, sehingga satu peringkat aku telah redha berkongsi kasih.

Hampa. Aku rupanya hanya boneka buat mengisi waktu lapangnya. Mujurlah modal perhubungan itu cuma hatiku sahaja, bukannya jasad *ngeri*. Di akhir episod itu emosiku terkapai-kapai, berbulan-bulan berendam air mata. Dua tahun selepas itu, dia menghantar email untuk menyambung semula perhubungan, dan bila mengetahui waktu itu aku akan bertunang, menghantar pula email kedua mengatakan, "tak mahu kawan tak apelah, saya memang dah jumpa awek pengganti awak".

Dua hari yang lalu, aku dapat panggilan telefon di pejabat, "Ini Jack, kawan u, ingat saya?" "Saya nak minta tolong pada awak, tolonglah saya mohon sangat, saya nak pinjam seribu... hari ni hari terakhir saya kena..." Dan dia menangis.

Haruskah aku simpati dengannya?

Aku tidak berdendam kepadanya, walaupun aku rasa victimised. Tetapi aku juga tidak dapat memaafkannya kerana dengan sengaja telah membazirkan segala kasih yang kucurahkan, membazirkan lebih 3 tahun waktu mudaku. Lost innocence can never be replaced!

Maaf, kita sekarang tidak ada kena-mengena lagi.

Banyak chantek muka lu, dulu main-mainkan hati gua, sekarang mau minta pinjam duit. Porachit!

Friday, October 09, 2009

ME, BOOK THIEF?

On Wednesday evening, I was in OneU. Had a meal with Angah at TGIF, I just lurrrve their chicken caesar salad la, have to order it every time I'm there.

*Jie makan salad? Apsal tak kurus pun???* Oh, that's because the salad is just a starter! Hehehe...

Lepas tu, pegi beli some toiletries. OK, years and years of looking for skincare yang suitable for my sensitive skin, baru this year I started on SKII. Takde eksyen OK, but their product is so darn good! The damage was almost RM1K, but it will last me a few months, so memang berbaloi.

Then, toting the big SKII paperbag, we went to the big bookstore in OneU's new wing. Ala, kedai buku tu ler. Tak ingat namanya? HmmmMPH!

Started browsing books, dah habis round kat bawah, naik tingkat atas plak. Then only I realized what was nagging me dari tadi. Their pakcik security guy muka tempe in the blue uniform was following me around!

OK, bila aku browse novels, aku dah perasan la dia ada dekat2 situ, but maybe dia pun baca novel. But when kat kiddies section I saw him picking up boardbooks worth some RM80 per book, well! Lepas tu aku ke travel section, dia plak dok belek buku on Hong Kong. Bila aku stare kat dia, mulalah gelabah, buat2 cari buku while peeking at me. Nampak sangat ngintip aku tuh!

Alahai... aku ni ada muka pencuri buku ker????? Bengang giler dibuatnya!

OK, kalau takut aku curik buku masukkan dalam paperbag tu, then kindly tell me to leave the bag at the cashier counter or something la. Tapi kalu dia suruh tinggalkan beg tu, I'd rather just walk away, sorry la nak tinggalkan RM1K worth of SKII products kat orang yang aku tak kenal beb!

Masa nak bayar for some books I bought for my nephews, I asked the cashier, "korang suruh mat sekuriti mengekor customer ke, klu rasa customer tu nak curi buku?" She blinked, and said "maaf kak, saya orang baru". Irrelevant answer!

Then I said "dik, korang ingat akak nak curik buku rege 30 hengget, masuk dalam beg SKII ni ke? Sori la, pencuci muka akak ni pun worth much more than your books tau!"

Eksyen aku, kan? Muahahaha!

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

PEE DEE ARMY TOWN

On the news today :-

"Port Dickson diisytihar Bandar Tentera Darat..."

Oh puh-lease...!!! How much more obvious can you get?

Sunday, September 27, 2009

KUIH RAYA

Tahun ni banyak sungguh kuih raya, tapi aku kurang teruja nak makan sangat. Sebab, berbeza dengan tahun-tahun lepas, tahun ni semuanya 'kuih tunjuk'. Both the gas oven and the electric oven went bust, and no one bothered to send for repairs. Too bad lah.

Ever since I can remember, we've always made our own Raya cookies. Mom used to enlist me & sis to help 'terap' (using a cookie cutter) the cookie dough, and to put the 'mekap' - sapu telur, letak ceri, letak badam, tabur cornflakes etc - depending on the cookie recipe lah. When I was in college, mom 'retired'. So me & sis bercekang mata baking cookies after terawih sampai pukul 2-3 pagi.

We would try out new recipes, but we always have several biskut wajib di rumah ni - peanut cookies, dates roll, tea biscuit, semolina biscuit, and mom's special pineapple jam tart. Ada jugak buat kuih yang traditional, like samperit, buah redan, kuih gunting, kuih goyang, kacang tojen, bahulu, masa arwah nenek was still around.

Peanut cookies - easy peasy. Ground peanuts, sugar, flour and some peanut oil to bind all the ingredients. I suppose that's how the name 'Biskut Mazola' came around, tumpang nama oil tu.

Dates Roll is more complicated. Ada custard powder and powdered milk in the dough, which is rolled out, cut into strips and wrapped around slivers of dates, Then sapu telur and tabur crushed cornflakes on top. Yang leceh, the dough is so lembik and expands after baking, so kena buat kecik-kecik sebesar jari kelingking. Berchenta nak abih satu adunan pun.

I have no idea where Tea Biscuit got it's name, perhaps it was served for tea in it's country of origin? Mom got the recipe from her kakak ipar masa awal kahwin dulu, who got it from some mat saleh friend of hers. I really love this cookie. It's got cornflour and powdered milk in it, so it's quite garing and lemak, especially with a topping of finely ground almonds, yummy!

Semolina Biscuit is another easy peasy one, it's the first biscuit mom let me make by myself masa sekolah rendah lagi. Just the basic ingredients of butter, flour, sugar plus a dose of semolina. I love the crispy and grainy texture of this biscuit!

And then, the all-time favourite Pineapple Jam Tart. Mom has collected several tart recipes over the years, a different one for open-faced tart, lace tart, tart bentuk nenas, tart gulung. This one is really a favourite among our guests, satu adunan (about 100 pieces) is usually finished by second Raya.

We make our pineapple jam from scratch. Usually 3 or 4 pineapples are grated, mixed with sugar and cooked over a slow fire until the jam thickens. The aroma of the cooking jam wafting... mmm... menggoda betul time-time puasa tau. But I hated the process, lenguh tangan kacau jem, lama weh!

These days mostly orang buat tart gulung, where the dough is pushed trough a cookie press to form a strip, and rolled around some jam. It's easier to make and store. Ataupun tart bentuk nenas, where the jam is put in the middle of the dough, and the dough is snipped all over with the ends of a scissors to resemble pineapple skin. But personally, I like the open-faced ones. It used to be my job to drop a blob of jam into the depressed centre of the tart dough, and then to lay thin strips of dough criss-cross over the jam, so that it doesn't get messy when stored in stacks later on.

Alahai, too bad tahun ni aku takde buat kuih raya, tak dapat upload gambar...

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

HOW I SPENT MY EID

Eidulfitri has not always been 'deeply meaningful' for me, with all due respects.

See, the traditional practice is to get up early, dress up, go to special Eid solat at the mosque, come home to a hearty breakfast. Then the customs of salam-salam "mohon ampun dan maaf, mohon halalkan etc etc", usually beginning with the wife (tearfully? usually) asking forgiveness from the man of the house, followed by her children (tearfully? sometimes) asking forgiveness from their father & mother, then younger siblings (tearfully? takdo yo) asking forgiveness from older siblings etc etc. And then kids get packets of duit raya, yay!

Well, my mom doesn't make that ritual a habit. I recall her doing that a few times when I was little, but that was a long time ago. So by now it's kinda awkward for all the rest of us to start doing it, kepimpinan melalui teladan y'all. Nuff said. The only ritual that I do every Eid is (together with my aunts & cousins) to always visit my grandparents at their final resting place, sedekah bacaan yassin & tidy the place up.

This year was nothing different. Pagi siapkan makanan sementara the guys pegi solat sunat, guests arrive, makan, pegi kubur, balik cuci pinggan sampai nak pengsan as more guests arrive, eat and happily pile up the dirty dishes in the kitchen sink.

Finally after maghrib, I met up with 2 old friends - figuratively and factually old, haha! These guys I've known for more than 15 years and being KLites, memang usually come to my house on first day Raya. But this year I was so not in the mood for festivities, that I suggested we met elsewhere. So that's how I came to spending my malam first Raya at an Old Town White Coffee outlet, drinking hazelnut white coffee and munching on roti bakar, talking crap and catching up with the latest... well, crap. Haha!

And just like that, my so-not-deeply-meaningful first day Raya, was gone.

Second day Raya morning - reheat the previous day's cooking, and wait for the next batch of guests... and the tsunami of dirty dishes that follows *sigh*.

I miss those days when he's sitting in a chair and I sit at his feet, I kiss his hands and asks for his forgiveness, and he strokes my hair and says to please forgive his mistakes too. To do all this dengan ikhlas, is so deeply touching, that you can feel old bad feelings just melt away, and you become the happy family again, heart full of love and and forgiveness. Now, Those were really meaningful Eids that I've ever had...

So if you are not really into all those salam-salam custom, it would be nice to start now with your own spouse and kids. Spend time reconnecting with relatives, instead of going shopping at One Utama or sitting & talking crap for a few hours in an Old Town White Coffee outlet on first Raya Aidilfitri.

SWEEPING AWAY COBWEBS

Man, I can't believe it's been almost 3 months since the last update! Ni semua gara-gara Fesbuk!

Dari dulu lagi friends dok ajak masuk friendster, then facebook, but I wasn't too interested in so-called socializing online lah. Then my college alumni started calling around, talking about an upcoming reunion event, and "details available through facebook". And I started reconnecting with old-old frens, farmville-ing, doing quizzes etc. Hanyut blog aku.... hehe :-)

But somehow, I miss blogging, writing mostly mundane and inane stuff, but writing nonetheless. I hope to be able to set aside some time everyday to blog, even if no one else reads it.

Go girl!

Sunday, June 28, 2009

IT'S A LADIES' THING

So.

Just had my very first ever mammogram earlier this week.

Ouch!

And ouch!

And just when I thought the torture has ended, the radiologist adjusted the machine to a about 70 degrees tilt.

"OK, now we do this from the side angle. Right breast first, please."

Ouch again, twice more!

So what happens during a mammogram? Well, you (actually, the radiologist does it for you lah) place one breast on the machine's plate, adjust and re-adjust so that the whole breast and the supporting tissues around the armpit area is properly placed, then the whole thingy is compressed by another plate from above, until it is sufficiently flattened (or until your face has turned sufficiently red, whichever earlier). Then they snap an x-ray pic of it. Right, left. Then the whole process is repeated with your breast being compressed sideways. Yowzers!


Actually I had been thinking about doing it for the past few years, as I do fall into a category of somewhat-risk candidate. The fact that my paternal grandmother had breast-cancer doesn't add so much risk, as compared to other factors, like my age (above 35), never having breastfed a child etc, and also my eating habits *sigh*.

Why hadn't I done it earlier? Takuuutttt.....! Not afraid of the procedure, but afraid of the diagnosis! Itulah manusia, takut untuk menghadapi kenyataan, kan? Takut untuk dengar doktor kata "there's a lump/ lesion in your breast, we have to do further tests/ biopsy/ mastectomy". Aduhai!

Yes yes, I should be doing BSE (breast self-examination). I've read about it in magazines, in pamphlets, at cancer awareness events, even online, and of course by now I've memorized it. But I never got around to actually doing it, cause the instruction says to "feel for a lump", but I don't know how the heck a lump feels from the outside! Dulu my ex used to do it for me - well I was married to a doctor - and I took things for granted and never really asked him to teach me how to do it. Hmmph!

Finally, I decided to give myself a birthday mammogram, kira okay tak? Hehehe :-) It was definitely money well-spent. Just RM202.00 to put my mind at ease. AlhamduliLlah, semuanya normal. The staff at Pantai Medical where I went to, were very nice & professional, and the procedure didn't take very long.




I'm just glad that the girlies are fine, and are dense and bounced back huuhuuu! (according to the radiologist la, and by 'dense' I don't mean shtoopid ya) And hence the pain. Otherwise I might've ended up like this pic :-P


Next stop : Pap Smear & pelvic examination, arrrghhhhh!


Note : if the tissues are no longer dense due to breastfeeding, age or whatever other factor, the procedure is quite painless and easier for the radiologist to do the adjusting.

Friday, April 24, 2009

KOPI-KOPI









I like coffee, heck, I LOVE coffee actually. Been a coffee junkie since secondary school - dok sekolah asrama, beli le instant coffee sendiri kan? Sebab kalau kat rumah, haram mak aku tak kasik kitorang 'bebudak' ni minum kopi, takut ketagih kafein kot?


Tapi yelah, aku ni sekolah pun local, uni pun local. Jadik my love affair with coffee tu tak ke mana lah. Zaman tu, nescafe je yang ada kan. Kalau nak yang strong sikit, kopi cap hang tuah.


Tapi la ni, segala mak-nenek kopi ada, dari yang biasa dijual di kedai runcit, ke imported ground coffee or coffee beans, siap ada boutique lagi kan? Keji :-) Malas buat sendiri, beli je yang dah siap, sejuk ada panas ada, ice-blended pun sodap. Dari vendor kat tepi jalan cam Kopie-Satu tu, ke cafe & bistro, also kopitiam!


Oh, jangan lupa jugak kopi direct selling. Dah semacam trend plak orang kita, segala tok nenek ubat & herba, dimasukkan dalam kopi, kemudian dipanggil 'kopi pra-campur'. Apa sajalah Labuuuu... Ubat slimming la, ubat kuat la, ubat rapat la, you name it we've got it. Berkesan ke? Entah, mana aku tahu hehehe.... :-) I only drink coffee for the pleasure of drinking coffee, hah!


Jap, apa aku nak cerita tadi eh? :-P






Oh, hari tu masa tengok tv, aku terasa offended sangat ngan satu iklan kopi ni. Yelah aku tau la kena bagi nama produk yang menarik minat, baru la orang akan ingat dan beli produk tu. Macam kopi cap kapal api, kan ke kreatif nama tu? Eh, bukan kapal api ni yang buat aku offended okkay. Tapi ada satu produk baru namanya "Kopi J^nd^".


Hah? Kopi ni keluaran syarikat mak jands ke? Atau khas untuk diminum oleh orang yang ber-title mak jands je? Atau siapa minum kopi ni, dia bakal jadi mak jands? Ahkak kompius betul. Dan m-e-n-y-a-m-p-a-h sesangat dengan dialog iklan tu :-


(Sora pompuan nyanyi) "Kita minum, kopi j^nd^, setiap hari, tiap masa... kopi j^nd^, yang menggoda, rasa hebat, bergelora.... jemput minum kopi j^nd^ bang...."

(Sora jantz plak nyanyi) "... bla bla... Kopi j^and^ ni, memang menggoda..."


As if tak cukup yang mak jands biasanya (in most asian communities anyway) dipandang serong, ni dikaitkan plak mak jands dengan words like 'menggoda' and 'bergelora'. Yes we know you're looking for a creative way to promote your product, but this comes across as a cheap shot at popularity for both product and the limp pr1ck who thought up this ad. Total turn-off, even for a coffee addict like me!

Saturday, April 11, 2009

SYMPATHY



I've just heard some pretty hard news about a new friend.


She is a single parent in her mid 40s. Mother of 2, one kid in college, another in high school. I'm not sure of her education status, but she is a non-professional, as she had been working as an exec at a small construction-based company.
She & kids live with her ailing parents, and in her free time, she bakes cakes for extra income. Her cakes are yummy! That's how I got to know her, btw - I'm a customer la.


Last month, she suddenly lost her job when the company closed shop. Not long after that, she underwent a biopsy, and she's just got the results a few days back - third stage breast cancer. She'll be undergoing a mastectomy next week.


Sometimes, life seems so unfair, yeah?

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

KOLAM AYOR PANAS

Masa cuti CNY minggu lepas, aku ke rumah Achik di Tanjung Malim. Saja jelah, jalan-jalan. Sunday, Achik ajak gi mandi sungai, katanya. Aku ingat dekat, tapi boleh tahan jauh gak, pastu masuk ladang kelapa sawit bagai, sungguh musykil! Oh, rupanya nak bawak kami mandi kolam air panas.

Namanya TRAP - Taman Rekreasi Air Panas, Sg. Klah. It's actually somewhere dalam kawasan Felda situ. Aiks, kena bayar? Dewasa sepuluh hengget, mahal tuh. Kena bayar, sebab ianya bukan setakat sebijik kolam air panas. Ada macam-macam lagi, termasuk kolam air gunung (sejuk) dan ladang bebuahan, kalau berminat nak rounding2 premis tu la.




Memula ke kawasan air panas dulu, aku pun masuk kolam. Mak ai, aku rasa nak melompat keluar balik, terkejut sebab tetiba kaki aku panas kan. But after a few seconds, your body temperature dah aejah, lepas tu rasa syok je, selesa. Sambil berendam, sembang2, tetiba ada suara jantz kat belakang kitorang, "ahhh.. dah masak dah telor aku...". Chis mamat nih, molot takde insurance betul. Bila kitorang toleh, rupanya mamat tu saja nak buat lawak. Dia pegang telor ayam di tangannya, huh!
Memang ada kolam kecik khas untuk rebus telur kat situ, built around one of the many hot spring sources there. Just bring ur own eggs, then boleh pakai raga yang disediakan, letak kat atas air panas yang membuak tu. They even tell you the duration - 2 minit utk quarter-boiled eggs, 8 minit untuk telur rebus keras etc. "Dilarang merebus ikan, kerang...." Duh. Nak makan ikan perasa sulfur ke?
Also, ada small shallow pools, where you can sit at the edges and rendam kaki. The temperature's pretty controlled, ada kolam yang panas betul, dan ada yang kurang panas, where at the edges tu memang ada tulis anggaran suhu airnya. Hmm... baguih le, takde la nanti jadik orang rendam kaki sampai melecur, pastu saman owner kolam ni sebab tak caution pasal suhu tu kan.
We also lepak a while at the cool mountain water pool, where there's a giant water-spouting octopus with a water slide running down it's belly. This pool was filled with screaming kids. Si Yanti teringin nak cuba, aku ok je. Tapi lepas dia slide down, dia komplen kepala dia noneng la plak. Isk isk... manja betul helper aku ni hehe.



One word of caution la. Kalau nak pegi, toksah le pegi time cuti perayaan or cuti sekolah. Hazab! Memula aku tak perasan, so ok jelah dok berendam tu. Tapi bila aku duduk kat tempat yang airnya agak tenang, baru perasan yang aku leh nampak water surface tu..... ada 'flotsam n jetsam'. No, bukan orang dari tongkang pecah. Tapi... entah berapa banyak daki, kulit mati dan kelemumur yang tertanggal dari beribu badan yang dok berendam air panas tu ye? Ewwww...!!!!
Balik ke rumah Achik, aku shower puas-puas, kasi bersih maa! Gasak la, naik la bil air dia bulan ni hehe :-)

btw, all pics here are gugel-ed. aku ada amik gambar ari tu, tapi bateri kamera dah kiok, cari charger tak jumpa la plak isk isk....

Monday, February 02, 2009

BERKAWAN

Alahai aku ni, mood meng-apdet macam pasang-surut air laut kan? Masalahnya lebih banyak 'surut' dari 'pasang' LOL :-)

Semalam sembang ngan an old friend, yang terkecik hati dengan member geng lama kami. Kebetulan masa dia di rumah Mr.X, ada kawan2 baru Mr.X datang bertandang. But instead of introducing dia kepada kawan2 baru tu, he was asked to wait in another room. Ala-ala macam nak sorok, apa qah?

Terus dia terfikir, Mr.X malu ke nak mengaku aku kawan dia, sebab aku tak setanding dengan kawan2 barunya? Yelah, semenjak berhijrah ni, Mr.X dah naik pangkat, gaji dah besar dan pakai kereta mewah, sedangkan aku ni keje biasa-biasa je, kawan2 dia tu pulak engineer & architect di listed company.

Aku yang mendengar ni pun agak terkedu (while keeping in mind that I'm only hearing one side of the story la). Boleh ke meletakkan 'ukuran nilai' ke atas diri kawan dan persahabatan macam tu? Macam kisah siTanggang pun ada gak nih.

Geng lama aku tu, aku kenal masa aku mula start keje. Bermacam background dan perangai ada, dari yang keje kerani sampai le ke doktor pakar, tapi semuanya OK je boleh masuk satu kepala. Outing sama2, dinner sama2, karaoke sama2. Tak sangka la pulak bila dah tua-tua ni, boleh terjadi kes pilih bulu.

Bagi aku, all my friends are precious, tak kira la samada kau kerani sambilan ke, atendan hospital ke, pensyarah ke, hatta seorang Ahli Dewan sekalipun. (Ahli Dewan mana yang kawan lama aku tu? Uiiihhh... ni kira namedropping gak ke? Hahaha!) Aku tak kisah nak berkawan dengan apa jenis orang, asalkan persahabatan tu tak disia-siakan. Masa aku student dulu pun, mungkin orang agak pelik tengok, aku pegi ke library dengan minah Arqam yang berpurdah, tapi balik library aku gi lepak kafe dengan minah kaki disko. So what, kan?

Tapi as much as aku sayangkan persahabatan, aku teringat satu artikel yang pernah aku baca dulu. Katanya, to get more out of your life, you have to get rid of toxic friends. Maksud toxic kat sini ialah, kawan2 yang ajak kita buat benda2 yang merosakkan fizikal, mental dan emosional kita. Like, kawan yang ajar guna dadah, atau yang suka bergosip dan menghasut supaya kita sakit hati kat orang lain, dan yang merosakkan emosional kita bila buat kita rasa terhina dan rendah diri.

Aku kongsi pengajaran di atas dengan kawan lama aku tu. Oh well, rupanya dia dah mula bertindak pun.

"Aku dah delete nombor dia dari handset aku....".

Ha, OKlah tu.

Friday, January 09, 2009

GANU BRIEF GETAWAY

* Note : I found this old draft, which never got posted after I wrote it because my lappie had a problem with uploading pics then, lembab nak mampos!



End of March 2008, I took a little time off to visit a dear friend whom I hadn't seen since 2002. Gosh, had it really been that long? Actually about 2 weeks earlier, I called Nore up for a chat. I hadn't seen or spoken to her in months, and to think that our offices were only 2 LRT stations away from each other! Kita ni selalu sibuk dengan hal masing-masing, sampai lupa pada orang lain, kan?




Anyway, at the end of our conversation, we decided that both of us needed a break, and it would be nice to see Lia after all these years. So off to Kuantan we went!








The weather was great, pokok tepi highway pun nampak cantik hehe :-) We began a leisurely drive on Friday morning, and arrived in Kuantan in time for lunch, at a small restaurant on the riverbank.



I've never liked ikan patin sebab selalu bau hanyir lumpur, but they're expert patin cooks in Kuantan! Ikan patin masak tempoyak, finger licking, wa cakap lu! Lia was a most gracious host. We spent the rest of the day at Lia's place. Dari aku mula masuk keta (Nore drove), sepanjang jalan dari KL dok sembang je, sampai kat Kuantan pun dok sembang bertiga, masuk tido kul 5.00 pagi. Motormouths!






On Saturday, we continued our roadtrip. Lia dari awal pesan suruh bawak extra baju, katanya nak singgah tepi pantai, so kitorang okey je la. We stopped to have breakfast at Kemaman Kopitiam.


Everything on the menu was so good! Roti bakar, telur rebus, little packets of nasi lemak (lauk sambal ikan, "huuhhh?", tapi sedap!), nasi dagang... melantak! The restaurant was packed to the brim, tua-muda-bebudak-melayu-cina-india-mat saleh, semua ada. Me & Nore got so hooked on their coffee (kopi cham dia best!), that we had forgotten that coffee is diuretic. Sib baik lepak lama sket kat kopitiam tu, sempat la gi toilet sekali :-P Kalau asyik nak ter-kench dalam keta nanti, payah.




We headed to Kuala Terengganu. Nore wanted to get some batiks, yelah kitorang keje gomen kan. Then Lia tanya, u girls remember our last roadtrip to KT? Flashback - Year 2000, me & Nore drove up to Kuantan to attend a friend's wedding, and we also stayed over at Lia's then. After the wedding, we drove on to KT. We passed by a beautiful stretch of beach with a huge rock formation on it, and we stopped to look at the scenery then. But apparently this time around, Lia had other plans for us, hence the extra clothes.





The place is in Kuala Abang, atas sket dari Dungun. There is a small guesthouse there, comprising of only three chalets, sandwiched in between the chalet operator's house, and her mother-in-law's house. How quaint!




Tak senonoh, pepagi buta kitorang pegi ketuk pintu rumah makcik tu, tanya pasal sewa chalet (and also to tumpang her toilet - the coffee we had consumed in Kemaman was still doing it's job!) The chalets were available only for the day, as a party from Kelantan had booked them for Sunday. "OK makcik, kami nak gi Pasar Payang dulu, balik kang kami singgah lagi".



So off we went to KT pulak. Terus ke Pasar Payang, borong batik - sengih je budak kedai tu, ada la dalam RM3000 worth of sale kat kitorang je. Of course lepas tu tuju ke section foodstuff plak. Yang aku never miss beli every time aku ke Pasar Payang is opak dan nese. Opak is disks of dried tapioca crackers, and nese is disks of natural palm sugar, much better quality than the palm sugar we get in KL. Jajan yang lain tu biasalah, macam-macam ada dari kuih kapit ke jeruk buah salak. Also bought a few kilos of pauh mah ite, manis betul! I bought turtle eggs for mom, and had to endure Lia 'Miss Greenpeace's scowl and lecture on turtle conservation hehe :-) Nak buat camana, mak aku suka telur penyu...





No trip to KT is sah kalau tak beli kepok lekor. Detour pulak ke Losong, borong kepok. Selain dari yang freshly cooked, beli jugak yang siap goreng and melantak dalam keta, sedap giler! On our way back, it was tea-time, so singgah satu tempat makan bernama 'Lempeng'. Ingatkan nak makan kuih & lempeng, rupanya kat situ depa jual ketupat sotong and all kinds of seafood goreng tepung, yummy! I never thought of having ikan kembung for tea before, have you? Along the way, singgah gerai kecik-kecik tepi jalan, beli jagung bakar la, kacang rebus la.




Sampai balik ke Kuala Abang, tengok makcik tu dah tunggu. Oh, promosi sket la untuk makcik yang baik ni. Namanya Makcik Zaidah, telephone number 09-8451076. Hehehe :-) Murah je sewa satu chalet dari petang sampai malam, tiga puluh hengget je. Apa lagi, masuk chalet, tukar baju, pastu berlari-lari la ke pantai! Peghak betul hahaha!




The current was pretty strong, so takdelah swim sangat. Barulah aku faham maksud 'ombak menggulung'. Selama ni dok tengok ombak kat PD, alahai... ciput je in comparison!




Lepak by the beach was a nice ending to our KT trip. Dah puas berendam & main ombak (sampai senja!), we sat on the rocks and makan jagung, kacang & pauh.







Actually I was a little sad at that time, because it brought back some memories. Masa tengah bertunang & early marriage, we always ended up on the beach in PD on weekends to lepak, sebab he didn't like crowds in malls or lepak at the movies. But no way was I gonna let those memories spoil my day with the gals, hell no!


It's nice getting back together with friends every now and then. Catching up with each other's lives... plus gossips about the rest of the gang haha! I'm sure we'll be doing this again, but sooner than 8 years (like this time) la, insyaAllah.


Thursday, January 08, 2009

NEW YEAR RESOLUTION

I've never really been one for the 'New Year Resolution' thingy. Dulu, like other teens and young adults, memang suka la buat new year resolution ni. Awal tahun semangat berkobar, tapi lepas dua-tiga bulan, hampeh tak ingat pun hehe :-) These days, resolutions are made as and when necessary sajork.


Tapi tahun ni, aku ada buat satu new year resolution. Nothing major or life-changing, no particular quests etc etc.

My new year's resolution is 'senyum'.


7 days into 2009, so far so good la. Sebab in order to 'senyum', I've got to find things to smile about. And people to smile to, or with. And while looking for all these, I'm starting to feel more at ease. And the more relaxed I am, the more cheerful I become.


Hey, is this a cool resolution or what!

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

POCO POCO!

Siapa tak pernah dengar lagu Poco-poco, angkat tangan!

Eh, really ah? Tak pernah dengar lagunya? Namanya pun tak pernah dengar?

Ohhh... aku lupa korang ni semua bukan orang gomen atau ahli Puspanita, dan pastinya korang tak pernah pegi PLKN kan? Hehehe :-)

I first heard about this song a few years back. A colleague attended function Puspanita, balik tu sibuk cerita "awakkk... seronok la menari Poco-poco, Datin X (Pengerusi Puspanita ler tuh) pun join sama tau...". Then, bebudak balik dari kursus (standard ah gomen, kursus induksi la tu), sibuk cerita sal tarian Poco-poco yang sungguh fun and happening. Bila aku tanya, pebenda lagu poco-poco tu? Depa kata, "tatau la, lagu indon gamaknya" Aku minta demo sket camana tarian tu. Semua orang geleng kepala, "tak ingat step la, susah..." Curious... curious...

Then masa aku join gym about 2 years back, ada la plak belajar poco-poco, diselitkan masa aerobik. Wah, emangnya seronok banget! It's a very catchy tune, bila dengar lagu pun, kaki dah mula gerak sendiri heheh...

Just because I have nothing better to do at the moment, aku menggodek youtube, and I managed to find the lyrics :-

Balenggang pata-pata Dancing so energetically
Ngana pe goyang pica-pica You move so friskily
Ngana pe bodi poco... poco Your body is so chubby

Cuma ngana yang kita cinta Only you that I love
Cuma ngana yang kita sayang Only you that I care
Cuma ngana suka bikin pusing But you often make me dizzy

Ngana bilang kita na sayang You said I don't love you
Rasa hati ini malayang jauh I feel that I'm flying far away
Ci Ija... Ci Ija.... Cik Ija... Cik Ija.....

Biar kita ngana pe bayang Though I'm like your shadow
Biar na biking layang-layang Though you make me daydreaming
Cuma ngana yang kita sayang Only you that I love

Isk...isk... manalah aku paham, bahasa indon kan? Then aku terjumpa plak video clip yang ada english translation... Barulah aku tahu, lagu ni asalnya dari Ambon/Maluku, tapi version yang biasa kita dengar ni dinyanyikan dalam bahasa Minahasa/Menado (utara Indonesia).

Lepas tu aku gelak besar baca the english translation haha! Just select the lyrics above, then highlight them, to read the english translation. Have fun, everyone!

Frisky & chubby indeed, hahaha! :-D

View the video here.


Tuesday, January 06, 2009

HAVE A HEART!

I've always maintained in all my previous posts to only write on personal matters, things directly affecting me. My family. My friends. My thoughts. My emotions. My crazy woman rantings (PMS!). My teary self-pity whines. My struggle with weight maintenance! Dan apekebenda lain la yang aku nak tulis sesoker hati aku. Semua ala light-light giteww. Mak tak koser nak buat statement ke, nak endorse opinion ke, takmoh fenin.

However, having read posts in various blogs about the IJN - Sime Darby fiasco, today I decided to include a logo in my sidebar, as a statement of my support for the Save IJN blog campaign. I do believe IJN should be left alone as it is, toksah nak privatise kan just for the sake of lining some people's pockets.

Although I have no personal interest in IJN, yet (alhamduliLlah!), but a recent chat made me realize how important IJN is to the people. It was after a meeting at the office which involved a group of otai who used to work in the agency. They were excitedly discussing the IJN issue, and out of the six of them, three are regular patrons of IJN. Wow, 50% odds? Obviously, these pensioners will be much affected by any move to privatise IJN, when the medical costs may take out a chunk from their meager pensions.

Oh incidentally, I remember someone I know who works in IJN. Some years back, he was head-hunted by hospitals from neighbouring countries. He was offered a similar position but with a double/triple remunerations, and more perks than what he's getting here. His response? "Aku belajar pakai duit rakyat, it's my duty now to serve the rakyat." Now, if that's not dedication enough from an IJN staff, then I don't know what is!

Come, I'm holding out my hands now dear friends. Join me, please support IJN! Silalah kopipes logo itu ke dalam blog anda :-)

Sunday, January 04, 2009

HANTAR-HANTAR-AN

Aku tak faham sungguh pompuan ini, serta mak-bapak pompuan ini :-

(1) Pompuan ni kata, taknak buat majlis atau declare 'bertunang', tapi jemput pihak lelaki 'datang bincang' dan mintak pihak lelaki bawak cincin. Oiiii..... taknak declare bertunang, tapi tak malu pulak mintak cincin? Udah le masa merisik dulu, dah diberi cincin, la ni pun mintak satu lagi cincin (cincin berlian lagi gittew uols... harga dua ribu lebih, tapi ada diskaun... terima kasih Habib Jewels yang buat sale hujung tahun huuuhuuu!), tapi taknak ngaku itu cincin tunang?

(2) Pompuan itu tanya berapa dulang barang hantaran yang pihak lelaki nak bawak, dan pompuan itu pun dah sediakan hantaran balasan. Seriosa la deknon, ada ke, takde ke, majlis bertunang ni? Ahkak kompius abes! Dan tambah kompius, hantaran lelaki 5 dulang, dibalas 8 dulang... err.... kalau hang orang kampung yang faham adat, mesti hang tau yang bilangan dulang hantaran selalunya nombor ganjil, kan?

(3) Mak-bapak pompuan ni, dari awal lagi dah bagitau mak-bapak lelaki itu, hantarannya RM8,000, non-negotiable. Amboi mahainya.... pak hang ni juai anak ka? Harus standard jual kat shopping complex, sebab fixed price, tak boleh tawar-tawar macam kat pasar malam kan? Tapi tengok le keadaan chek oiii.... dua-dua baru kerja 1-2 tahun, mana la banyak kumpul duit lagi? Keje pun biasa-biasa, executive ngan kerani je.

(4) Tapi memandangkan hantaran tinggi, pompuan itu setuju kalau lelaki itu kasik RM5,000 je, dan pompuan itu akan top-up sendiri RM3,000 lagi. Ehhh? Boleh main top-up pulak ye? Kalau gitu, awat tak set aje hantaran RM5,000? Senang citer, mak-bapak lelaki itu pun lega, dan hang sendiri pun tak yah keluaq duit untuk top-up hantaran diri sendiri.

(5) Memula sebut maskahwin ikut rate biasa, tapi bila masa 'majlis bertunang-tapi-taknak declare bertunang' tu, mak-bapak pompuan itu letak harga maskahwin RM1,184. Aik? OKlah walaupun Majlis Agama Negeri hang takdak set harga maskahwin, tapi biaq la lebih-kurang ngan state lain.... paling tinggi Sarawak RM120, paling rendah Pahang & Johor RM22.50. And what's with the wierd (intentional!) 1184 figure? Itu nombor ekor Magnum ke?

Correct me if I'm wrong, OK.

Kalau dah bertunang, kenapa nak sorok? Kan ke elok kalau orang tahu, so takde le jejantz lain yang akan cuba tekel tunang @ bakal bini orang tu kan? Lagipun, dah mintak dan dah dapat cincin berlian, takkan kau sorok cincin tu, mestilah dipakai dan ditunjuk kepada umum kan? Takkan mahu display cincin tapi taknak declare tunang?

Maskahwin = Mahar = Pemberian wajib dari segi syarak, dari suami kepada isteri yang baru dinikahinya, kalau tidak dijelaskan, akan menjadi hutang. Amaun yang ditetapkan oleh majlis agama tu adalah minima, and of course boleh beri lebih dari yang minima tu, sebagai tanda kasih dan penghargaan ikhlas suami kepada isteri.

Wang Hantaran = Pemberian mengikut adat, bukan wajib pada hukum syarak. Biasanya diberi kepada keluarga perempuan, untuk membantu meringankan kos majlis perkahwinan.

Kalau dah begitu hukumnya, yang wajib itu wajiblah, tapi yang tidak wajib tu, biarlah sesuai dengan keadaan semasa dan kemampuan pihak berkenaan. What's the point of setting harga hantaran tinggi, tapi sebenarnya dapat separuh je, dan separuh lagi kena top-up sendiri? The only reason I can see is Ego/Vanity - nak tunjuk kat orang kampung yang walaupun pompuan tu asal dari kampung yang solok dan keje kerani je, tapi dapat 'tangkap' lelaki yang berada. So much for budaya melayu merendah diri - pfffttt!

Mak-bapak pun, pikiaq la sket. Hangpa suka la dapat duit hantaran RM8,000, belanja kenduri hangpa beres. Tapi bakal menantu hangpa tu nanti, balik KL lepaih nikah, kena keluaq duit lagi untuk kenduri belah lelaki. Lepaih tu, keluaq duit cari rumah sewa, keluaq duit lagi beli katil, kerusi meja dapoq tv bagai, keluaq duit lagi bagi nafkah kat anak hang, keluaq duit lagi bayaq kereta, minyak, tol. Berapa sangat la gaji depa kalau dibanding kos sara hidup kat KL?

Jangan sampai dah beranak-pinak, or worse case scenario, sampai bercerai-berai (na'uzubiLlah) tapi loan Bank Rakyat yang diambik masa nak kawin tu, masih tak habis dibayar, isk isk.......

Sampai la ni pun aku masih tak faham pompuan ini, serta mak-bapak pompuan ini.