My Life As A Me

Bila

2011-12-18T22:18:00.001+08:00

This track is seriously growing on me

Flawed

2011-12-11T23:09:00.001+08:00

Some things are not meant to be told,

but those are the ones eating you alive.

58.5 kg

2011-11-26T13:52:00.002+08:00

Ohhh it's getting harder and harder to go further down the scale. Sebulan baru half a kilo. And maybe sebab i didn't have dinner last night. Lepas makan ni mesti bounce2 balik. Waa... but at least, another milestone reached.

1.5kg to go.

.. and All the Drama

2011-10-29T20:40:00.003+08:00

It's hard not to pay attention to all the drama surrounding my environment these few weeks, but I'm trying my best not to get sucked into it. Neutral at best, selfish at worst, depending on which way you view it, as long as I maneuver myself carefully in this tangled little web, whatever it takes to survive man, whatever.

Ibarat menarik rambut dari tepung. Rambut jangan putus. Tepung jangan berselerak.

59kg

2011-10-24T01:18:00.003+08:00

Oh yes fiiiinallyy I'm reaching 50s for the first time since... I don't know, high school?

This far

2011-10-22T15:24:00.002+08:00

It's been almost a year, a lot has passed since yet it still feels new.

A year, and this has been quite a journey.

Even I was surprised that I have made it this far.

Alhamdulillah, for Your guidance.

Pesan

2011-10-16T12:35:00.003+08:00

Berhati-hatilah memberi pinjaman, salah beri, kelak menjadi peminta sedekah wang sendiri.

Nightmare

2011-09-20T22:44:00.003+08:00

Ok the worst thing a worker-and-freelancer could ever ask for is when all the parties want the work at the same time. And for me, that dreaded time is TONIGHT!

I'M

GONNA

DIE

I wish I can divide myself in three. Four kalau nak buat kerja2 master. AAAAAAA

*Having nervous breakdown... Ok breatheee breathheeeeeee....*

Bismillah.. semoga sempat siap

60kg

2011-09-14T18:57:00.001+08:00

it's been kinda slow but finally, 3kg to go! can can can!

61kg

2011-08-21T04:01:00.002+08:00

I don't remember when was the last time I scaled at 61.

57, I'll get there!

How Much is Enough

2011-08-18T17:46:00.004+08:00

I never had problems shutting people down from my life,
and it definitely won't start now.

Yearly Bitching

2011-08-06T17:39:00.002+08:00

Some of you might remember my bitching about iftar last year.

But that won't even hold a candle to what I'm gonna bitch this year.

PaRam.

Seriously, WT*

Congrats

2011-07-19T16:06:00.001+08:00

After 7 changes (or to put it professionally, "revisions") this is what I replied to a client, "cakap dengan dia tahniah kerana berjaya mensampahkan design saya"

Detox - Day 36

2011-07-02T21:04:00.001+08:00

Yeah, I'm still on it babeh. Dah sangat pro skrg untuk menghandle urusan toilet. hahaha

Financial Matters

2011-06-22T22:11:00.005+08:00

I know most of my friends have (or just) started working. I know the joy and excitement of getting your monthly paycheck (yang selama jadi student xpernah dapat), so I know the temptation of spending it the way you never got the chance before (unless you're born and fed with the silver, or rather gold, spoon, tapi itupun your parent's fortune not yours, so there's no real joy in that). Well, there's no harm to reward yourself once in a while, but to assist your financial management better, here's some tips from AKPK (Agensi Kaunseling dan Pengurusan Kredit)

Bajet

Pastikan anda mempunyai bajet. Pelan bajet anda dengan cermat dan patuhi matlamat kewangan anda.

Simpanan

Bayar diri anda dahulu! Setiap bulan, asingkan 10% daripada gaji bulanan untuk simpanan. Buka akaun baru dan pilih untuk tidak mengambil kemudahan kad ATM.
Amalkan tabiat menabung sebagai budaya hidup: Mulakan simpanan anda HARI INI. Ketahui konsep faedah berganda (compound interest)
Amalkan tabiat menabung sebagai budaya hidup: Sediakan simpanan kecemasan, sekurang-kurangnya 6 kali perbelanjaan bulanan anda.
Amalkan tabiat menabung sebagai budaya hidup: Mempunyai simpanan untuk kehidupan selepas bersara. Dan yang paling penting - hidup mengikut kemampuan anda.

Pinjaman & Kredit

Pinjaman & Kredit: Ketahui tujuan pinjaman dan kemampuan anda untuk membayar semula; dan, beri perhatian akan terma dan syarat pinjaman tersebut.
Pinjaman & Kredit: Ketahui kadar faedah efektif pinjaman anda; dan, pastikan bayaran semula pinjaman tidak melebihi 40% daripada gaji bulanan.
Pinjaman & Kredit: Pastikan anda membayar ansuran tepat pada masanya agar laporan kredit anda tidak terjejas; dan, JANGAN SESEKALI membuat pinjaman dari peminjam wang tanpa lesen.

The bolden parts are the most important, IMO. I've heard the classic habis-bulan-habislah-gaji story or duit-aku-bulan-ni-tinggal-untuk-bayar-sekian-sekian simply too many times from people around. This paycheck-to-paycheck habit is severely unhealthy y'all. Common answer: Tapi yela, sekarang kan gaji kecik. Nanti dah banyak bolehla simpan. Oh dear, that's a poorly made excuse. When your pay rises, trust me, your spending will too. Especially for those who's looking to the big M - marriage - soon. Believe me, if you don't train yourself now, it might be too late. (Well, unless gaji anda sekarang dah RM10,000, which if you did, kindly stop reading this now haha).

Personally I think the early stages of your career life is the best to start discplining yourself - because you've used to live humbly during student life (kalau dah pandu kereta mewah time study lagi, sorry again this doesn't apply to you), so it's just natural to keep your spending habit under the radar.

Not every Sale event is a must visit. Sometimes there's just deals you couldn't resist, but most of the times, the prices were super hiked, then lowered drastically, so 70% might be just 30%. Believe me, I've kept a careful watch on my favourite brand, the same shirt which I purchased at 40 bucks a few months before suddenly went 60% from the "original" price of "RM109" - are you freaking kidding me! Sometimes the best shopping is window shopping.

Not every movie is a must watch movie. Sometimes there's just movie-event you can't wait for the dvd - new sequels or whatever you cup of tea is. But don't make a habit of weekly ritual to cinema, sometimes just picking out a random movie for the sake or watching something. Rather, use the internet peopleee... (not that I'm condoning piracy - karang kena tangkap pulak). TV series are much better medium to be emotionally-invested where the story and character development played out much longer than movies ever allowed to.

I know of a person who constantly complain of insufficient salary but kereta tambah sport rim tambah dvd player gps and whatnot. You're barking at the wrong tree, dear. Overseas, graduates just drove the cheapest second-thirs-or-fourth-hand car. Here, I don't understand the trend where, bila start kerja terus keluar kereta baru, then bayar instalment almost half the salary. C'mon man... mudah.my tu Kancil starts at 6-7k je kot... your 3-4 months pay je paling kurang. (But my Kancil was "inherited" so lain cerita - LOL). Common answer: Tapi ada kereta baru berkilat2 takdelah malu nak tunjuk kawan2. Ladies and gentleman, presenting: biar papa asal bergaya.

Freelancing. I know most of us got some extra skills outside of our daily job scope (or maybe the same, doesn't matter). Why not utilize it for some hard cash. I know, penat, no time yadda2 but excuses can only bring you so far. Whether it's baking, cooking, sewing, make-up, photographing, graphic designing, CAD drafting, 3D visualizing, tutoring or whatever - well, except that bloody scamming MLM.

Investing. OK now you've save some money - what to do with it. Well, except enrolling yourself to that bloody scamming MLM again, the possibilities are endless - Unit trust (but I heard ASB is haram ady, dunno about that), Gold saving, or for the more advanced, Forex trading, IPO trading (Bursa Malaysia), or if you really have saved so much - real estate + properties. Make sure your money works for you.

Wow, ni berangan kolumnis majalah ke? haha. Nevertheless, renung-renungkan.
Till then, bye.

Detox - Day 22

2011-06-18T18:37:00.002+08:00

Turun lagi 1kg. Yeeha. Keep up the streak!

Detox - Day 18

2011-06-14T23:09:00.001+08:00

Just got off the weightscale.

Did I just lost 2 kg? whoaaaaaaaaaa *fingers crossed*

Detox - Day 8

2011-06-04T12:43:00.002+08:00

After countless toilet visit this past week, I'm proud to stay strong to continue this still. In fact, with each toilet visit, you feel better and better. I begin to notice some minimal changes, or it might be just me wishing so hard kot haha. Abdominal pain is a daily routine but I'm getting used to it now. And this might be purely coincidental, but since I'm starting this thing, dah tak lalu tengok fast food. Like, even seeing the picture of Double Cheeseburer (which is my all time favourite) pun rasa muak. I guess it's a good thing. eh?

Will report several days from now, bye.

Detox - Day 3

2011-05-30T20:58:00.001+08:00

Holy mackerel this thing works.

Detox - Day 1

2011-05-28T18:12:00.002+08:00

Berani mati buat detox time2 tengah busy gila ni kan. Orang kata masa ni lah toilet akan menjadi sahabat karib. Katanya lah. Tapi oleh kerana hasil pemelantakan (bahasa baru) Seoul Garden macam nak rak masih belum keluar setelah 3 hari (add that to all the craps I've been eating yesterday) made me realize my body is in need of some serious overhauling. Jadi masa tengah grocery shopping tadi terbeli something. Haha. Kita tengok apa yang akan terjadi nanti.

Hence, Day 1 starts today. Oops I felt some bowel movements already. Wow this works la. Or maybe kebetulan. Or placebo effect. Haha.

(lari ke toilet. byeee)

One Less Bell to Answer

2011-04-11T23:32:00.004+08:00

One of the most unforgettable performance in Glee back during it's first season (when they actually had a valid plotlines rather than a bunch of mumbo jumbo mish mash right now). Tiap2 hari wajib dengar sekali at least hahaha.

Well, obviously I couldn't care less about the blog now. Bukan dapat duit pun (unless gigih bernuffnang bagai nak rak demi beberapa puluh ringgit setahun - lainlah kau HanisZalikha ke). Baiklah buat kerja betul-betul yang dapat duit betul-betul haha. Alhamdulillah rezeki tak pernah putus. Syukur dipanjatkan. Nampaknya jalan yang diambil ni tak silap, insyaAllah. Cuma master lah kena beware sikit. Oh how lah baru kerja indoor dah kelam kabut, macam mana la ada sesetengah orang baru zaman sekolah dah kena tolong parents jaga kedai la, jual goreng pisang la. Ya ampun penat ok. Respect sama diorang.

Oleh kerana blog ni tak private dan sekarang ramai dah pandai search sana sini, maka dah tak sesuai jadikan blog ni perantara, medium meluah perasaan, kutuk orang dan sebagainya. Tambah-tambah lagi meroyan dalam ni, siapa yang kenal kau tulis pasal apa? Nak komen pun xtau nak komen apa selain "bersabarlah... dugaan hidup" "Memanglah kat mana-mana pun ada manusia macam tu" dan komen-komen generic yang lain. Baiklah conference session berjemaah dalam BBM je lagi heaven hahahahaha. Ada berita baru je berdering-deringlah BB masing-masing (walaupun duduk dekat-dekat je), "WEHH ADA HOT STORY!!" hahahahahha

OKlah, kurangkan kontroversi, tingkatkan prestasi! Assalamualaikum.

(p/s: kelakar tengok kawan-kawan yang dah get married then mulalah keluar album-album honeymoon pose2 tepi kolam renang, tepi balcony, dalam bilik hotel etc. I thought that's private, people? Well, sharing is caring kot. haha. Ada tu siap ada gambar katil pastu caption "tempat buat anak!" dengan bangganya. Aduhai orang zaman sekarang ni.....)

Kasihan

2011-02-12T19:11:00.004+08:00

Kadang-kadang apa yg ditulis di Facebook tu bukan saja menceritakan tentang kisah hidup dan pengalaman seseorang tu, tapi turut mencerminkan peribadi, nilai humor, reti ke tak berbahasa (melayu atau inggeris - kadang2 english tak fasih tapi TETAP nak speaking dalam status kan.. lalu munculla ayat2 kelakar seperti "no heart feeling" dan sebagainya haha)

Kalau nak baca tentang klasifikasi status2 ni boleh baca di banyak blog lain. Status yang seminit sekali seperti "nak pergi kedai", "dah sampai kedai, nak beli apa ya?", "hmm beli lah coklat" and what-eff-ever-do-i-effing-care status macam tu. Ada status taraf novelis seperti "oh ku kesepian tanpanya", "ini semua salahku, ohh sayang", "cukup sampai di sini saja!" dan status yang sewaktu dengannya. Ada juga yang berangan jadi editor fan page suara keadilan atau harakah dengan status seperti "kerajaan makan duit rakyat!!!" seolah-seolah barisan kabinet tu semua dalam friendlist dia tengah baca sangat lah tu. Tak lupa juga ada yang ahli MLM tegar yang tak habis-habis dengan "I lost 430kg in a week! Want to know how? Join me!", "Diamond team leader Abu now drives Suzuki Swift and honeymooning in Hawaii with income no less than RM10k a month! Join us!" (really? kalau betul 10k takkan nak pakai Swift je kak). Pastu tak habis2 kata lost 5kg la apa la tapi bila post gambar TETAP montel. Apa kes? Haha.

Tak kisahlah apa yang diorang nak tulis kan. Kadang-kadang it's so gross and trashy, it's GOOD. Macam realiti TV jugak... ramai lagi penonton daripada rancangan-rancangan ilmiah dan berinformasi. Sekurang-kurangnya adalah bahan jenaka untuk kita ketawa tengok gelagat-gelagat mereka ni.

Tapi ada trend yang agak disturbing baru-baru ni, apabila ada status-status berbaur menunjuk-nunjuk tapi cuba berselindung atas perkara lain. Contohnya macam "mentang-mentang aku pakai kereta besar, terus kau nak naikkan harga kan", atau "malam ni bayar RM4000. esok kena bayar lump sum..argh!" atau "malasnya nak masak hari ni, tapi kalau tak masak nanti tak bergunala periuk 5k aku (contoh)". OK first of all, MOTIF??? Nak show off, show off la betul2. Postlah gambar periuk tu, tulislah "walaupun 5k tapi berbaloi". Postlah gambar kereta tu satu album pun dan tulislah "Syukur akhirnya dapat jugak memiliki sebuah". I know kadang-kadang bila kita berjaya beli something tu, rasa meluap-luap di dada nak hebahkan pada semua orang je kannn... but seriously, are you that dumb into thinking that we're that dumb not to catch your not-so-subtle subtlety?

Kasihan kan orang camni... haha

Tense and Relief

2011-02-03T16:03:00.004+08:00

It's common sense to say that the bigger the tense you have about something, the bigger the relief you'll get when it's done. It's just rewarding to be in a place when people appreciate the things you do, even if it's actually a standard for you (standard la sangat kan, kadang2 nak naik rooftop jerit jugak haha), but I think I thought myself well over the years not to burst under the the most critical of situation. Because once you pop, your credibility will too, and goodbye Mr. Reliable, no more job for you. Cheers! *clink* (sparkling juice je ni ok haha)

Dealing with people is not always easy, let me be the first to admit that. Especially when you have a diverse personality of human traits to deal with. But I'll say charm and smile take you a long way in this business (even though your facebook friends have to deal with all your true feelings via your non-stop status stream haha).

So long, welcome February!

Letter to God

2011-01-01T12:07:00.003+08:00

(my 2010 letter, click here)

Dear God, I asked for 2010 to be easier, and thank You, it was. In fact it was terrific at many level. Archustic was a resounding success. My experience and portfolio grew exponentially. You gave my dream career a high kick-off, and I started for my Masters. I got new notebook and new gadgets. And sometimes You gave me things I always wanted but in totally different situation, and that's just - divine. How can this humble man ask for more.

Things are seemingly looking better on 2011 horizon. You gave me new environment and new people to adapt with, and I'll try my very best to prove that it's all worth it.

Of Earning and Saving

2010-12-15T20:12:00.003+08:00

For me, it's not about how much you earn, but how much you save.

Ukurlah baju di badan sendiri.

Leap of Faith

2010-12-10T21:20:00.005+08:00

"i don't know what's in store for the future, but so far, it's been a worthy leap of faith :)"

and no, the person in the picture is not me. hehe.
matila minggu depan present master! pengsan.

Bleyh??

2010-12-08T21:59:00.002+08:00

Tak habis lagi cerita tentang client yg nak out-of-the-box tapi hakikatnya jumud! (pinjam ayat Dr. Azimin, by the way yang keluar full page The Star semalam then terus visitor blog+website dia melonjak ala2 Uncle Seekers haha)

OK back to story,
"Adian, aku dah jumpa **** tadi, dia kata 3 gambar orang tu tak nak"
"Saya ganti dengan haiwan, boleh?" (nada sangat sarcastic di situ)

Tension melayan agensi kerajaan ni. Taste makcik-makcik sangat. Kalau aku kerja RTM tu rasanya boleh bunuh diri kot tengok hasil kerja sendiri. haha

OK sekian. Nak sambung tulis tesis master ni (cewah ayat tak nak kalah kan) haha

Life's a Candy and the Sun's a Ball of Butter

2010-11-25T19:12:00.002+08:00

I heart my life now.
Though it might be hard for some people to endow.

Because life is about sacrifices.
I tried to please everybody but life is made up of choices.

Man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.
As long as he stay true.

God, I owe YOU.
Alhamdulillah.

Just Another Day...

2010-11-22T18:22:00.002+08:00

- Klien ni kata dia nak something out of the box. Bukan macam typical government punya design.
- Wow, OK. Bagusla

(bagi design)

- Ok aku dah tunjuk klien. Ada beberapa pertukaran.
(bla bla bla... bla bla bla)
- Are you kidding me? This is SOOO government!!!
(pengsan)

Moral (macam buku cerita kanak-kanak plak): If you can't accept change, don't sing about it.

Banyak Kerja, Tapi...

2010-11-17T16:40:00.005+08:00

Well, first and foremost, Selamat Hari Raya Aidiladha for all Muslims.

Just finished compiling my ongoing to-do list and BOY! Right now berhutang 10 kerja dengan 7 different person/parties! (nasib baik berhutang kerja, bukan berhutang duit hoho. hutang kerja at least nanti adalah sikit2 pulangannya insyaAllah). Then itu belum kira tesis master's lagi! *ok pengsan jap*

Dulu kata won't mind working doing what I love kan. Hamik ko sekarang bertimbun-timbun haha. Love la sangat kan! Sila gelakkan diri sendiri. Buat kerja dahla perfectionist (which is the professional way of saying "lambat macam kura-kura" hehe) Well, I took the risks myself. Either you love it or despise it, sekarang kena lebih bijak bahagikan masa.

Last week's event in Port Dickson was refreshing to say the least, it's fun knowing people and making new friends, sementelah old friends semakin jauh akan meninggalkan kita (talking about the soon to be "released" 5th year students). I have to say - God, you really know what you're doing. Everything is not a coincidence, your timing is impeccable. I just play along what's been written for my life... which I hope will lead to somewhere... positive. InsyaAllah.

I work in a kinda.. bizarre way. My best ideas always came out on the last hours/minutes under pressure. Orang kata, makin diperah, makin pekat susunya. (ada ke orang kata? why does it sounds dirty?) OKlah, makin diperah, makin pekat hasilnya. Fine. So that's one of the theories lah. This has happened numerous times, the most recent being last Monday, when I was asked to propose a half-page advertisement in a magazine. I was given the weekend before to come out with that idea, but nothing comes to fruition apart from some corny designs (I call it "just in case" designs). I was ready to disappoint the "client" that Monday morning when suddenly my hands were directed to an image stock folder that I've browsed over and over again days before and instinctively clicked on one of the picture. Before I knew it, one thing leads to another and voila - a complete, 5 minute job! And the "client" loves it. JUST. LIKE. THAT. One of those days which is the reason I don't make gun charts, plannings or whatever - because I know in that in the end, there's 99% chance that I won't be able to follow them myself.

So let's crank up some lounge music, have a nice cup of coffee, and start working.

Because HE Knows Better

2010-11-05T10:22:00.002+08:00

I don't know where my decision will take me to, but I surely hope it's somewhere better.

So far, so good.

Word, Tan Sri

2010-11-02T11:49:00.005+08:00

- Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

If you think by constructing roads, schools, public amenities dan segala kebajikan rakyat yang kau laung-laungkan tu, PNB akan untung dan ASB, ASW, AS2020 dan segala pelaburan kau akan dapat dividen tinggi, kau memang delusional.

Yeay!

2010-10-31T19:27:00.001+08:00

Berambus pun. And I'm not talking about cockroaches.

Hundreds, Millions, Billions Fiasco

2010-10-23T21:32:00.005+08:00

I sympathize with those so-called "rebels", "provokers", "people-activists" or "green champions" who got so extremely vocal over their disapproval against the recently announced 100 storey tower, namely Warisan Merdeka (I surely hope this is just a temporary name), made during the 2011 Budget speech last week.

And those delusional chaps took this matter online, with their fantasy petition page, 1M Malaysians Reject 100-storey Mega Tower in Facebook, which I have absolutely no idea what for. As if the government cared about these stupid groups. Haha. I noticed this as there's 12 of my friends joined it as well. I received some heated arguments when I cynically provoked these people in my status. OK I got it, I'm the minorities now. Anyway, that's not my point. So, why the mega fuss about this mega tower?

RM 5 billion. This is the estimated cost of the constructing the tower.

99% of them questioned the rational behind this glorified waste, big elephant or whatever they name it, all while some of the rakyat in certain rural areas are left without basic necessities of water and electricity, and all sorts of weep-inducing hardship-filled stories. Or so they claim.

I wonder, didn't they know that this so-called mega tower WILL NOT be using their money, and instead had been planned ages ago by PNB using their profits? PNB is handling RM140 billion worth of funds and shares in 300 companies and entities. Same case as Telekom who built their own pucuk rebung tower early this decade.

I was left puzzled as to why these morons buzzing crazily as if they were forced to fork out their savings to pay for this tower! Some even ask the government to divide the 5 bil to all Malaysians (amounted to RM100 something/person) so they can use it for better purpose. Like, WTF??? Tolonglah... janganlah perasan duit korang tu.. tak malu betullah. hahaha

If they're not using our money, then why PM announced it in the Budget? Wasn't the budget supposed to tell how will government spend our hard-earned tax money? - these people might say

OK I admit that PM has done a kind of unforeseen mistake by announcing this in the budget. Wrong place, period. But what he has done is simply sharing the news (good news, as he might think) with all Malaysians who's been following the speech (Budget speech is kinda equivalent to US' SuperBowl where all working Malaysians will drop everything to listen/watch for any good news they might benefit from. I remember my dad used to take half-day leave just to come home and sat in front of TV to watch them). Come on people, something TALLER than the Twin Towers which have been the symbol of Modern Malaysia for over a decade, of course this is good news! - that might be what the PM was thinking while writing the speech. Unbeknown to him, some hundred thousands of his rakyat are stupid hobos and naive enough to believe whatever their Facebook friends says.

This is the excerpt of his speech:
"Di sudut yang lain, kita berasa sungguh berbangga, bahawa, ke mana sahaja kita pergi, semua orang mengetahui tentang Menara Berkembar Petronas yang menjadi ikon negara. Ia merupakan satu monumen kepada semangat Malaysia Boleh. Hakikatnya, kekuatan negara adalah adunan dan bauran sejarah kelmarin dan harapan hari esok. Jadi, sebagai satu lagi mercu tanda kebanggaan negara menjelang 2020, Permodalan Nasional Berhad akan mula membangunkan projek bersepadu yang dinamakan Warisan Merdeka. Ia akan mengekalkan Stadium Merdeka, Stadium Negara dan pembinaan sebuah menara 100 tingkat yang tertinggi di Malaysia. Keseluruhan projek ini bernilai 5 bilion ringgit, di mana, menaranya dijangka akan siap pada tahun 2015."
- Ada dia kata guna peruntukan RMK-10 ke apa? Ada?

Battle Rooom

2010-10-03T01:58:00.006+08:00

-Qute of the day. Puas hati.

Tak sefahaman lagi dengan teman sebilik. Dah berapa kali ~~bergaduh~~ tak sefahaman dengan berapa ramai teman sebilik pun tak tahulah nak kira. Aku bukan jenis suka cari pasal, suka cari gaduh. Apatah lagi kalau dengan orang yang duduk sangat dekat dengan kita. Lagi menyusahkan bila nak balik bilik pun rasa malas je nak berdepan dengan dia, sedangkan bilik tu kita dah bayar, kita berhak.

Keluar topik seketika. Dari dulu lagi, prinsip aku senang. Kalau aku tak berkenan dengan orang tu, senang je, senjata utama aku ialah silent treatment. Silent treatment tu bukanlah senjata untuk bergaduh, cuma tanda "aku dah give up dengan kau. malas nak cakap lagi" saja. Kalau orang yang kena silent treatment tu nak tanya apa-apa dengan aku, silakan. Tapi A dijawab A, B dijawab B. Tak adalah sampai aku terjerit memaki hamun dekat dia.

Bagi aku silent treatment ni tak salah, ini bukan memutuskan silaturrahim. Cuma memutuskan percakapan saja. Haha. Sebab bila aku rasa ada perangai orang tu yang tak kena pada pandangan aku, aku just disconnect dengan dia, semudah kita disconnect wifi di laptop. Nak pergi bersyarah dekat dia, cuba membetulkan apa yang aku nampak tak betul tu, aku ni siapa? Kalau ibu bapa orang tu sendiri pun tak betulkan perangai anak dia (atau sebenarnya bapa borek anak rintik), dia tengah nak dengar sangatlah ceramah aku tu kan. Haha.

Bagi aku silent treatment lebih bagus daripada berlakon baik, hipokrit depan orang tu, tapi belakang, mengumpat juga. Bukankah lebih baik bersikap jujur, tanda kita tak setuju dengan sikap orang itu. Tapi sikap yang mana, pandai-pandailah orang tu cari sendiri, aku bukan jenis nak berdrama ajak dia jalan tepi tasik seraya berkata "X, sebagai kawan kau, aku rasa aku perlu cakap ni, walaupun pahit untuk ditelan, ini untuk kebaikan kau juga..." oh, tolonglah! Bila orang tanya "kenapa kau gaduh dengan dia?" (soalan yang salah kerana silent treatment bukan bergaduh) atau "apa salah aku?", seboleh-bolehnya aku akan gelak-gelak, cuba mengelak jawab ataupun kalau jawab pun, tak pernah tepat.

Berbalik kepada isu teman sebilik. Aku tak pernah pergi rumah dia maka aku tak tahu macam mana keadaan dia dibesarkan, tapi susahkah kalau menjadi orang terurus (sikit pun jadilah). Kerja dah berpangkat, keluar bekerja bukan main segak bergaya berblazer bagai, tapi dalam bilik serupa tahap orang fakir miskin dalam Bersamamu tu. Salahkah kalau buku-buku diletak setempat? Matikah kalau surat khabar diletak setempat? Hilang jantankah kalau bila aku balik bilik, tak berbau baju kotor? Bila kawan datang, reti pula malu kan, "biasalah bilik bujang." Alasan jenis apa tu?? Hello, what decade are you living in? 70s?

Dulu pun pernah dapat teman sebilik yang pengotor. Tapi sekurang-kurangnya dia perangai kotor, personaliti pun buruk. Pendek kata buruk luar dalam, maka tak hairanlah. Tapi yang ini lain. Budak surau. Baca buku motivasi, Tidur bertasbih. Tapi kebersihan? SEDIH!!! Aku tak hiraulah kau pergi surau setiap hari. Aku tak hairanlah kau baca buku-buku motivasi. Aku tak pandanglah kau tidur tasbih di tangan, kalau katil pun bercadarkan pakaian seminggu! Apa guna tidur bertasbih, kalau bilik macam penagih. Bukankah kebersihan tu pun separuh daripada iman juga. Aku basuh baju seminggu atau dua minggu sekali. Suka sekaligus konsepnya. Dia pula basuh baju dua hari sekali, tapi baju berlonggok macam dua bulan tak berbasuh. Mandi sudahlah sejam (serius ini bukan aggrandizement, memang SEJAM. tak tahulah apa yang dia buat dalam toilet tu). Bila balik bilik, macam orang baru balik bersawah, lantai bilik kami ibarat paya, melekit-lekit dengan air dari baldi, dengan air menitik dari tuala basah (dia mandi dengan tuala sekali rasanya). Pendek kata, kalau bilik kami ditinggalkan dengan kipas bertutup (nak buka tingkap bahaya sebab tingkat bawah sekali), memang ibarat BUKIT LARUT lah jadinya (Kalau tak faham jenaka ini, Bukit Larut merupakan kawasan paling lembap di Malaysia dengan taburan hujan paling tinggi).

Beberapa minggu lepas, perasanlah akan kehadiran lipas yang membimbangkan. Rasanya bilik-bilik sebelum ni jarang ada lipas (ada orang kata lipas suka tempat lembap, so you do the math lah). Maka, dengan inisiatif sendiri pergilah beli ubat gegat a.k.a. naftalena dan melemparkan beberapa biji dalam almari dan laci SENDIRI. (walaupun mungkin binatang tu datang dari tempat ORANG ITU tapi lantaklah kau nak tidur dengan lipas ke, tikus ke.) Teruslah bilik tu berbau segar sikit (bolehlah juga hilangkan bau sekali, dalam hati berkata).

Sekali esok tu dapat SMS berupa separa tension dari dia, kononnya bau ubat gegat tu sangat kuat sampai "tak boleh tidur". Dan dia dah buang satu ubat gegat yang diletak atas meja (dalam laci/almari mestilah tak berani buang kan). Fine. Kesian juga kau tersiksa sedangkan aku dengan seronoknya tidur di studio banglo beraircond semua tu. Bila balik bilik pagi tu, eh, bau kuat apa bendanya, biasa je! Over lah budak ni! Tapi malas nak cakap apa.

Malam tu dapat SMS lagi. Berbunyi serupa, "Kau ada letak ubat gegat lagi ke? Aku cari tapi tak jumpa. Aku tak tahan lah, aku balik bilik nak rehat, ini bukan lipas je mati, manusia pun mati jugak!" Wah, kau boleh bersyarah dekat aku baik punya kan, sedangkan bau baju kotor kau tu selama ni aku tak pernah tergamak nak warning, tak nak malukan kau, dengan harapan kau terasa sendiri. Ubat gegat tu kau ingat aku letak sengaja nak kenakan kau ke? Sengaja nak sesakkan nafas kau?

Apa yang terjadi selepas tu tak perlulah dihuraikan panjang lebar, cukuplah sekadar dinyatakan dialog di atas sekali itu tersembur keluar. Akhirnya dia kata dia akan pindah keluar bulan depan.

Alhamdulillah.

Sinari Lebaran

2010-09-10T14:17:00.002+08:00

"Sinari lebaran dengan menorah" itu satu-satunya sms raya yang aku hantar tahun ni, itupun kerana membalas sms Gedik. Joke menorah itu adalah inside joke yang kami-kami saja fahami hahaha.

Seperti biasa, tahun ni raya biasa saja, mood excited beraya dah hilang sejak aku tamat zaman kanak-kanak. Benarlah orang-orang tua kata "raya ni untuk budak-budak je", merujuk pada anak-anak kecil mereka. Balik kampung (sekarang datuk nenek dah tak ada maka beraya di rumah je), pergi beraya dari rumah ke rumah (sekarang kalau di taman perumahan takde orang yang nak buka pintu dah kot rasanya), berkejar-kerjaran satu rumah kampung dengan sepupu sepapat-adakah ini kata ganda yang benar? (sekarang kalau jumpa sengih-sengih gitu dan bingkas duduk di satu sudut sambil berhubungan dengan gajet masing-masing), program raya di TV (sekarang layan TV series US je - tudia munafiq sangat!), sekadar menyatakan beberapa contoh "kemanisan" raya yang telah hilang. Masa jadi student dulu adalah jugak semangat beraya bersama di studio dan sebagainya, but then sekarang semua tinggal kenangan jelah haha.

Tak tahulah macam mana sesetengah orang dah berumur pun sambutan hari raya gilang gemilang macam baru lepas menang loteri. Shopping raya haritu pun saat-saat akhir (itupun sebab takut kena marah sebab pakai baju yang sama). Mungkin umur macam ni memang stage rebel tak pasal-pasal kot. (Yeke? tapi kawan-kawan lain bukan main lagi tawaf shopping complex tiap2 hujung minggu masa bulan puasa haritu).

Mungkin kena tunggu bekeluarga, ada rumah sendiri, baru semangat raya tu muncul semula kot. Buat masa sekarang, jom tengok Iron Man 2 baru download. haha.

I'm trying to be as subtle as possible...

2010-09-06T03:05:00.003+08:00

That's my stand. Comments are closed this time.

LOL!

2010-09-01T01:32:00.003+08:00

I can't wait to share this. OK, get this. So I entered a logo competition held by Pembangunan Francais a month ago for fun (before you got excited, no I didn't win it lah! LOLs). It's calling for a logo to represent Malaysian Franchising companies, has to be uniquely Malaysian so on and so forth. It's a bit tricky to actually representing franchise industry and Malaysia in several strokes, but whatever. So I never heard anything back from them, which means no luck for me-lah. It's ok, which only makes me all excited to see which logo is chosen to win the RM 10K bonanza - until when I see it just now.

I forgot this is Malaysian government. Silly me.

I Hate to Say This, But...

2010-08-31T21:27:00.004+08:00

... I hate the word iftar. There, I said it. Like, seriously. So sue me! My discomfort on iftar might be on par with w00t(you know, today's expression of happiness - "can't wait for shopping today! woot!" like WTF?!), jew, kew, kewl, aweks, balaks and other trashy-urban slangs. (Seriously, reading teenagers SMS nowadays freaks me out, it's like some alien alphanumeric language from outer space!) OK back to the topic, it's just, come on! We've been accustomed to buka puasa since like, forever! It's one of Malay words that have no English equivalent and you're more than happy to use it in English (or at least if you're translating it to English... fast-breaking, breaking-fast, or whatever the combination is). Hey, even McDonald's is using it in their ad.

Then suddenly a couple of years ago, this word suddenly appeared, originally from Malaysian students abroad who obviously got it from Middle Eastern students/community there and started to name their friendster/facebook album "Little iftar in Birmingham" yadda yadda or something. So, the next thing you know, local Malaysians pun terikut2 jugakla "iftar in Jalan Ampang", "just had a sumptuous iftar in Aminah's place!" "Nak ikut iftar sesama tak?". OK, it might exist in the Oxford Dictionary, but last time I checked, not Kamus Dewan.

I have to admit that it sounds beautiful, and more "glamorous" than buka puasa (ala-ala soiree and luncheon). But please, buka puasa is uniquely Malaysian. I'm already against the heavy English-ized Malays. Gedik might remember my outrage upon finding "antusias" in Kosmo a few years back - by the way, Kosmo "create" a lot of BM words, go buy yourself one tomorrow and chances that you'll find some strange words like "hidangan signatur restoran ini" or something. Their journalists shall be taught of their work's ramification to Bahasa Melayu - what if students used their (the journalists) "imaginary" words in PMR or SPM?

Bumi Perpatih

2010-08-03T08:32:00.003+08:00

Tajuk nak berangan buat liputan untuk Majalah 3 haha. Last week (Eh tukar bahasa dah. Bilingual la kononnya haha) I was on a 3-day short trip to Negeri Sembilan for our myKTours project (head up to our Langkawi version here, and by the way you can already purchase our Apple apps for your iPod touchs, iPhones and iPads here). Ok to cut to the chase, the trip was a great one, though at first I wasn't really sure what we're gonna find there (admit it, apart from Port Dickson and the "big black palace" called Seri Menanti, you barely know N9 for its tourism spots, especially when it's being sandwitched between two giants of Malaysian tourism - Lembah Klang and Malacca. But I was proven wrong - and happily so - there's definitely nice locations - including those we took for granted maybe - kampung life may not be as enticing for you urban kids (me included haha), but I can surely see those mat sallehs oohed and aahed at the makings of gula enau (a gula nira variation) just as we "always dream" of seeing Europeans producing those expensive cheese in Swiss countryside.

OK, enough ramblings. You can visit my little picture travelogue here. Till then, adios!

Semalam yang Kelakar

2010-07-08T16:01:00.002+08:00

Semalam dah start dapat tugas mencurah-curah untuk projek ___. Makanya untuk stage ini, kena scan buku dan gambar yang cukup banyak ~~sekali~~ (kesalahan tatabahasa: tidak boleh ada dua kata penguat bersifat paling dalam satu ayat seperti sangat, sekali, paling). Tak boleh jadi ni, scanner Jabatan mana boleh guna sampai malam. Maka berkira-kira samada nak ke Mines atau Alamanda. Alamanda lebih dekat, ada Carrefour mesti ada jual scanner. Oops idea nakal mula muncul. Knight and Day belum tonton lagi, hari Rabu tiket murah. Jeng jeng... check website. Oh tidak, pukul 12.30 malam tayangan berikutnya di Alamanda. Tengok Mines pula, ada 8.30 malam. Hmm.. book je dulu, kalau tersampai situ, boleh tengok terus. Tapi niat memang nak pergi ke Alamanda je sebenarnya.

To cut the story short, setengah jam lepas tu sampailah ke Alamanda. Masuk Carrefour, apakah? tak ada scanner! Yang ada pun printer-scanner-copier 3 in 1 tu. Oh damnasi sungguh! Teringat di tepi cinema tu ada sebuah kedai IT. OK Canon LIDE Scanner 200, harga? RM269? Apakah? Sama je kalau beli 3 in 1 tadi. Harga Alamanda memang mahal mungkin. Oh tidak, kena ke Mines juga lah. Dah membazir masa dan petrol. Damnasi.

Sudahlah tiada direct link ke Alamanda ke Mines (ataupun aku yang tak tahu), kenalah patah balik ke Bangi dan masuk LDP ke Mines. La, tak sesak pun. Mati-matilah ingatkan tadi sesak pekerja pulang ke rumah. Sampai depan stesen komuter Serdang (yang nak naik susur bertingkat tu), oops tersalah masuk, ingatkan depan lagi, rupanya dah termasuk ke LITRAK. Oh oh oh. Sedih seketika. U-turn memang tak ada lah. Kenalah harung juga. Melayang percuma je tol RM1.30 X 2 tak pasal-pasal. Haha. Lepas tu bila dah sampai balik ke susur masuk ke Mines dari hala bertentangan tu, panjang gila kereta beratur. Membazir lagi setengah jam.

Sampai pun akhirnya ke Mines. Sebelum masuk ke parking tu baru sedar kena bayar RM1 dulu, oh damnasi lagi! Duit belum withdraw, tadi ada beberapa keping RM1 dah habis bayar tol (yang silap tadi), patah balik 20 meter sebelum sampai ke palang masuk tu, keluar balik menghala ke Balakong cari stesen minyak, keluarkan duit, dan kena U-turn jauh sekali lagi.

Sampai semula ke Mines. 8.30 dah pun. Oh, nasib baik ada tayangan Knight and Day 10.30 malam. (masa beli tu kakak tu tanya "dua orang?", haha "tak, sorang je") Hehe. Maka sempat pusing-pusing sampai Mines tutup, kemudian baru masuk panggung. Pergi ke IT Hypermart, oh tidak tidak, kenapa semua harga scanner 200 ke atas? Bukanlah nak murah sangat, cuma rasanya masa waktu ambil degree dulu, harga semua 100 lebih je? Kenapa waktu harga barang komputer lain makin menurun, harga scanner makin naik? Sebelum datang tadi, tengok di Mudah.my siap ada orang jual RM75 (macam kembar punya tu dulu), tak tahulah model baru ni apa yang bagusnya, scan bukan kualiti sama je ke? (Tak tahulah mungkin boleh scan sehingga zoom 100 kali pun tak pixelated mungkin)

OK, maka tak jadi beli. Lalu masuk ke FOS, Reject Shop dan sebagainya. Baik beli baju. haha. Tapi harga takla turun mana meskipun Mega Sale dah bermula Ahad lepas. Promosi beli satu, next purchase 20% off dan seumpanya saja. Lepas beli-beli dan pusing-pusing, makan di KFC dan tunggu sampai 10.30. Knight and Day best dowh!

Tak pernah aku bercerita detail macam ni dalam blog, mungkin sebab dah tak ada orang kat UKM ni untuk diceritakan. Kesimpulannya, kehidupan tanpa orang di sekeliling ambil masa untuk disesuaikan, namun masih boleh dinikmati.

Nota kaki: Archustic - Pre, During, Post bahagian kedua akan ditulis kelak. Masih malas.

Archustic: Pre, During, Post (Part 1)

2010-06-20T17:13:00.009+08:00

Back in June 2006, when my batch was finishing our second semester (first year), we went to UTM for this "architectural workshop". Themed Olympiarch that year, we had so much fun that somewehere deeply inside myself I said "We HAVE to organize this event" (like WTF? baru first year dah berangan nak buat this mother-freaking besar punya event) Haha. Little did anyone know at that time, God had His own plan for us...

When Rumi (UiTM Shah Alam, 2009) ended, there was this joke among us that we're up for next year's (2010) workshop. Yes, joke. But actually it's our way of hinting our ambition that we're actually WANT it. You see, 2010 is the last year for many of my batch here - and like me, they had the very same idea back in 2006, to actually ORGANIZE this event. So it's really a now-or-never situation for us. When we candidly push the idea to one of our lecturer during Rumi, "dengar cerita next year kita kena host" (it's pure lie, nobody heard anything it's just US) , he quickly laughed "haha no, you all tak cukup ramai". We laughed back, but inside, nobody can see our burning desire flaming hotter than ever.

I don't remember the actual timeline, but somewhere after the PAM liaison meeting ended during Rumi and another PAM meeting in PAM HQ in Kuala Lumpur, we were confirmed to be the host for 22nd Architectural Workshop 2010, after UTM kindly gave way to us (although they're already started discussing the theme at that time, considering that it is their turn to host). I still remember Beh said to me "OMG, kita host next year!" when the dream started to feel real - we'll host the workshop.

OK I found in Facebook, it's June 29

Now that it is confirmed, we HAVE to get help. There's no way we can do this alone, dengan drama budak certain2 batch ni lagi. So we shopped around the idea of co-hosting (just like UTM did with Limkokwing in 2006) to some colleges and we received answers from Twintech first, then Taylor's - both of whom we had no inside connection, and no previous engagements with. Well, to keep long story short, so off the three stooges go from there on....

Lots of paperworks and meeting with UKM's countless departments (PPP, JPPel, Treasury Dept, Transportation Dept, Pusat Kebudayaan, Wisma Aman, UPP - yes, I'm copying this from our booklet), the planning slowly took place, at the same time meetings with Twintech and Taylor's were held both in reality and virtually - Facebook, greatest invention after lightbulb - to confirm things after things. Now, about the theme. Where did the word "Archustic" first came out from? Here's the answer

July 1, by Dayah

We immediately 'clicked' with that theme, although some people had problems settling for that simple (yet meaningful) theme. But for us, it is time for them to enjoy themselves, to keep the mood light and not crazy-brainstorm-deep theme yang sounds so gempak but in the end pengisian: NONE. Participant felt cheated and organizer kena kutuk. So, archustic it is!

Only after we settles on the theme, baru the whole jentera mula bergerak. Paperworks, sponsorship proposals, and all those official stuffs, and the funner part - logo, mascot, tshirt and so on. There's too many logo proposals to lay down here, but at last we settled with the quasi-vinyl theme (which I had doubt of), so I broke it down into two, icon (the vinyl/"A"/"C"/whatever it is) and typography (Archustic). To pick the colour alone, we had some heated discussions on whether to stick to UKM official colour, turquoise blue or more heated colour like yellow or red. After we finally agreed on blue, then at the last minute ada pulak request dari _____ to change archustic to archustiK, allegedly to sound more Malay-like akustik, which I assumed he knew nothing about the where the arch- originate from. We fight this final battle, in which we won. hahaaha

August 27, Do you still remember?

So then, next stop: Trial Camp. We felt that it is vital to have a trial run for our module - which is the main core of our activity in the workshop. Thus, from Dec 4-13, we invited Twintech and Taylor's together to conduct our mock-event. From there, we detected several key weakness of the ice breaking and main module, allowing us to re-evaluate, re-configure and re-plan.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

Five and Fading

2010-05-11T22:32:00.004+08:00

Yes, My Life as a Me is 5 years old on 26th April ago and even I didn't notice. Come on, "wah, ini entryku yang ke 100 tahun ni!" is wayy out of my league. Truth is, my updates is now closer to none even though I have so much to say but so little time. Cliche is it?

By the way, I got myself a new notebook (finally!) and my hours of wandering and circling with brochures full in my hands during the PC Fair in KLCC last month definitely paid off; this is my most worthy purchase so far. 4 gigs RAM, 1 gig graphics, 500GB (yay for a download freak), windows 7 (thank God I skipped the ever-problematic Vista), I can't ask for more with this kind of budget. And the best thing, it's COOL!!!!!! I mean, temperature-ly speaking. I really mean it! Goodbye frying-pan palm rest!

One downside though, the speaker's kind of so-so despite the Altec Lansing SRS Premium Sound yadda yadda printed on it. Maybe due to the placement of the speakers, which is forefront (under palm rest) and facing down, so the sound kinda died a little. But when you plug in external speaker / earphone, it does wonders. I love the SRS sound effect ie. bathroom echo, live arena etc. feature on it, the same one that my old Creative Zen had.

I've been fortunate enough to stumble across an opportunity to design printed media package for Hari Harta Intelek Negara last 2 weeks or so, and to put it mildly; again, mildly - HARROWING. I don't want to bore you with gory behind-the-scene details, but now I know why government graphic design sucks. Luckily after art-whoring myself for about 2 weeks, I managed to retain not much, but a little bit of creative control over the end product. Sekurang-kurangnya dapatlah tengok kerja sendiri dalam Buletin Utama & Melodi.

Oklah, till next time, ciao!

Brave New World

2010-04-15T02:19:00.003+08:00

OK I don't know how relevant is this blog to me anymore. Or at least, currently. Really got no time to update this and that, I wish I could just automatically stream my Facebook status into updates. Because my status update is going like 10 per day.

Well, life has taken a new path. My RA contract ended last month and this month is my mini leap of faith, looking if I could sustain my life with this new world I just stepped my feet into. Alhamdulillah rezeki masih murah. Thank You God for easing my way in this short, transitory world years after years, despite my frequent slip-ups. Please don't give up on me.

This blog's thin layer of transparency forces me to vague things up, sorry bout that. PC Fair's is on this weekend. My 4-year-old notebook with several lines on its screen (LCD's equivalent to grey hairs) crying for a replacement. Should I keep waiting, or just rip this thing off? Hmm...

Have a nice day.

Al-Fatihah: Din Beramboi

2010-04-02T01:47:00.005+08:00

Who would ever saw this coming? Din Beramboi (real name Mior Ahmad Fuad Mior Badri) passed away several hours ago (12.30am) after a 3-day battle with dengue shock syndrome. Din, originally a cartoonist ("Din Beramboi" was his cartoon alter ego in Ujang magazines) saw his career took a huge spike since last year when he took over the helm at Riuh Pagi ERA with Aznil Nawawi (which I personally LOVED), where his unique sense of humour ("lawak merapu" as he categorized it himself) shines with two most popular segments in the morning show, Sawancara and Drama Sebabak. He also graced the TV audiences with last year's most viral TV show, Spontan, turning him into a respectable comedian known by all ages and races. He's also preparing to star in Afdlin Shauki's latest movie, Ah Long Bukit Beruntung, based on a popular sketch he made years ago on TV3's A-Ha.

To say that he's gone too soon is an understatement, his missing will be felt for a very long time especially to radio listeners who's used to listen to his jokes when preparing themselves every morning. I'm sure there will be a tribute of some sort in the upcoming Anugerah Bintang Popular Berita Harian where he's nominated for Most Popular Male Radio Presenter.

Something caught my attention while reading his official twitter page, among his last tweets, prophetically read:

Tanda2 ajal mula2 bahgian kaki berasa kebas2 kemudian bransur2 ke bhgian atas hingga ke nafas dan kluar selamanya.. Aku insaf! (March 14)

Sesape nk ganti aku tahun depan.. Dah x larat lagi nk buat klakar sbb dah berumur. Nak beribadah pula rasanya.. (March 6)

And quoting him from a recent interview,
"Saya rasa kini saya boleh berbangga dengan konsep lawak jenaka yang saya ketengahkan. Esok atau lusa kalau saya sudah meninggal dunia, mungkin orang akan ingat dengan konsep lawak yang sebegini.

"Saya akan teruskan karier saya ini selagi ada umur dan kesihatan yang baik. Ini kerana, urusan esok, lusa dan hari hari seterusnya adalah perkara-perkara ghaib yang hanya Allah sahaja yang tahu,"

Al-Fatihah

2009 Top 10 in Malaysian Cinemas

2010-03-05T01:29:00.007+08:00

I was planning to do this countdown as part of my year end review for 2009 but the website that I follows weirdly lack of data updates from Malaysian box office during that time. I just checked it and glad to find that it's back. So, here's what our loyal cinemagoers watched most last year.

Top 10 International Movies
1. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - RM26.45 mil
2. 2012 - RM25.29 mil
3. Avatar (including 2010 grosses) - RM24.21 mil
4. Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant - RM13.61 mil
5. Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins - RM13.09 mil
6. Fast and Furious - RM10.09 mil
7. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian - RM9.50 mil
8. G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra - RM9.44 mil
9. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs - RM8.17 mil
10. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - RM7.82 mil

Vampires is nowhere as hot as their assistants.
Hmm... this is one interesting list. There's something missing here - oh yes, the frenetic Twilight Saga: New Moon (which actually ended up in the close 11th place). So I guess the vampire craze had not really catch Malaysia. But if so, then how does the trashy Cirque du Freak - which I guess added "The Vampire's Assistant" on its title just for the sole purpose of milking (or blooding) the vampire's cow, took more than RM13 mil is just beyond my imagination.

I defeated BOTH Edward and Jacob, Bella. How 'bout that?

Franchises galore.
As expected, except for 2012, Avatar and the aforementioned Vampire, the rest of the list were made up of movies based either on existed franchise and sequels, pretty much the same trend we saw across the globe.

Top 10 Local Movies
1. Geng: Pengembaraan Bermula - RM6.20 mil
2. Jangan Pandang Belakang Congkak - RM6.09 mil
3. Bohsia: Jangan Pilih Jalan Hitam - RM4.14 mil
4. Papadom - RM3.44 mil
5. Jangan Tegur - RM3.42 mil
6. Santau - RM3.36 mil
7. Senario the Movie Episode 2: Beach Boys - RM3.10 mil
8. Sifu & Tongga - RM2.57 mil
9. Syurga Cinta - RM2.38 mil
10. Pisau Cukur - RM2.30 mil

Oh my Dior! People actually watch us! I thought urban comedies were out of touch with most Malaysians.

Cumulative grosses total top 10 local releases saw a 30% increase from RM29 mil in 2008 to RM37 mil last year, a good sign of local cinema appreciation from the moviegoers. But what they chose to appreciate is something else. While Geng: Pengembaraan Bermula's reign on top broke the producer's moral mentality that kids movie don't sell and hopefully will pave way for other quality 3D movies in the years to come, and Best Picture winner Papadom's comfortable top 5 placing, some quality productions were left in the dark - case in point, Yasmin Ahmad's Talentime RM0.42mil and her last, posthumous movie, Muallaf did even worse - RM 0.04mil despite months of tributes showering after her passing - considering even the I-can't-believe-people-will-line-up-to-see-that-trash Jalang scores better with RM0.68 mil. Shame on you, perverts!

PTPTN

2010-02-25T20:52:00.004+08:00

I suddenly discovered my PTPTN online PIN number while selongkaring my laptop folders last night and thought I'll give a peek at my penyata. Afterall, the printed version must likely be sent to my old house in Gombak, which I never been and might never will see. So what did I found?

Forgive me for being ignorant, but I never really know what's going on in the "wonderful" world of PTPTN. This might partly because I only receive just 1/4 of what most of my coursemates received during our study year (orang lain bila duit masuk boleh pergi shopping tapi hamba terus baki negatif sebab kena tolak dengan fees - cerita sedih seketika. haha) but the upside is I've to pay less now.

So, back to our main point - what did I found out? My oh my - I don't know that I've been charged RM11.17 every month for the past 14 months now! I never really knew the ongoing rate of PTPTN's interest (or kos pentadbiran as they claim), 1% or 3% or whatever. But looks like it's 1.7% in my case.

So now my outstanding balance is RM140 more than my loan. Hmm tak bestnya.

Happy

2010-02-16T15:13:00.003+08:00

No I'm not going to belt out the Leona Lewis song (btw how could the academy overlook "I See You" for oscar nominations this year? Tell me you're kidding). The past few weeks have been very kind to me, although a bit stressful due to a sudden project we got out of nowhere. But in the end everything fits together nicely. And still got a few website projects to be finished ASAP! PGM, ****** ****, Archustic (yg ni pro-bono haha). But at least I earn from doing what I love. Nothing beats that.

Got the first car registered under my name. But not for me lah, for my sis, but maybe I'll take it over somewhere in the middle of year. But if she knocked somebody up with the car, I'll be in trouble. Thanks Dad (though I think I still have to repay it in some form - I give you free website design can dad?). Just an old car, takpelah... janji cash. I'm not ready to make loans from the bank yet. Speaking about loan, I wonder what's the status of my PTPTN... my friends already got the surat arahan membayar, some already started paying them. I think my letters were sent to my old house lah. I can pay them in full now (dapat pun suku je kan hehe), but then... let's wait dulu lah. But I better do something now, or I might be barred from leaving the country karang. Habislah plan ke Bali nanti.

Oh I forgot, Happy Chinese New Year. And as a true Ugly Betty supporter from Day 1, I think I should make an honorable mention that the show won't be coming back next season. Hearing the penultimate podcast from Michael Urie and Becki Newton last week breaks my heart. I hope I can see all the cats in some capacity in new series next season.

Phew

2010-01-16T01:33:00.004+08:00

After several days bergelumang menyiapkan some works, I just pampered myself with a night of watching guilty pleasures, no not porn, but better than that, Parks and Recreation, Cougar Town and Ugly Betty. I know I was supposed to review all the series like I've said in the previous entries, but me myself pun tak terkejar nak tengok semua. Download, download, download; burn. DVD makin menggunung nak tengoknya entah bila. Luckily some of my old DVD customers return for another bunch of series, so at least dapatla cover beli dvd kosong.

Alhamdulillah X:Site has beginning to take off slowly but gradually. One thing I notice is that I love meeting clients. Yes, I'm a very introvert person (unless with my close friends, that is). Yes, bring me to parties and I can spend a whole night not talking to anyone (apa party-party? bajet 90210 ke) but my point is, I was not the one who gets the ball rolling. But if a situation requires me to speak, so help me God I will (which honestly surprises me as well haha).

For example, I just came back from a meeting earlier today at UPM, completely unprepared on what to say, but luckily managed to conduct some 20 minutes of impromptu presentation of our services and another 20 mins of Q&A with a panel of our clients. Cuma ada sorang pakcik ni bajet cam pandai sangat lah, like hello, bajet ko xseberapa ada hati nak demand itu ini. No money no talk lah.

Last weekend, X:Site held a mini retreat for us in PD. Chilling, discussing, gossiping (part ni paling best), karaoke-ing, seafood-ing. It's a fun 30 hour (supposedly 2 days but me, Alyaa, Iman and Izuan had to forego a day due to assistance in Archustic audition).

The 24th edition of Juara Lagu took place last weekend too, and I think Pergi suits as winner. But once dah pergi tengok live, nothing you saw on TV will match the experience.

OKlah tak nak mengarut panjang2. Daa...

Letter to God

2010-01-01T06:47:00.003+08:00

Dear God, 2009 has been a fantastic year. You graduated me. You gave me my first salary. I thought you're joking when you hand us responsibility for the upcoming workshop, but through that You made our studio relationship grew fonder. You inspire us with Susan Boyle and Obama. And there's Avatar too.

But outside our small little circle of life, You've been pretty challenging to the world. The economy went south. H1N1 suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The political world went crazy. There's more earthquake than ever before. Bombs went off more often. And You took away Michael and Yasmin too.

Should I even mentioned the last decade, with 9/11, Afghanistan, Iraq, tsunamis, Gaza and all?

Dear God, I know for whatever You gave us, You have reasons for it. But deep inside, I know You can see, that for every challenge You gave us, we held hands together bracing through it. For every challenge You gave us, You surfaced our lighter side. For every challenge You gave us, we turn to You.

Thanks for everything God, and just let it be easier this year.

Penang+Perak in Sepia: Photologue of a Road Trip

2009-12-21T23:07:00.004+08:00

Went to Penang+Perak last month for a very short railway, sea and road trip encompassing only 2 days but nevertheless I had the best time since god-knows-how-long. Our government is right I guess, Cuti-Cuti Malaysia is not a mere campaign. It's actually fun. hoho. Tapi kalau sorang-sorang je maybe agak boringlah kot. OKlah tak nak cakap banyak-banyak, enjoy the photo album here.

p/s: Shafiz, sila makan hati (jahat kan). Orang ajak dia taknak. Tapi dia dah pergi Sabah, so fair and square lah.

Avatar

2009-12-17T12:54:00.004+08:00

Wow. How should I even start with this? OK, as every avid movie enthusiast should know, Avatar is a mega ambitious project from uber-legend director James Cameron's brainchild. Apparently he drafted the first script even before he made the now-legendary "Titanic", but he waited and waited until the CGI-technology is on par with his vision of the movie. With 4 years (!) in the making, costing 200-350 mil USD (one of the most expensive movies ever made in history), the whole Hollywood had deafening buzz surrounding this thing from the start.

I always taught the standard of CGI nowadays is already pretty high (and I don't mean Cicakman). I mean, the last movie I went to see, 2012 is awesome and had believable effects, so when Cameron said he's going to re-invent CGI to another whole level, I went "what?" How far more can this thing go without physically touching us? The first teaser I saw was 5 months ago was kinda "been there seen that" blergh... even the trailer (the most seen in Apple website history) doesn't really turn me on.

... Until James Horner with his magical Leona Lewis crooned "I See You" comes hit my earlobes. Having worked with James Cameron previously with "Aliens" and "Titanic", and the man responsible for conceiving 90's Song of the Decade "My Heart Will Go On", Horner managed to score yet another touchdown with the unique sound that set the precedent of the overall feel for this movie's music score. Through the magical power of music, and some guy who's genius enough to mash up the theme song with the trailer in youtube, I instantly get the movie's overall concept and theme. That's it, I'm sold.

So, last night an entourage of 15 of us went for the premiere midnight screening at Pavilion. If I went to watch alone, I would have went for the 3D version. I called the IMAX theatre at Times Square a few days earlier, but it turned out that IMAX has left the building since September last year. How shit was that? No wonder I couldn't find any IMAX references at the theater several weeks ago while watching 2012.

So the light was dimmed. And... let's just say the hype was well worth it. We were transported into a whole new world. It's Pandora - a distant planet located several light years from Earth circa 2154. And the planet was freaking awesome, full of magical and spectacular creatures. Some sequences left me amazed like little children on the theater seat, especially the night scenes. So. Damn. Enchanting. Although the whole movie takes place in the same Pandora planet, but we alternately seeing it from the perspective of the human world and the Na'vis (when everytime it change to human world I would be "bla bla bla, this is boring, get me to the Na'vis now!")

Then comes the blue-hued, 12-foot humanoid Na'vi creatures. Ok I have to admit the CGI works wonders for the landscape, but the Na'vis movements and skin textures are still a bit stiff-y and rubbery, especially during day scenes (but you know what, I can't even remember how real or fake they look right now, does this mean it was so good that i even forget about it?).

The story is basically "Pocahontas", with a throw of "The Matrix Revolutions" towards the end (war sequence). I have to say Neytiri (the heroine was one sexy blue creature). Who would've taught Zoe Saldana from the Britney-flop "Crossroads" would've made it into this A-list production? Other casts are commendable in their role, too. The message of the movie was surprisingly very relevant to today's landscape. Pro-nature, anti-war, pre-emptive strike, battle of indigenous people and outsiders, evil greedy corporate and so on.

OK I already blabbing so much and wouldn't want to spoil anything to you, just remember this: IT'S WORTH IT.

Banyak Kerja

2009-12-09T15:59:00.002+08:00

(Itu dia tajuk telus, ikhlas dan straight to the point) Minta maaflah sekarang memang jangan harap nak update tiap-tiap hari, 3 hari, hatta seminggu sekali pun. No. 1, kalau update pun topik yang sama keluar iaitu hari ni buat kerja A, esok buat kerja B, lusa buat kerja C and so on and so forth. Kalau nak buat summary kerja baik tulis buku log macam masa praktikal dulu kan. Tak banyak perkara-perkara menarik personally yang berlaku. Yalah dah duduk pun kat kolej dan fakulti je. Kadang-kadang adalah juga keluar jimba-jimba. Entahlah, bila hidup dah bergaji ni (walaupun tak pernah cash out sesen lagipun) rasa takut nak spend duit. Dulu wah wah sesuka hati je draw sana draw sini kan. Haha.

Oh, Farah datang baru teringat. Ada aktiviti impromptu yang best berlangsung minggu lepas iaitu roadtrip ke Penang+Perak. Hoho berjaya menenangkan sebentar fikiran dan jiwa raga melihat-lihat Pulau Mutiara dan kota Ipoh, walaupun sekadar dua hari cuma. Haha. Gambar? Oh sibuklah tak sempat nak ~~lightroom dan~~ post. Tunggulah masa ada nanti. Iaitu entah bila. Haha

Sekarang berada di tengah-tengah pusaran puting beliung Trial Camp Archustic. Memang seronok buat kerja. Tapi kena pandai (tapi itulah yang tak pandainya) membahagi-bahagikan masa antara kerja RA dan kerja ARchustic. Dan sekarang mata amatlah kejam. Baru pukul 11 dah mengantuk macam tak tidur 20 jam. Maka banyak kerja bertangguh-tangguh. Kesian bos dapat RA macam ni haha. Dah la buat kerja lambat kan. Nak buat macam mana, taknak mengaku diri ini perfectionist tapi selagi rasa tak perfect selagi tu boleh 2-3 hari spend untuk adjust sana-sini yang mana adakalanya end productnya berbalik pada design asal. Hehe.

Semalam terkejut bila tengok blog ini diserang teruk oleh spam di bahagian komen. Bangun pukul 4 pagi dah kena mendelete satu-satu komen yang semua sekali berjumlah dalam seratus rasanya. Aduh, blog ni bukannya famous pun kau nak spam. Kesianlah sikit. *Muzik sedih*

Sebenarnya nak ulas performance series-series untuk season ni, tapi nampaknya kena tunggulah lagi. Bye.

Coming this Summer

2009-11-10T11:30:00.005+08:00

Happy Birthday, Dad!

2009-11-06T00:16:00.005+08:00

After I reformatted my notebook a couple of months ago, I choose not to install Rainlender, as it always lag up my windows start time. There, I usually post all of my family and friend's birthday.

So, is it an acceptable excuse for me to use for forgetting my dad's 50th birthday yesterday (Nov 5th)? Damn, I think this is the first time I TOTALLY forgot it. When my mom reminded me this night, I just couldn't believe I just did it.

So I quickly went over to Photoshop and email him my a little e-card. Mujur zaman dah moden skrg haha.

Perfect First Month... (At Least I Think So)

2009-11-05T15:22:00.006+08:00

Yep, today marks my first month working here. Maka dengan ini saya mengumumkan kemasukan terma baru dalam adianictionary iaitu jubli atom iaitu sambutan ulang bulan pertama... sebelum atom-atom tersebut bercantum dan bergabung menjadi jubli perak, emas, intan, zhulian, zirconia dan sebagainya.

So, how's working life so far? I would say, it doesn't feel like working. Because basically I am doing what I've been doing in the recent months at home - only this time, I get paid monthly (besides other payments lah). And yes, for the umpteenth time I believe, it was Him who personally intervened in my little life, because if not for that totally unprecedented call from my current boss on the morning of that very day I was supposed to confirm my job with another one, I would not sitting happily writing this now. And for that, thank You, God.

What happened during the course of one month? Well, the first week I got involved with Pecipta 2009 in KL Covention Center, stayed a night at Impiana Hotel there, then the week next with SUCOMBS Symposium and stayed a night at Boulevard Hotel, Mid Valley. Then last week (less than legally) with another event at the same place. Ah, yes. I lost my iPod in the bus during Pecipta. Takpalah. iPod tua itu dapat percuma. Cepat-cepatlah gaji masuk, I'm so in love with the new nano.

I managed to get cinema-free for the entire several months I'm home. And it was summer blockbuster season. Tup-tup bila balik sini je, I already watched 4 movies this month alone. And it was an October (a slow season for movie release). So reviewing each movies in one sentence, it will be "Ni ke yang terbaik sangat tu" for Papadom, "Blah blah blah" for Sorority Row, "I don't understand how Gedik who was asleep managed to explain the plot to me who's totally awake" for Surrogates and "wow this might be the most laugh I ever got in 90 minutes" for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

I got two brief roomates fo the past month, but two days ago I finally got a permanent one - and boy, did I ever had a friendlier roomate that this (and yes, that includes my own coursemates turned roomates). As I said before, the amount of our conversations in the first 10 minutes is more than my past 3 roomates ever combined. Yep I'm not kidding.

To say that "duit mengalir macam air" is an understatement. Tiap-tiap hari ada je barang habis nak kene beli baru, benda nak dibayar, benda yang kena dahulukan duit sendiri, dan sebagai-sebagainya. I was so scared to check my Maybank transaction history, pejam mata, pasrah, cucuk (kad, that is). But finally I got my strength (cewah over), and head over to maybank2u and started clicking on the calculator.

And guess what?

Only RM1200 for the whole month! And that includes my college rent for two months, so my actual spent was RM800 je. And minus the money I forked out for 1U exhibition, RM700 je! RM700 untuk makan-makan luar dan jimba-jimba 4-5 hari seminggu, kira oklah kan. Kalau makan nasi putih-telur dadar-sup kosong RM2 tiap-tiap malam kat kafe kolej tu mesti lagi saving kan. Haha. *Matilah belum ada kereta bolehla berangan saving-saving. Kelak nanti setiap kali ko isi minyak meraunglah dekat stesen tu.*

Maka, apa lagi yang berlaku dalam jangka masa sebulan ini? Ikut bos jumpa klien yang banyak songeh nak mampus / meeting di "White Town" / tengok series baru / ukursahkan ukuran site / sketchup / photoshop / makan di Williams / tengok paranormal activity / dengar gossip-gossip jabatan / logo / makan kenny rogers yang tercaj lebih untuk ayam yang tidak dipesan / mendengar kisah piap-piap / poster / website / print bunting / makan nandos / kad nama / Deepavali (hmm perlukah dimention?) / open house rumah Puan Akmal / dibelanja di Murni masa harijadi Alyaa / terjemahan tesis / keluar dengan ED, Ameer dan Tuty / tulis laporan / design exhibition yang sebenarnya salah saiz / karaoke 3 jam - Alyaa belanja / dengar konflik-konflik workshop / gunajaga kereta Gedik 5 hari / Pelan Deraf Rangka Kerja.... hmm... ni yang terlintas dalam kepala sekarang.

Perfect First Day... (At Least I Think So)

2009-10-05T22:42:00.004+08:00

18630706! Yeay, that's my KWSP/EPF account number. Just got it today, while at the same time dad who will turn 50 next month checks his account to find a 6 figure amount in it. Omigosh! Dad, I definitely WANT SOME of that amount. Please please please..... (matilah kene start bodek dari sekarang)

Today is like an impromptu show being put together at the last minute.

01 Called Za'ba.
02 Called En Azimin.
03 Confirmed meeting with Prof.
04 Pack up things (with my mom constantly nagging... aiyoh!).
05 Departed from home.
06 Followed dad to meet his customers at Gombak.
07 Arrived at Bangi.
08 Stopped at Hentian Kajang's KWSP.
09 Arrived at Za'ba. Lunch time - office closed.
10 Went for lunch with dad.
11 Met with Prof. Back to Za'ba.
12 Managed to persuade the kakak at the office to give me ground floor room (for the first time I move in my things in less than 10 minutes).
13 And no roomate (yippie! - but occasionally on weekends I might get outsider roomate from various activities held everyweek here).
14 Headed down to faculty.
15 Huha-huha in Bilik RA.
16 Met with En Azimin. Discuss.
17 Continue huha-huha in Bilik RA.
18 En Khairul wanted to treat us for a minum-minum outside.
19 Went to Old Town with En Khairul, Shah, Gedik and Kak Huda. Sembang-sembang SUCOMBS. Makan tak hengat. Minum-minum la sangat kan. Dinner saved for tonight! Haha.

In the end, everything works out. Alhamdulillah.

A Day Before

2009-10-04T23:10:00.004+08:00

InsyaAllah, tomorrow will be my first day working, well at least that's how KWSP sees it. haha.

Because of the 11th hour confirmation I got from En Azimin, so my plan is kinda mess up right now. If he just called a day earlier, I would be able to check-in to Za'ba and spend this weekend (yesterday+today) moving my things into the room. But whatever lah. So now I'm kinda 'go with the flo' konsepnya. Just what I do know for sure, first thing tomorrow I gotta head up to KWSP to open my account there, before making my way to Bangi. I'll try to settle the application form as quickly as possible. And a meeting with Prof to show the video montage that I spent an entire night learning Adobe After Effects for. Juling mataku!

Maybe I'll pack a day's worth of essential and try to see if I can get a room in Za'ba on the spot tomorrow. And if I do, I'll have to return back home that evening/night and come back with my entourage that night/next morning.

I can sense it's gonna be a very tiring couple of days ahead.

Yesterday, I went to En Mazlan's open house with Gedik, Ya, Shah, Mek Su and Kak Aza - which I think was the first and might be the last open house I went to this Raya. Hahaha. Betapa tidak beraya-nya tahun ini. Baju raya tak beli. Program TV raya entah apa-apa tu pun tak tengok. Family balik kampung, aku jaga rumah. Kawan panggil hari-hari ajak datang tour-de-Gombak beraya aku tolak. Ikut pergi beraya di 1 rumah je (tupun rumah sedara di 500m di belakang rumah). Orang datang rumah, aku samada (tiada di rumah/baru bangun, salam dan sambung hadap laptop/tengah tidur dan tak sedar2 sampai orang balik).

Entahlah. Dah 23 kali beraya. Mungkin dah muak rasanya. Nak kena ada family sendiri kot baru semangat raya tu datang balik.

My Alma Mater. My Pride

2009-09-25T19:16:00.006+08:00

UKM recently debut it's new student edition corporate video, an addition to it's 2007 video.

My guess is that it's done by the same production house. No wonder they've been re-hired again, considering that their earlier work is pretty amazing. And this one too. ~~With the millions spent, of course they should.~~ Haha I love how suddenly glitzy my campus looks in these videos, although for a student who spent 3-5 years here, we should know better. But after all, this is a corporate video lah, not a documentary. You don't find Indonesian tourism video showing little children on the streets selling heavy lesung batu they carry on their back do you? Exactly (a depressing memory I can't get my head out of, though)

Anyway, the point is, I love UKM. I know, every student will gloat about they own university/college any given day. But for me, for some personal reasons not to be further explained, I strongly believe I was "directed" here. I always keep that in mind, and for that I'll forever be grateful. That's why no matter how less-than-accredited my course is, how expensive my college is, and how tiring it is to reseat my semester, I'll always try my best to be positive.

I know that some people just couldn't stop complaining left and right. But for every negative point they pinpoint on, I can list 10 positive things this campus had give to me. Long live UKM.

p/s: nice to see they're using our khidmat masyarakat pictures while helping Johor's flood victim over 2 years ago.

My First Little Reunion

2009-09-23T07:28:00.004+08:00

Recently on one of the last days of Ramadan, me and several of my schoolmates decided to meet up for a buka puasa. Time was set. And rescheduled. Venue was set. And re-venued. Thanks to Facebook, we save a lot from SMS-ing this time. Still aching due to miss out the last reunion during the community center project last semester, my heart was pretty much set - I HAVE to go this time no matter what. (I haven't met some of them for almost 6 years after PMR)

So we agreed to meet at Johnny's OneUtama (thanks to Ib for the information he posted on his blog earlier, really helpful for our reservation) at 6.30pm. I can only leave from Klang at 5.30pm, and I was afraid the massive traffic would make me late. And yes, the traffic was pretty obnoxious. Along the Klang bridge, at Shah Alam Federal Highway exit (some cars collide or something), and LDP! Do I need to say more? Goodness gracious! From the cable bridge it's already head-to-bump. It went gradually smoother at some points and then you got stuck again. And I made several unfortunate choices along the way, like when I supposedly can drive under the flyover, I drove over (and a Mercedes broke down at the top, thus forcing the traffic to go slow), and when I can drive over the flyover, I went under (and the traffic light brought the traffic into a standstill), and I geniusly wikimapia-d earlier to find this so-called "shortcut" that could supposedly head me straight from SS22 (I think) to Lebuh Bandar Utama but after I made the exit, I got stuck in this housing area circling for 15 minutes before I gave up and re-enter the congested LDP.

But traffic was finally OK after that (I didn't need that shortcut after all), but then rain suddenly poured heavily (it was a cloudy evening before) but luckily I was just 10 minutes away from OneUtama. I could see the digital clock over OneUtama rainforest showed 1904 when I reached there (although my car's showing 6:58) and then the "finding your parking lot" challenge began! I finally managed to park at top level where there's some empty space (because it's raining!), and the best spot I could find was the one where the roof only covers the front of the car. Haha. So I had to make a 1-meter run from the rain.

My parking lot was at the end of new wing, and Johnnys at the very corner of Old-New Wing. And during my walk through the wing, the speaker already sounded "Sekarang telah masuk waktu berbuka puasa. OneUtama mengucapkan selamat berbuka puasa bagi para pelanggan yang kami hormati". Had a little trouble finding that Johnnys. And when I arrived, there's only 4 people there! Haha apparently yang lain tu pukul 6.30 baru bertolak. So go figure lah.

But it doesn't matter as long as everybody made it (the last one arrived one hour later, and two cancelled after they couldn't find parking spaces! bley?), and we had a long, joyous conversation, reminisce about the past and catching up on everybody's current doing. It's mind blowing to see your group of classmates now blossoming into pilot, pharmacist, future doctor, accountant, engineer, and never-would-be architect. Hahaha.

2 of us had to go home early. Our chitchat ends at 9.30pm and thankfully OneUtama had this piece of kampung nelayan backdrop for Hari Raya so we took pictures there. Hope that this won't be our last and thanks for reminding me why I love my schooldays.

23 Candles

2009-09-22T01:30:00.003+08:00

Thanks for your kind wishes. Last year have been pretty amazing for me. Let's hope for another memorable one.

Tangan Dihulur

2009-09-20T05:10:00.005+08:00

Seperti tahun-tahun sebelumnya, beraya tanpa perasaan lagi. Tak suka, tak duka, biasa je. Selain kejayaan berpuasa penuh (Alhamdulillah), masih dapat berbuka ramai-ramai bersama rakan ukm, dan reunion sekolah menengah 2 hari lepas, macam tak ada sebab nak bergembira berlebih-lebihan. Baju melayu sarung tahun lepas punya (yang mana betul-betul dipakai sekali saja, maaf saya bukan penggemar busana tradisional ni). Cuma tahun ni puas sikit sebab dapat tolong keluarga cat rumah, pasang wallpaper dan border. Makanya sekarang dah pandai sikit bab-bab tu, maka tambahlah sikit semangat nak membuat di bilik sendiri nanti (nanti, nanti, bila? bulan depan dah balik UKM semula! ayo haha).

Seperti juga tahun-tahun sebelumnya, saya dengan yakinnya mengaku tidak ada melakukan kesalahan zahir yakni berbentuk pukulan, lempangan atau langgar keretaan, sebaliknya jauh lebih banyak kesalahan batin iaitu berbentuk sumpahan, makian, carutan, cercaan, hinaan, perlian, sarkastikan, prasangkaan, cakap depanan, cakap belakangan, cakap YMan mahupun komen Facebookan, yang sudah tentu sedikit sebanyak ada mengguris hati-hati ~~kaca~~ anda semua. Haha. Maka besarlah harapan diri ini agar pihak cik/encik/tuan/puan/tepuan (ni kalau ada yang keliru haha - oops salah batin lagi)/Dr./Ar./Prof dapat memaafkan pihak kami yang seringkali alpa ini.

Semoga beroleh rahmat semuanya sempena Syawal ini.

Utusan Screwed Up - Again

2009-09-20T03:54:00.005+08:00

I would like to shout a single sentence for Utusan Entertainment Desk - International Division (if such exist, haha main reka je) - KORANG NI LULUS BAHASA INGGERIS KE TIDAK?

I was browsing the Utusan website as usual where I stumbled this article, "Mad Men raih anugerah utama Emmy", supposedly published on September 19th (but I don't know if it also made it's way to the printed newspaper as well). Well, as any award freaks (like me) can tell you, the Emmys will only be telecast live this Monday morning (21st September, Malaysian time), so what could this Utusan article be referring to? Was it about the Creative Arts Emmy which took place on Sept 12th? But Mad Men certainly did not win anything big there! I clicked on the news, and guess what - somebody's sorry ass should be fired - PRONTO!

Citing AFP as the source (AFP stands for Agence France Presse - the oldest news agency in the world, kind of like our own Bernama, who supplies the news to our local publications) but I don't think AFP will do this kind of screwed up mess you call "reporting". Let me copy the article in case they delete it later:

LOS ANGELES 18 Sept. - Drama bersiri Mad Men dan siri komedi 30 Rock merupakan rancangan kegemaran yang berjaya mengaut anugerah utama di Emmy Awards ke-61 Ahad lalu.

Stesen televisyen AMC mempopularkan Mad Men yang berkisar mengenai dunia politik kotor di agensi pengiklanan New York pada awal tahun 1960-an, sekali gus mengulangi kemenangannya pada tahun 2008 dengan meraih anugerah drama siri terbaik.

Drama siri kritis itu turut dicalon untuk kategori pelakon pembantu yang dimenangi oleh Jon Hamm dan Elisabeth Moss di acara besar-besaran yang berlangsung di Nokia Theater di Los Angeles.

Tom O'Neil, pakar anugerah dan pemilik blog theenvelope.com, Los Angeles berkata, Mad Men berjaya membuktikan ia terlalu kuat untuk disaingi oleh calon-calon lain termasuk Breaking Bad, Damages dan House.

"Mad Men pastinya mempunyai faktor terbaik untuk masa sekarang, ia bergaya, ditulis dengan baik dan ia mempunyai sesuatu yang sangat penting, tarikan yang angkuh, mungkin juga tarikan golongan elit," katanya.

Ia tetap ditonton meskipun populariti Mad Men dikatakan akan membantu Hamm dan Moss meraih anugerah dalam kategori pelakon pembantu terbaik.

Sementara itu, pelakon lelaki terbaik bagi drama bersiri ialah Bryan Cranston dalam Breaking Bad, sekali lagi meraih kemenangan untuk drama yang mengisahkan seorang guru kimia di sekolah tinggi yang terlibat dalam jenayah.

Untuk kategori pelakon wanita terbaik, pelakon veteran, Glenn Close memenangi anugerah Emmy ketiga dalam kerjayanya bagi wataknya sebagai peguam New York yang tidak berhati perut, Patty Hewes dalam Damages.

Pencalonan lain termasuk Moss untuk Mad Men, Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters, Mariska Hargitay dalam Law & Order, Kyra Sedgwick dalam The Closer dan Holly Hunter dalam Saving Grace. - AFP

Are you freaking kidding me? Ahad lalu your ass! Unless this report is written by someone who's been into a time travel machine from "next week". Apart from "foretelling" the "win" for Mad Men and 30 Rock for Best Drama Series and Comedy Series, it also "foresee" the victory for last year's winners Bryan Craston (Breaking Bad) and Glenn Close (Damages) for Best Drama Actor and Actress respectively.

The article also goes on to quote Tom O'Neal, webmaster of theenvelope.com (which I do visit on a daily basis), and I can tell you whatever he's saying is purely a PREDICTION from in-depth analysis for those categories.

Yes, it's not surprising if Mad Men, Bryan Cranston and Glenn Close will reap those statuettes again this year, judging by their performances and other nominees in the category. But for Utusan to fail fact-checked it's report, hiring an idiotic reporter who definitely has to reseat his/her ~~SPM~~ ~~PMR~~ UPSR English paper, and repeat the same screw up (remember the Desperate Housewives brouhaha?)

I bet I can do a whole freaking better job there, damn it. To the so-called "journalist" who ~~wrote~~ translated this story Lain kali kalau nak tulis tentang benda yang kau tak tahu/faham, tolong research/wikipedia sikit. Kalau macam ni, baik kau interview persiapan raya jiran depan rumah aku ni, walaupun tak penting tapi sekurang-kurangnya kau tak adalah buat kesilapan-kesilapan bodoh macam ni.

Mark Your Calendar, Ladies and Gentleman...

2009-09-09T02:40:00.010+08:00

... cause the 2009-2010 TV season is about to start like NOW! OMG I'm soo freaking excited! After months of pretty boring summer TV (Drop Dead Diva being an exception, thankfully), I can't wait to see all the familiar faces, find resolutions of last season's cliffhanger and find out the craziness that will come out from the writer's desk brewed over the summer.

So, empty your hard disk, get your premium rapidshare account ready, and here you go...

(date adjusted according to Malaysian time)

09 September - 90210
10 September - Glee (New)
17 September - The Beautiful Life:TBL (New)
18 September - Parks and Recreation
18 September - Fringe
18 September - The Office
21 September - 61st Primetime Emmy Awards
22 September - How I Met Your Mother
22 September - Heroes
24 September - Cougar Town (New)
25 September - Flash Forward (New)
26 September - Ghost Whisperer
27 September - Saturday Night Live
28 September - Desperate Housewives
10 October - Ugly Betty
16 October - 30 Rock
04 November - V (New)
January 2010 - Lost

And RIP to Samantha Who, Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money, Eli Stone, Kath&Kim and Privileged which didn't make it to this year's schedule. We will miss you.

Lots of new shows entering the schedule this year, but only 5 interest me

Glee - Actually the first episode aired during the end of last season, in a strategic move to build up the buzz and anticipation for the proper premiere this season. And boy, what an anticipation it creates! I totally love em. Musical on a weekly basis? Sign me in!

The Beautiful Life:TBL - Marks Mischa Barton's comeback to TV after allegedly leaving The OC to pursue a movie career which eventually failed miserably haha. This seems interesting, let's see how the pilot episode fares.

Cougar Town - Thank you ABC for bringing Courtney Cox back to TV after Dirt was cancelled during the writer's strike. Haha I'm always a sucker for female lead comedy, this will be nice replacement for the departing Samantha Who.

Flash Forward - Whoa this season looks a lot like 2005-2006 TV season, where a bunch of sci-fi-mystery-thriller (Invasion, Surface and Threshold) sprawls up, hoping to replicate Lost's success, but to no avail. This season, there will be two big budget, high concept genre series trying to squeeze in (perhaps fueled by Fringe's somewhat-success last year), and Flash Forward is one of them. The premise: everybody in the world blacked out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds, all at the same time, damn say no more, I'm in!

V - Another high concept, apparently a remake of a 1983 miniseries, V tells the story of aliens with their big-ass spaceships coming to Earth, trying to form a friendly connection, but as the saying goes, nothing is what they seem on the surface. Hoho the trailer looks a-mah-zing! Can't wait!

Kisah Bulan Puasa

2009-09-04T16:12:00.003+08:00

Tajuk tak nak lebih cliche lagi. Haha.

Pulang ke rumah setelah 2 hari bermukim di UKM memulang jubah (dan membayar denda terakhir pada UKM kerana lewat pulang: RM15), mengambil skrol dan gagal mengambil foto kerana tamat tarikh (maka terpaksa ambil di syarikat yang menguruskan foto tersebut di Taman Seraya, Cheras). Tempoh hari, pertama kali terpaksa berdiri dari stesen UKM ke Teluk Pulai (jarak 60km, sesaran 40km) akibat gerabak yang terlampau penuh. Mujur semalam dari UKM ke KL Sentral masih kosong, tapi dari KL Sentral, sikit sahaja lagi boleh sama taraf dengan Jepun)

Kalau di rumah selalunya tak memilih pun nak berbuka dengan juadah apa, nak bersahur dengan apa. Dengan mengaplikasikan konsep "Whatever you cook, I eat, mom.", aku tak pernah lagi menjejak kaki keluar ke bazar ramadan yang literalinya di depan pagar rumah. Lagipun musim-musim wabak penyakit macam-macam ni, afdallah lagi kiranya makan masakan di rumah saja. Jimat pun jimat.

Tapi... tatkala melangkah keluar dari rumah saja (iaitu ke UKM lah, mana lagi nak pergi), tanduk semua sudah keluar. Maka masa itulah nafsu berbuka yang disimpan sekian lama bergelojak di dada membuak-buak hendak keluar. Maka, masa tulah melobi rakan-rakan pergi makan di sana-sini.

Minggu pertama Ramadan tempohari menyaksikan medan selera Alamanda Putrajaya diserang stok-stok pelajar senibina UKM. Haha.. usai mesyuarat dwi mingguan (fortnightly meeting bak kata Beh, Beh I think you should use "bi-weekly" meeting instead, ramai tak faham hehe), dalam petang yang renyai-renyai itu, rancangan asal berbuka sebenarnya tak ramai pun, 3 kereta saja. Tiba-tiba sebaik menunaikan Maghrib di sana (tips: kalau nak berbuka di kompleks beli belah, lebih baik solat sebelum makan berbanding makan sebelum solat, kerana tak perlu nak berebut meja awal-awal, dan boleh makan selama manapun lepas tu haha), tiba-tiba junior 1st year kami ni berbondong-bondong tiba. Kalah jumlah entourage kami. Takpalah, ~~bitching session~~suai kenal lah kan. Hehe... hidangan hari itu terdiri daripada tetakan ayam (chicken chop) di mana gedik tidak berpuas hati mendapat hirisan ikan (fish fillet) yang senipis pahala berpuasa mereka yang mengumpat (oops!) lalu memesan hidangan kedua berupa nasi tetapi tak habis pun! Nak kena tunjuk video kisah segelintir masyarakat di Filipina ni!

Video yang dimaksudkan

Dua hari lepas pula melakukan aktiviti yang sama, merancang ke Alamanda tetapi tiba-tiba terlencong sejauh 30km ke Petaling Jaya apabila kami (kali ni bersama Gedik dan Kak Huda saja, dengan special guest star Che Lan) berkunjung ke the infamous Murni di situ. Memesan hidangan yang sama ketika ke Williams dulu (yakni meetballs carbonara) untuk membanding rasa.. ternyata Williams lebih sedap (dan mahal haha), sekurang-kurangnya Williams tidak menghidangkan shitballs.

Akhir sekali, semalam, berbuka di Old Town bersama duo sukaramai (ulangan episod Murni, sans Che Lan) dan 3 lagi rakan Gedik yang sporting belaka. Menyesal tidak mengorder menu dari nombor 301 sehingga 501, kalau tahu Gedik mahu belanja. Hahaha. Orang kaya yang bakal menyantap hidangan RM50 (sebelum cukai) di The Apartment KLCC lah katakan. huahuahua...

Renew Your Driving License. Online

2009-08-27T04:18:00.003+08:00

Hola, lama tak update (4 hari je pun). Hmm tak tau nak tulis apa sebenarnya (tipu kan, padahal title dah siap tulis haha kantoi). Sekarang dah jam 4.20 pagi, report yang hendak ditulis tersekat sampai page 6 je *sedih gagal menepati garismati (deadline)* susah OK nak tulis benda-benda yang bukan niche kita. Bab hubungan alam dan manusia haha terpaksa aku menjelajah setiap ceruk Google sampai terbelajar sedikit bidang ekologi dan teori-teori anthopsentris sebagai-sebagainya. Tu dia amik kau crash course sehari hoho. Takpa lah menambah ilmu kononnya.

Esok (err pagi ni.. err lagi 5 jam) mahu bergerak ke UKM sekali lagi, sebab jam 2 petang ada mesyuarat workshop bahagian grafik, dan jam 5 ada mesyuarat tergempar katanya. Haha papelah, tapi sebenarnya lagi excited nak berbuka dengan diorang. Joms! Joms! Bak kata misa arwah Fievelski Rensler (sebab akaunnya Facebooknya kena disable disebabkan anasir-anasir jahat mereport). Kalau nak tidur pun, lagi setengah jam mesti kena kejut bangun sahur, jadi tunggu je lah.

Berbalik kepada tajuk. Haha minggu lepas semasa membersihkan wallet yang dimamah usia ini (BTW, baru teringat, wallet ni beli di Jakarta masa field trip tahun 3 dulu la rupanya. Dah 2 tahun rupanya (Note to self: time to buy a new one). So semasa bersihkan wallet tu (dah melalut rupanya tadi), barulah terperasan bahawa lesen memanduku ini telah pun tamat 5 BULAN LEPAS. Nangis tak? Hahaha nasib baiklah aku pemandu bukan tegar. Buatnya kena road block ke apa, tak ke susah? Haha moralnya, kalau renew lesen 3 tahun sekaligus, silalah berjaga-jaga, kerana menurut statistik, 10 peratus daripada pemandu Malaysia lupa memperbaharui lesen mereka. Haha jadi, sila check lesen masing-masing sekarang, tengok!

So, lepas dah sedar keluputan lesen tu, kaget jugalah seketika. Manalah tahu kot-kot kena renew lesen sebelum tarikh luput kalau tak kena ulang ambil test semula. Matilah! Dah lupa bawak manual. Hahaha. Nasib baik Sansit online masa tu, dah jelas semua prosedur baru lega. Haha itulah, orang tak pernah renew lesen kan. Maka, sekarang nampaknya kena pergi pejabat pos lah kan. Tapi nak drive ke pejabat pos pun dah tak boleh (tu dia pemandu berhemah, tak berani drive dengan lesen tamat tempoh haha), ha macam mana ni.

Lalu, gatal-gatal lah Google, mana tahu boleh renew lesen online ke kan. Well, cuba teka apa (guess what?), boleh lah! Menerusi MyEG Services, anda boleh memperbaharui lesen, membayar cukai jalan, insuran dan menjelaskan saman trafik. Sebenarnya selalu dengar promo MyEG Services ni masa InfoTrafik ERA tapi dia kata bayar saman je. Tak tau pulak ada service lain kan. Shortcutnya di sini (anda mungkin nak bookmark ke), hanya perlu isi saja butiran-butiran diri, berapa tahun nak renew (sehingga 5 tahun), lepas tu kaedah pengambilan, isi Delivery/Penghantaran kalau nak lesen tu dihantar ke rumah anda. Of course mahal sikit cara ni. Tapi lebih RM7 je. Berbaloi sangat lah tu kan daripada kena pegi pejabat pos, bayar parking dan beratur segala. Masa penghantaran pun boleh kita tetapkan sendiri daripada pukul berapa ke pukul berapa (tapi dalam lingkungan 8 pagi - 5 petanglah, malam tak boleh). Cara pembayaran? Kad kredit boleh, MyEG Prepaid (apakah ini taktau lah, tak guna pun) dan paling best FPRX/e-Debit, iaitu amaun boleh ditolak automatik dari akaun bank anda (jika menggunakan perkhidmatan perbankan online), Maybank2u ada, CIMB Click, semua-semualah.

Jadi, bila dah selesai bayaran semua, duduk rumah diam-diam tunggu. Lama tak? Dalam website tu dia tulis dalam masa 3 hari. Tapi berdasarkan pengalaman, aku isi borang pukul 4 petang hari Khamis, pagi Jumaat tu dia dah call tanya kawasan rumah, dan sebelum solat Jumaat dia dah datang hantar naik motor. Haha dapatlah aku memandu ke masjid secara sah. Efisien dan menjimatkan masa kan?

Pukul 5:02 pagi. Hmm ibu dah jerit-jerit tu. OKlah nak sahur. Selamat berpuasa!

Thank You HotFM

2009-08-23T17:55:00.003+08:00

As a fan of online streaming media, I cannot be thankful enough when I found the near mp3 quality streaming feature in HotFM website. Although users have to install something called Octoshape plug-in, but finally Malaysian radio embarked on a another milestone. You can listen to it here. The quality was substantially improved from other streamings, which is usually a bit "noisy" in the background. Now Era.fm, please follow suit. Pronto! I'm longing to listen to Aznil+Din Beramboi's Riuh Pagi in high quality.

Ramadan Tiba Lagi

2009-08-22T18:10:00.003+08:00

(How cliche does the title sounds? haha)

Dah lama tak memulakan puasa di rumah sendiri setelah sekian lama bermastautin di perbukitan ilmu sana. Walaupun bazaar ramadan di depan pagar rumah, tapi tetap rindu bazar ramadan di Bangi. Mengambil pesanan rakan-rakan dan membahagi tugas 'siapa beli siapa punya'. Memperosok beramai-ramai dalam Kelisa Farah yang mana, apabila lalu di bumper depan apartment En. N kene berhati-hati. Nasi ayam alilatop. Donat coklat. Air soya perusahaan sekeluarga itu. Dan paling best...

Selamat Menyambut Bulan Ramadan.

Class of 2009

2009-08-20T01:56:00.005+08:00

Sarjanamuda Sains Seni Bina Dengan Kepujian

Alias bin Yusof . Alyaa Najwa binti Abdul Rashid . Aswady bin Ahmad . Azmal bin Sabil . Azraai bin Azizan . Ee Pei Ping . Farah Diana binti Mohamad Hilmi . Faridah binti Zakaria . Izuan bin Idris . Lee Siaw Ling . Leong Kim Ling . Mohd Azlan bin Nor Mohamad . Mohd Salleh bin Ahmad . Mohd Shaiful Adzuan bin Shaharuddin . Mohd Shazwan bin Harun . Mohd Zulhanif bin Abd Razak . Mohd Zulkhairi bin Zawawi . Muhamad Adian bin Akmar . Muhammad Afham bin Jamal . Muhammad Afiq bin Jamel . Nur Hanisa binti Abdul Rahman . Nur Iman binti Hamzah . Pang Kuang Chi . Ranjeeta a/p Kanagasarpai . Siti Sarah binti Ijap . Siti Syafiqah binti Mohd Muzni . Suhana binti Mohd Hanafie . Voo Siau Ling . Wan Nasrul Nizam bin Wan Ismail . Wong Lot Yee . Yeap Sze Min . Yong Leng Chee . Zianaliza Akhrin binti Hamdan

6163 Days Apart

2009-08-16T17:58:00.006+08:00

1 October 1992:
Tadika St. Teresa, Kuala Terengganu
16 August 2009:
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi

Yes, I've been holding the mockup scroll for 6163 days before it transforms into a real one.
That's 16 years, 10 months and 15 days.

Alhamdulillah.

Lost and Not Found Found

2009-08-14T21:00:00.000+08:00

Fuh... 3 hari duduk di X:Site dekat Pusanika, barulah tahu bagaimana kehidupan seharian sebuah X:Site (sapa tak tau mesti tertanya apakah gerangan X:Site tu kan. motif? ko ingat ada pembaca luar baca blog ni kah? kawan-kawan ko je ok. haha habisla elemen-elemen blog Farah sudah berjangkit di sini). Hari ni (hari entry ini ditulis, iaitu Rabu lalu) rajin sikit lalu bertebaranlah menjelalah ke segenap fakulti di sekeliling Lingkaran Pertama tu, FSSK, FPI, ATMA, FEP dan FST melayangkan flyers. Tapi ada fakulti yg terlampau besar... tak larat nak jelajah semua.. bayangkanlah FST (Fakulti Sains dan Teknologi) tu, satu Bangunan Sains Matematik dah macam satu Fakulti Kejuruteraan, belum lagi Bangunan Sains Geologi, Sains Kimia dan sebagai-sebagainya (haha tiru ayat siapa ni? sendiri mau ingat), naik tangga turun tangga tiba-tiba dah sampai seksyen pengawetan binatang... terkejut seketika melihat itik, memerang dan binatang-binatang lain.. macam dalam Night at the Museum pula. Adakah mungkin binatang-binatang ini akan bertebaran riang pada malam hari? (Tu dia lagi 4 hari nak konvo baru kau sampai fakulti-fakulti lain kan... 4 tahun kau buat apa kat sini ha? Hahaha)

Sebelum balik tadi baru mendengar perkhabaran kurang baik tentang tragedi yang menimpa junior kami iaitu Anuar yang kehilangan komputer riba dan kamera DSLR yang baru saja dibeli 2 minggu apabila kereta dipecah masuk di Mines. Hanya takziah teramat sangatlah yang boleh aku ucapkan. Harap-harap external hard drive tidak turut dicuri atau fail-fail penting ada dibackup. Lalu aku pun rasa terpanggil untuk berkongsi cerita-cerita kecurian yang pernah dialami sendiri atau disaksikan berlaku di kalangan rakan-rakan.

Kes 1: Masa ini di matrikulasi. Rasanya baru jugalah masuk. Tak sampai sebulan kot. Ayah baru tinggalkan RM300 cash sebelum ke umrah. Tiba-tiba bila nak bayar makanan di kafe (masa tu dengan Afeeq), terkejut gila bila tengok dompet dah kosong. Ya Allah. Tanya teman-teman sebilik pun mereka tak tahu. Walaupun ada prasangka, tapi tak beranilah nak tuding jari pada sesiapa. Macam mana pun, itulah kali pertama kehilangan wang dalam jumlah yang besar.

Kes 2: Di UKM tahun dua. Masa tu kami mula ada junior tahun satu. Tapi biasalah, bukannya aku kenal mereka sangat pun (senior yang jahat kan haha). Tengah borak-borak di studio, datanglah seorang junior ambil kunci motor daripada Ainul. Aku tanya Ainul, dia kata junior tu nak pinjam keluar. Tergerak jugalah hati nak melawak "habisla sekali dia call kata dah hilang". Tapi tak terkeluar pula. Beberapa jam lepas tu (aku dapat tahu macam agak lambat sikitla), bila dengar Ainul kata "aku tak larat nak nangis dah". Aku selidik punya selidik, terkejut bila dapat tahu motor tersebut benar-benar hilang. Dicuri di Kompleks PKNS. Aku ada juga pinjam motor tu kadang-kadang. Kejadian tu membawa kepada drama yang agak panjang jugalah tapi tak perlu bongkar secara detail di sini. Akhirnya selang setahun lepas tu, Ainul kata polis jumpa rangka motornya (I mean rangka OK. barang lain semua dah tak ada) di sebuah ladang kelapa sawit.

Kes 3: Studio kami memang tak berkunci masa awal tahun 3. Kami pun tak kisah, 24 jam studio mesti ada orang paling tidak pun seorang. Masa kami ke trip di Bandung dan Jakarta, macam biasalah studio tu tinggalkan bertutup tanpa berkunci. Bila datang balik, speaker aku atas locker dah tak ada. Tapi disebabkan PC Ainul, Keghi dan ramai lagi sihat walafiat je, mula-mula aku andaikan ada senior/junior yang pinjam. Tapi sampai hujung sem pun masih tak jumpa. Itulah kecurian paling pelik buat masa ni. Sampai sekarang aku tetap rasa ada orang pinjam lupa nak pulangkan. Haha. Mujur speaker tu murah je. Sekarang dah beli yang baru, model sama juga.

Kes 4: Ini kes paling sensasi la aku rasa. Masa tu tahun tiga. Sem tiga kot. Macam dah hujung-hujung. Aku datang pagi tu dah kecoh-kecoh. Rupanya laptop Ceeda kena curi! Itu pertama kali kejadian seserius tu berlaku di studio kami. Al-kisahnya, studio kami memang berkunci masa tu (sebab pagi lagi). Kalau nak masuk kena melalui studio sebelah (studio junior). Ceeda datang awal tapi dia naik jumpa Prof Zuhairuse. Lalu dia pesankan kat Ainul suruh jaga barang sekejap. Ainul pulak pergi mana tah lepas tu (tapi beberapa minit je). Dikhabarkan orang tu masuk dari studio junior terus ke studio kami (sahlah orang tu memang kenal layout studio ni). Lagipun orang dalaman je yang tahu CCTV berderet-deret depan sekeliling fakulti tu masih belum berfungsi masa itu (sebab baru dipasang). Ada junior yang nampak pencuri tu masuk tapi ingatkan juruteknik ke sapa-sapa ke. Bila pencuri tu keluar dari studio, Ainul nampak lalu kejar. Tapi orang tu dah naik motor, terjerit-jeritlah Ainul di kafe tu (berhampiran tempat letak motosikal) tapi sudah terlambat. Dalam beg Ceeda tu ada juga kamera digital.

Kes 5: Masa ini field trip di Kelantan. Di depan hotel yang kami menginap tu adalah satu kedai makan. Malam pertama kami tiba di situ, ikut kawan-kawan satu bilik (Alias, Jawz dan Che Lan) turun minum-minum di kedai itulah kononnya. Minum minum borak borak, si sengal bernama Adian ni boleh tertinggal handphone dia atas meja/kerusi kedai tu. Masuk balik bilik 2-3 minit, baru tersedar Nokia Communicator 9300i itu tiada lagi dalam posesinya. Mula-mula cari di bilik. Kemudian lantas teringat kedai makan tersebut lalu bingkas turun semula. Masalahnya masa itu telefon malang terbabit memang dah nak habis bateri. Bila call pertama kali bunyi deringan. Kali kedua dah tak boleh. Mungkin dicuri, mungkin habis bateri. Harapan masih ada. Di kedai tersebut, cari-cari tak jumpa. Tanya orang kedai tu pun mereka kata tak tahu. Hmm yelah tu..

Kes 6: Semester lepas. Si Izuan ni pergi sembahyang Jumaat lalu dia tinggalkan dompet sebelah laptop dalam bilik stor (port favourite) studio kami tu. Tak kisahlah sebab budak-budak perempuan ada dalam studio. Bila balik, dompet dah lesap. Budak-budak kata nampak ada orang masuk tapi tak perasan masuk dalam stor. Izuan kata dalam dompet tu ada berapa puluh Ringgit je pun. Tapi nak mengganti semua dokumen pengenalan diri sikit punya leceh.

Hmm.. rasanya itu saja yang aku ingat. Kalau ada sapa-sapa yang ingat lagi boleh tambah ye. Peringatannya di sini, sentiasalah beringat dan berawas dengan barangan anda walau di mana anda berada. Rasanya di semua tempat letak kereta sekarang dah banyak papan tanda ingatkan kita agar jangan tinggalkan barangan berharga dalam kereta kan. Sebab sekarang ni perompak dah canggih.. benda-benda elektronik mereka boleh detect guna alat. Alat ini memang wujud OK, dan bukan mitos yang sengaja dicipta untuk menakut-nakutkan anda. Menurut kajian rambang, alat semurah RM50 ini boleh didapati di eBay, Lelong, dan Plaza Low Yat.

Gambar alatan sebenar. Mesej saja tipu.

Al-Fatihah

2009-08-14T19:06:00.003+08:00

Was on the way to Low Yat with Iman, Shafiz and Izuan when my mother called to ask if I knew anything about the news. Later she called again, confirming it. I was shocked, as I was just reading news about him a few days back. So sad indeed and we'll be sure to miss hearing his golden voice reciting takbir during the Hari Raya. Now "Pergi Tak Kembali" will never sound the same again.

Papadom Triumphs Over Talentime

2009-08-09T01:54:00.003+08:00

This is why I've mentioned in my previous post before, movies that have yet to reach cinema should not be eligible for awards consideration. Now that Papadom has won Best Picture in Festival Filem Malaysia 22 beating the crowd favourite Talentime, we have to wait until October 8th to lay our eyes on this movie. I think this is the first time an unscreened movie won the top award (at least in Malaysia).

Of course this will be a golden chance for Afdlin Shauki to turn this victory into profits. Especially after his last effort Sumolah and Los Dan Faun (which also won Best Comedy) failed to generate the same success he had during his Buli and Buli Balik years. But then, Papadom should have to be reaally good, because comparison with Talentime will be inevitable. Apart from Best Picture, Papadom also managed a clean sweep for acting as both Afdlin and Liyana Jasmay grabbed Best Actor and Best Actress respectively, Best Original Story and Music Score.

But Talentime didn't went home empty handed. Yasmin herself won a posthumous Best Director, Syafie Naswip with Best Supporting Actor, Jaclyn Victor for Promising Actress (I told you so!) and Best Screenplay.

Another multiple award winner, Setem took home awards in Cinematography, Editing and Art Direction, Cicakman 2 for Sound and Costume, and Histeria for Promising Director and Poster.

Read the full list of winners.

H1N1 in UKM - What Do We Know?

2009-08-08T16:10:00.009+08:00

What you are seeing above is the keywords the visitors were using in search engines before ending up to my blog, specifically this entry I wrote 2 days ago. And that also lead to the sudden surge of visitors here for the past few days. And I received quite a lot of visitors from HUKM forum, which unfortunately closed for registration so I don't know what they were talking about (but apparently my blog was linked there)

Suddenly I feel very responsible if whatever Hafiz told me was just a hearsay. Tring not to be an irresponsible blogger spreading rumours around, I dig up some information online to find 'what really happens'. And I think I found one.

This is what I got from GMUKM blog:

BANGI : Blog gm-ukm.blogspot mendapat maklumat bahawa seorang mahasiswa kolej Keris Mas telah meninggal dunia pagi semalam. Menurut maklumat daripada wartawan GM yang tinggal di kolej tersebut, beliau melihat bahawa mayat itu dilitupi dengan plastik hitam dan kelihatan pengusung mayat memakai penutup mulut. Punca kematian walaubagaimanapun masih belum diketahui.

Ketika dihubungi oleh pihak editor, wartawan tersebut berjanji akan menyiasat perkara itu hingga ke akar umbi. Memang kedengaran khabar angin bahawa ada seorang mahasiswa UKM yang meninggal dunia kerana wabak H1N1. Tetapi kebenarannya masih boleh dipertikaikan.

OK, I'm trying to lay down the facts here.
Apparently, if things are true as above, we know for real that a student has died on UKM campus ground. But as to my knowledge, whenever a student or staff passed away for whatever reasons, a condolence news will be posted on e-pelajar or e-warga website, as what previously happen to Wan Siti Farihan, the girl who fell down from Kolej Pendeta Za'ba months ago. But I couldn't found any recent news in e-pelajar/e-warga. So that might cover the grounds for accusation of an attempted cover-up.

You know that everybody loves some juicy conspiracy theories. The main rumour flying around says that UKM is trying to cover up the incident because Pesta Konvo will start from next week, and pre-events like E-Fair in Pusanika has already started last week. So, if UKM is to be closed for a week or so, it could seriously hurt the aforementioned events (and maybe the convocation itself), and UKM will have to compensate all the participating penyewa gerai and so on, which will in turn cause a huge loss for UKM.

But on the other side, this might be highly unlikely. H1N1 is already considered a serious national threat so I don't think UKM could simply hide things around. If the Kolej Keris Mas dead student body was brought to the hospital and later confirmed died of H1N1, I'm pretty sure there's no way the case went unreported for national daily statistics in favor of something small like Pesta Konvo (national threat VS Pesta Konvo - funny!).

But you know what, maybe the Keris Mas student did not suffer from H1N1 at all. As far as we know, the ambulance attendees might only took precaution steps (after all, they're just wearing FACE MASK for God's sake, not bio-hazard suit or something).

So, there are currently 2 possible conclusions:
1. Yes, UKM is really trying to cover-up things.
2. No, the dead student wasn't really dies from H1N1. We are being too paranoid.

I hope that might offer some new perspective to the stories. If these rumours got serious UKM can hold a press conference or issue an official pekeliling to clear things up. Or else, it will be just bigger and bigger (and keywords at the top will just keep appearing and appearing)

So, what do you think? Comment now.

Drop Dead Diva

2009-08-07T21:40:00.009+08:00

US Fall TV season is still almost 2 months away, and summer TV listings haven't really live up to my expectation (even Weeds "pale" in comparison to it's previous seasons) but fret not as Lifetime channel brings me a super-exciting and addictive new show that I JUST HAVE to share with you.

Drop Dead Diva (pardon the superbimbo and corny name, a book shall not be judged by it's cover) tells the story of Deb (left in picture), a little self-absorbed woman, shallow and clueless at times, but living a happy life with her boyfriend. While Jane (right), is super smart, no nonsense attorney with low self esteem. When both of them die at the same time, a divine glitch suddenly transfers Deb's soul into Jane's vacant body. So when a cheerleader-type suddenly becoming size 16, you can imagine the hilarity which ensues after. But keep in mind, she also possess Jane's terrific IQ and brain, so this teeny tiny mind of hers (who only have things like modeling job auditions to think about) suddenly found herself in the middle of complicated court cases. The result is a high-lariously funny legal dramedy.

But despite the recycled Freaky Friday+Legally Blonde plot, Drop Dead Diva totally brings some fresh perspective to the premise. You can laugh a minute then touched the next. TV-ly speaking, it's Ugly Betty meets Eli Stone. Currently in it's 4th episode, I've been heavily hyping this to my friends and Farah is my latest victim. Haha.

123456789

2009-08-07T12:58:00.003+08:00

I was just reading my friends facebook status update when I stumbled into this interesting one...

Sedarkah bahawa setengah jam lalu, kita baru melewati jam 12.34:56 saat, pada 7 haribulan Ogos 2009, atau singkatannya 12:34:56,7/8/9

Cool kan?

First UKM H1N1 Victim?

2009-08-07T00:57:00.003+08:00

adiannet: woi
hafiz: ye..ko tau x?
hafiz: ukm sorang dah meninggal
adiannet: tau pe
hafiz: H1N1
adiannet: yeke
adiannet: sapa
adiannet: budak fac mana
hafiz: budak kris mas
hafiz: x tau r
hafiz: bila ukm nak tutp ni?
hafiz: dia meniggal malam td
adiannet: ko dgr mana
adiannet: brita xdak pun
adiannet: bile meninggal
hafiz: malam td meniggal
hafiz: romat lama aku gtau
hafiz: ukm ada 38 kes
hafiz: yg pelik masih x tutup

Scary indeed. I checked major news bureau but at the time of writing, nothing says anything yet.

(UPDATE: Read the follow-up entry)

Presenting...

2009-08-06T07:07:00.003+08:00

... Miss Susan Boyle! Can you believe it? Check out this a-maah-zing makeover work of Miss "I Dreamed A Dream" in September's issue of Harper's Bazaar. For full interview, photo and video here.

Apple Tablet Anyone?

2009-08-05T21:26:00.005+08:00

Kepada mereka yang selalu mengikuti berita terkini (yang bukan terdiri daripada demonstrasi jalanan memualkan) pastinya sudah sedia maklum mengenai perkhabaran panas yang bertiup kencang tentang ura-ura konglomerat gergasi Apple yang dilaporkan bakal mengeluarkan komputer mini (atau disebut tablet)nya sendiri menjelang September ini. Daripada sekadar khabar main-main sejak beberapa tahun lepas, kini statusnya telah berubah kepada "hampir pasti", ditambah lagi dengan sumber-sumber dalaman yang katanya telah menyaksikan dan menguji sendiri gajet tersebut, lantas menyebabkan para CEO syarikat pesaing lain tidak senang duduk malah sanggup menangguhkan pengeluaran produk mereka bagi menantikan "apa sebenarnya yang akan dilancarkan Apple kali ini?"

Para penyokong Apple (atau lebih dikenali sebagai fanboy) yang sememangnya kritis dan kreatif belaka telah mula mempamerkan skil Photoshop mereka di laman-laman forum Apple, dalam memvisualkan idea mereka tentang sang Apple Tablet ini. Carilah di Google Images dan anda akan perolehi pelbagai versi, termasuk yang dipaparkan di sini.

Pada masa Apple masih enggan mengeluarkan sebarang kenyataan berhubung perkara ini ("Kami tidak mengulas sebarang khabar angin" menurut mereka), maklumat demi maklumat muncul mengenai spesikasi gajet ini. Dijangka dijual pada harga USD800 (RM3000), Apple Tablet dilapor menggunakan skrin sesentuh 10 inci, dan seperti iPhone, ia bergantung sepenuhnya kepada teknologi wireless/3G untuk berhubung kepada internet.

Komputer tablet bukanlah sesuatu yang baru, banyak produk seumpanya telah dihasilkan, dipasarkan namun majoriti daripadanya menemui kegagalan. Walau demikian, Apple dikenali sejagat sebagai syarikat yang mempelopori revolusi perkakas elektronik pengguna. Dengan rekaan kemas, perisian mesra pengguna dan kempen besar-besaran, Apple mampu mentransformasi sebiasa-biasa produk kepada satu fenomena (yes, I'm talking to you iPod Shuffle). iPod dan iPhone masing-masing mengubah senario pasaran alat muzik peribadi dan telefon bimbit pengguna di seluruh dunia, maka tidak hairanlah jika seluruh dunia berdegup kencang dalam antisipasi menantikan gajet "misteri" terbaru syarikat yang berpangkalan di Cupertino, California ini.

Talentime Leads FFM 22 Nominations

2009-08-04T21:29:00.006+08:00

Nominations for Festival Filem Malaysia 22 is out, and as expected, the last directorial effort for the late Yasmin got the most nod with 11, leading Setem and Papadom (9 each), Syurga Cinta, Cicakman 2 and Maut (7 each). I have just watched it 2 days ago and boy, I cried like stupid towards the end. Hands down this is by far Yasmin's best movie, because unlike Sepet, Gubra et.al, Talentime contains multiple plotlines other than the main "love story" arc (which frankly, is the most boring part). I mean c'mon, Pamela Chong as Melur is as believable as Michael Jackson singing SM Salim tunes. She's stiff. And don't give "it's her first try" excuse - look at Jacklyn Victor. Now, that's a respectable "first try".

Of course, I cried because of the Hafiz and his mom's (Ahmad Syafie Naswip-Azean Irdawaty) story. I'm a sucker for this dying mommy thing. So it's adding salt to the wound now that Yasmin's gone when I actually started liking her work. Ok, enough about her. Let this lady rest in peace. So, what else to say about the nominees? Mahesh J. Kishor is vying for Best Actor category playing a charater who didn't even utter a word - a first in Malaysia, I think. And nothing from Talentime for Best Theme Song category? Not even the spectacular I Go/Pergi? While Senario/Jin Hutan/Antoo Fighter/Selamat Pagi Cinta and Brainscan actually made it??? You've gotta be kidding me.

Syurga Cinta's Heliza Helmi got double nomination for Promising Actress and Best Actress too. Wow - I don't know, I love to watch her on screen, but Best Actress? Really? Mohd Hadziq, on the other hand, can start to reserve a place in his shelf to display his almost-locked Best Child Actor trophy.

"Cis.. berani kau mempertikaikan kredibiliti aku. Penat aku feeling muslimah ni ok!"

Papadom, Jomlah C.I.U.M, Jalang and Momok The Movie are some of the movies that received nominations despite being unreleased yet. This is something that has been bugging me for years now - I can't see the reason why movies that have yet to meet cinemagoers were eligible to be sent for nomination process as well. It's simply confusing to the public who can't root for a movie they don't know anything about! Why don't we being more restrictive like the Oscars - only movies that were screened in the eligibility period are allowed to be considered. Or else, they can wait for the next year's award. Simple as that.

To read the full list of nominations, click here.

Al-Fatihah

2009-07-26T03:24:00.002+08:00

Went to sleep early today. Awoke by 2:49am, got the SMS from Gedik. Wow I couldn't believe it. Got up, went online and was confirmed.

You've gone to soon, Yasmin.
Al-Fatihah.

Tayar & Wayar

2009-07-25T19:08:00.008+08:00

Semalam pulang ke pangkuan UKM. Ada 2 appointment. Mari kita namakan temujanji A dan B bersama Encik A dan B. Temujanji A dijadual pada jam 9.30 pagi, maka jam 7.20 bertolak dari stesen komuter ke UKM. Perjalanan komuter waktu pagi sepatutnya menceriakan, sebab boleh mendengar Riuh Pagi ERA. Malangnya earphone telefon bimbit gagal ditemui. iPod pun tertinggal di rumah. Lalu perjalanan yang 'sepatutnya menceriakan' itu lantas menjadi pelenguh punggung selama 2 jam.

Sudah melewati jam 9, setelah dihitungkira faktor menunggu bas dan masa yang diambil untuk bas berhenti di setiap perhentian, memang sah takkan sempat tiba di fakulti jam 9.30. Apatah lagi angan-angan mahu bersarapan di kafe kononnya. Adian, pengurusan masa kamu gagal OK.

Otak mula menjalankan tugasnya. Shafiz! *ting*
---Berikut adalah transkrip perbualan menerusi sistem khidmat pesanan ringkas---
A: Kat fac kah?
S: Tak. Kat bilik lagi.
A: Tak pergi kac ke?
S: Baru bangun ni. Baru nak mandi.
A: Haa bagus2. Nanti boleh tak amik aku kat komuter?
S: Aku tak berani keluar UKM la. Baru 2 kali je, itupun ada Gedik ngan Kak Huda.
(Hmm... takpe2 kita cuba cara lain)
A: OK aku jalan sikit sampai pintu UKM belakang tu. Amik kat situ boleh?
S: Hmm pintu komuter tu?
A: A'ah tapi tak payah keluar UKM pun.
S: OK. Ko kat mana?
A: Stesen Kajang.
(OK, plan berjaya setakat ini)

Setiba di komuter, pantas-pantas berjalan menerusi driving range yang memisahkan kampus dan stesen komuter tersebut. Kemudian dapat sms.
S: Adian, ko rajin ke jalan tu. Pukul 9:30 ada bas dari komuter tu.
(Waaa, seboleh-bolehnya tak nak ambil aku kan? haha)
A: Alamak, aku dah sampai pun.
S: Oh, ok.
(Hehe. Mujur pantas)

Tunggu punya tunggu punya tunggu. Manakah gerangan tak sampai-sampai pun?
Encik A: Adian, dekat mana? Saya tunggu dekat fac.
Akhirnya Proton Iswara merah itu meluncur ~~laju~~ sampai.
"Soriiii terpaksa saaaangat menyusahkan. Haha"
10 saat pertama dalam kereta itu sudah cukup membuktikan patutlah beliau tidak berani keluar UKM. Kereta manual! Matilah aku pun dah lupa pengendalian manual kan.

Sampai di suatu selekoh meneruni bukit di Fakulti Pendidikan (sebelah fakulti kami), aku perasan kenderaan ini semakin cenderung ke kiri jalan.. dan belum sempat berkata "oop", sudah kedengaran satu bunyi datang dari bahagian kiri belakang.
"Apa tu?"
"Terlanggar divider kot"

Sebaik melepasi simpang, kenderaan ini terasa condong ke kiri. O'oh....
"Takpa-takpa, jalan saja sampai masuk fac apa-apa halpun"
Setelah berhenti, segera turun memeriksa. Hmm belakang semua OK, sehinggalah...
"OMG!"
Rupanya tayar kiri hadapan sudah pecah (ternampak kesan robekan terlanggar divider tadi mungkin), menyebabkan tayar kempis sama sekali dan rim hampir-hampir terkeluar pun.
"O shoot, macam mana ni?"
Terdamparlah dua manusia yang sangat dangkal pengetahuan tentang ilmu automotif ini terkial-kial memikirkan penyelesaian.
Dan salah seorang manusia itu sudahpun terlewat mengejar temujanjinya.

"OK, call bengkel. Tanya Gedik, dia ada tak nombor bengel?"
Telefon dan Gedik tak tahu.
"Ya semua tak ada hari ni kan?"
"Takda. Tapi ada tayar spare kat bonet"
"Oh bagus2. Tapi mana reti tukar tayar ni?"

Encik A telefon lagi: Awak dekat mana?
"OK OK saya turun sekarang.

Wah tahu tak betapa malunya masa tu? Dahlah suruh orang datang menjemput. Lepas tayar pecah, tinggalkan pulak.
"Alamak aku kena pergi jugak ni. Takpa, nanti aku jumpa siapa-siapa kat bawah tu, aku minta tolong"
Berlari masuk lif. Sampai di bawah, lif terbuka, lega ternampak pasukan UKM (cewah, sebenarnya pagi itu wakil-wakil pelajar senibina UKM dijadual bertemu wakil-wakil Kolej Taylor berhubung penganjuran bengkel senibina tahun hadapan). Ada Beh, Farah, Finaz dan beberapa lain yang tak sempat dilihat.
"Eh korang, boleh tak tolong, tayar kereta Shah pecah kat atas tu?" (Jangan pelik, atas bukan bermakna kereta kami tadi melompat ke bumbung fakulti, sebenarnya fakulti ni dibina di kawasan berbukit, pintu masuk utamanya di aras 3, atriumnya di aras 1)
OKlah sekurang-kurangnya aku tak meninggalkan Shah terkontang-kanting, cuba menjustifikasi keadaan.

Berikut foto-foto ihsan Farah.

Beginilah keadaan tayar tersebut

Apakah yang dilakukan Beh itu?

Men-jack off. Oops innuendo.

Bab 1 tamat.

Usai sidang jemaat dan temujanji B, rupa-rupanya seluruh UKM ketiadaan koneksi internet. Aduh! Rosak rancangan mendownload. Lari ke bilik Encik Mazlan di mana Shafiz duduk sekarang atas tiket RA (perlukah dihuraikan?). Komputer riba mula kehabisan bateri, lalu dicucuk ke soket. Klik, klik (bunyi seperti pemetik api punya flickering tu kan), "eh bunyi apa tu?" 2 saat kemudian, satu titik pada wayar itu meletup dan mula bernyala (menyala as in terbakar ok, bukan lampu bernyala). Liza, seorang lagi RA di situ sudah lari jauh-jauh. Hoho. Maka tanda soal yang melingkari kenapa adapter ini sering perlu dihentak-hentak untuk bernyala baru-baru ini telah terjawab. Mujur tidak terbakar semasa tidur ke, ohh bahayanya. Boleh jadi seperti Hung episod 1. Lalu memesan wayar baru dari Gedik yang kebetulan berada di Mines. Mujur wayarnya RM15 sahaja. Kalau adapter habislah RM100 lebih lagi... dahlah baru ditukar beberapa bulan lalu.

Bab 2 tamat.

Deduksinya (tiru ayat blog Farah), semalam bukanlah hari bertuahku. Haha

NewWajahLookBaru

2009-07-23T20:04:00.004+08:00

Tu dia... tajuk pun dah menggambarkan kecelaruan identiti blog ni sekarang. Nak guna bahasa ibunda atau bahasa perantara antarabangsa? Hmm... kalau bahasa ibunda memang lebih lancar proses penulisan berjalan, sekali orang baca dah tahu mood penulis waktu menulis tu. Kalau bahasa Queen pula (bukan drag queen!) berjelaga juga otak nak memikir struktur ayat yang sesuai digunakan, maklumlah blog kan medium perantara yang santai, tak nak lah bila dibaca bernada berita CNN pula. Haha, kebaikan menggunakan bahasa Inggeris di dalam blog ialah (di samping mengasah tatabahasa dan vokabulari), skop jangkauan (outreach) blog akan lebih meluas, bererti tak kiralah ada pembaca sesat dari lembah Amazon ke, kepulauan Ryukyu ke, pergunungan Aconcagua ke, jurang Mariana ke, mereka boleh turut membaca sekiranya mereka berbahasa Inggeris. (Walaupun hakikatnya sepanjang 4 tahun ni tiada kenalan baru berbangsa asing pun yang dikenali dari blog ini haha) Lepas tu, suka pergi Google Translator dan terjemah blog sendiri ke bahasa-bahasa asing dan berangan fasih membaca entry sendiri dalam bahasa Perancis. Hahaha. Jadi macam mana sekarang? BI atau BM?

Sebenarnya kerja yang dirungutkan dari malam semalam belum siap pun sebenarnya. Cuma tiba-tiba terlintas taktik menjawab soalan bagi menangguhkan deadline. Jahat tak? Apa boleh buat, Photoshop nampak serba tak kena semalam. Dan tiba-tiba skrin 14" komputer riba rasa begitu kecil sekali. Kalau ikutkan hati nak saja pergi membeli skrin rata sebesar LCD Farah tu. Haha pinjam boleh?

Dalam kemurungan akibat ketidaksiapan kerja itu, entah dari mana datang kekuatan (cewah), pergi mencari templat blogger yang baru. Sebenarnya memang dah lama sangat teringin nak tukar templat sejak Blogger memperkenalkan sistem Dynamic HTML yang lebih mudah disusunatur terutama bagi mereka yang sifar dalam ilmu pengaturcaraan (coding). Feature yang paling geram sekali untuk digunakan termasuklah "Older post/Newer post" yang memudahkan navigasi pembaca dan "recent comments" yang menjimatkan masa pengendali blog menyemak komen-komen terbaru. Kedua-dua ciri ini mustahil untuk dipasang pada templat Blogger terdahulu yang menggunakan sistem Static HTML. Lalu dalam masa 20 minit berjaya menemui satu templat yang kelihatan adaptable dengan konsep yang berlegar-legar dalam kepala ini. Sejam seterusnya, voila! "Kun fayakun" kataNya.

Esok ada 2 temujanji, kalau sempat, boleh turut serta untuk mesyuarat workshop dengan wakil pelajar dari Taylor.

Perihal Yasmin Ahmad

Kecoh ruang maya Malaysia petang tadi apabila pengarah filem tersohor ini diberitakan telah meninggal dunia. Semakan di beberapa portal berita kemudiannya menyangkal dakwaan ini, sebaliknya beliau hanya tidak sedarkan diri setelah mengadu sesak nafas ketika sesi pitching program terbaru di Sri Pentas melibatkan Datuk Siti Nurhaliza, yang turut berada di situ. Setelah proses CPR dilakukan Datuk Siti dan seorang doktor TV3 (bukan senang nak tengok Siti buat CPR kan, Siti juga bekas Duta Muhibah PBSM dahulu) masih gagal menyedarkan beliau (mungkin semasa inilah berita kematian mula tersebar), Yasmin dikejarkan ke Hospital Pakar Damansara dan disahkan diserang strok di bahagian otak. Pembedahan selamat dilakukan jam 6 petang tadi. Semoga beliau beransur sihat.

P/S: Sesi piching bermaksud proses menjual idea dan meyakinkan stesen TV untuk sesuatu projek/program. Agaknya apa projek yang dirancang oleh Yasmin dan Siti ini?

Writer's Block la sangat

2009-07-22T21:00:00.006+08:00

Writer's block konon. Tipu. Tipu. Tipu. Sebenarnya kehidupan amat membosankan lewat kini sehingga tiada perkara yang menarik untuk dituliskan. Tiada material yang bermutu untuk dihidangkan (selama ini bermutu sangatkah? haha). Meminjam kata-kata Katherine Heigl, "saya tidak diberi material/jalan cerita yang bernilai untuk menghantar pencalonan kali ini" apabila dipersoal mengapa enggan mencalonkan dirinya dalam Anugerah Emmy tahun lepas, walhal tahun sebelumnya beliau berjaya memenangi kategori Pelakon Pembantu Wanita (Drama) pada anugerah yang sama.

Heigl yang terkenal dek kelancangan mulutnya lantas mencetus gempar di Hollywood akibat kata-katanya tersebut, akhirnya watak Izzie yang dipegang beliau dalam Grey's Anatomy dikenakan kanser oleh panel penulis skrip siri itu. Mereka bengang mungkin. Haha. Tahun ini beliau tampak berpuas hati dengan material yang 'berat' itu lalu menghantar pencalonan. Namun kali ini beliau pula tertampar apabila namanya tidak tersenarai sebagai 5 finalis akhir.

Apakah motif kali ini meraban tiba-tiba masuk Anugerah Emmy pula. Haha tak mengapalah, alang-alang biar teruskan. Anugerah Emmy kali ini menyaksikan How I Met Your Mother akhirnya berjaya menembusi pencalonan kategori Komedi Terbaik selepas empat musim. Yay! Neil Patrick Harris yang memegang watak Barney Stinson dengan begitu cemerlang dilihat hampir pasti menjulang kategori Pelakon Pembantu Lelaki (Komedi) apabila Jeremy Piven dari Entourage yang berturut-turut mengungguli kategori tersebut pada tahun-tahun sebelumnya, tidak dicalonkan kali ini.

Ugly Betty dan America Ferrera masing-masing kehilangan pencalonan dalam kategori Komedi Terbaik dan Pelakon Utama Wanita (Komedi) selepas dua tahun berturut-turut dicalonkan (America menang tahun pertama), memberi petunjuk komedi tersebut sudah hilang taringnya. Hanya Vanessa Williams (Wilhelmina Slater) berjaya memecah tembok nominasi di dalam kategori Pelakon Pembantu Wanita (Komedi). Namun beliau harus mengetepikan Kristin Chenoweth (Olive Snook) dari Pushing Daisies yang dilihat sebagai 'favourite' kali ini.

30 Rock, pemenang Komedi Terbaik 2 tahun berturut-turut, kekal berentap di dalam gelanggang tahun ini dengan mencipta sejarah apabila mendapat 22 pencalonan, memecah rekod yang diciptanya sendiri tahun lepas dengan 16 pencalonan. Pelakon utama dan juga pemenang tahun lalu Tina Fey (Liz Lemon) dan Alec Baldwin (Jack Donaghy) juga kembali bersaing dalam kategori masing-masing, di samping Tracy Morgan (Tracy Jordan), Jack McBrayer (Kenneth Parcell) dan Jane Krakowski (Jenna Maroney).

Baiklah, berhenti bercerita tentang Emmy buat masa ini. Semoga berjaya kepada calon-calon kegemaran. Bercerita tentang diri sendirilah pula. Diri sendiri yang menjalani kehidupan rutin yang membosankan. Tidur pada 8 pagi dan bangun pada 4 petang. Senonoh tak? Nilailah sendiri. Pernah mencuba menjadi 'morning person' selama seminggu, namun akhirnya terjebak kembali ke kancah hina ini. Hahaha. Bangun jam 4, "bersarapan", terpaksa menonton E-Toyol.com yang bodoh itu (nasib baik dah habis), masuk pejabat (dibaca sebagai bilik komputer, yang kini bilik baru saya yang masih menunggu krew Casa Impian melakukan transformasi. Tu dia tipu sangat.) Ngok ngek ngok ngek berFacebook eh dah 12 malam, bla bla bla bla berYouTube dan berYM, eh surau sudah mula membunyikan bacaan ayat-ayat suci tandanya sebentar lagi waktu subuh menjelma. Oh, tak siap kerja lagi. Tunda esok lah. Lepas tu esok pun sama. Dan esok lagi. Dan esok lagi. Sampailah akhirnya deadline lagi sehari (macam malam ini), baru terhegeh-hegeh memaksa diri menyiapkan.

Ini projek terbaru. Haha tapi kena cari sendiri kalau nak tengok ya.

Bukannya sengaja melewatkan kerja, tapi masalahnya idea bukan selalu mencurah. Alangkah baiknya kalau "designer's cap" atau "thinking cap" yang selalu diwarwarkan itu benar-benar dijual. Saya ingin beli banyak-banyak. Dan satu lagi masalah, kalau perkara itu dilakukan suka-suka, wah bersemangat bukan main lagi. Tapi bila perkara itu menjadi tugas berbayar, semuanya serba tak kena. Serba tak menjadi. Apatah lagi kepada seorang yang kononnya mengaku diri 'perfectionist' (akulah itu), will never settle for less katanya. Lagipun kalau kerja taraf "asalkan boleh" saja, dah tentu orang tak mahu kan. Haha cuba menjustifikasikan kelemahan sendiri.

Jam sudah 10.01PM, baiklah kepada Fievelski, semoga berpuas hati dengan entry kali ini. Hahaha. InsyaAllah saya akan kembali ke UKM Jumaat ini.

Mark My Calendar...

2009-07-11T18:32:00.002+08:00

Fallingwater

2009-07-04T08:47:00.012+08:00

I've been forcing myself to finish a research project which I should do a long time ago (biasela deadline nak dekat baru berhempas pulas kan hahaha)... and during the process I found out Malaysia got LOTS and LOTS of breathtaking waterfalls. And it brings me back during my childhood dengan zaman-zaman oil pastel buncho dan pentel, my favourite scene to draw and colour was always waterfall. But later in life I found out that real waterfalls here pale in comparison with what I've always seen on documentaries. The best I've went so far pun just at Sekayu, Terengganu. Others (Templer, Kanching, Tekala/Gabai (I can't remember, ni masa kem pengawas zaman dahulu kala) is just blerh....

But my inner waterfall-loving self just resuscitate yesterday when I stumble along these pictures... and yes, it's in Malaysia man!

1. Maliau Falls, Maliau Basin, Sabah

My God, my heart falls the minute I saw this. Without caption, I can be easily fooled into thinking that this is located in some Amazonian jungle. But the journey is not for the faint of heart, as it took several days to reach there but damn I can tell it's totally rewarding. I'll make sure I reach here one day, God willing. (Do search "maliau falls" yourself for more pictures)

2. Lata Rek, Between Gua Musang-Kuala Krai, Kelantan
It's not your typical "waterfall", but instead a series of vast rocky cascades. The amount and force of water would increase dramatically during rainy season. Must be exciting to watch.

3. Air Terjun Pelangi, Sg Lembing, Pahang

Maybe the closest we can have to the famed Venezuelan Angel Falls, I always love this freaking-tall-sprinkly-showery type of waterfalls.

Why, you ask is the name pelangi? This is why.

Amazing, huh?

5 Sins in Blogging

2009-06-28T06:16:00.011+08:00

6:20am... time for another random ramblings by me. Just finished marathon-ing Season 4 and 5 of HBO's hit Entourage and I freaking enjoyed it! Just in time before season 6 premiere this July 12th, I really can't wait! Jeremy Piven brings his usual A game every time he's in frame, and in one particular scene from the episode The Day F***ers in season 4 where he was begging the headmaster of his son's school until he shed the goddamn egoistic tears from his eyes is PURE GOLD. I went to check further, and it turned out that THIS IS THE VERY EPISODE he sent for Emmy nomination this year, thus I wholeheartedly apologized him for robbing the Best Supporting Comedy Actor statuette from Neil Patrick Harris of How I Met Your Mother. He really deserved it.

So, so, so... I'm gonna write about 5 biggest sins in blogging, judging from my personal experience, and what I have seen over the years. Ya, I'm just a nobody in this biz, but sincerely, these 5 are my biggest turn offs:

1. Boom boom boom. Boom boom boom.
90% of my online time, I listen to music. And it drove me crazy when some trashy music just bust out of nowhere, only to find out that it comes from your blog. Oh man... sometimes the music is bearable, but most of the time, it's just drop dead annoying (adding insult to injury, when sometimes the quality seems like it's been recorded from a crappy 80's cassette - so much for the "lo-fi" version - it bled my ears). And as I clicked through "older entries", the freaking playlist from that complimentary "jukebox" will start over and over and over again. OK, it is your blog so it is your right, but I beg for your mercy, please put the "musical" widget somewhere your reader can easily see so they can stop the torture if they don't need it.

2. Wickety jiminy widget.
Sure, widget is useful. Widget is fun. Widget adds "colours" (if you claim so) to your blog. But please, don't let it crash your reader's browsers. I don't necessarily need to know about your visitor's country statistics PLUS listening to your torturing music PLUS a fancy flash clock and calendar PLUS a glittering flash generated text PLUS how many users are currently online PLUS how many days before your birthday AND TO TOP IT, a rain of stars/snow/shits on my window. And where do I turn off the music?? I'm LOST. Aaargghhh!!!!

3. Lyrics are my soul.
An entry that consists of a song lyric. That's it? And no further commentaries whatsoever? So I'm supposed to "feel" what's your current "mood" by reading it? Please. At least grow some ~~balls~~ guts and write your own poem or haiku or something else. If the song really "connect" with your present state, tell your readers why. Unless your blog is named "Koleksi lirik-lirik terbaru", stop this pretentious act.

4. This is my latest picture...
There's a growing trend among certain blogger "demography" (I don't want to be called sexist.. or homophobic or nyah-hater hahaha) to START and END EVERY SINGLE POST with their self-taken pictures. Yala.. kami tahu hangpa lawa (ada yang lawa, ada yang....) tapi perlukah gambar hangpa sama banyak macam sofa dalam katalog Courts Mammoth? Jual diri ka? Please, this is degrading and will be seen by your readers as a desperate attempt to get ~~laid~~ men's attention.

5. Click to read more...
One paragraph of entry, then CLICK HERE to read more... and the so-called "more" is just another paragraph or a picture. What do you think your blog is? CNN? Utusan? This is the most-often tactic used by bloggers who's desperate to get as many clicks from their readers by refreshing the money-generating ads.

So that's it. I will leave the design/user friendly aspect (although I can start a whole new chapter on that), because it's subjective. It might look horrible to my eyes, but the owner might adore it as their masterpiece. Ultimately it's their blog.

RIP Michael Jackson

2009-06-26T07:38:00.007+08:00

It was around 5.50am when I read a Facebook status update from a journalist friend saying "Is Michael Jackson dead or just hospitalized?". I went "what"?

Quickly surf to Perezhilton and Eonline website, both are running reports that Michael has been rushed to UCLA Medical Center after suffering a cardiac arrest (heart attack). Only TMZ went on to report that he's dead. I went WHAT???

The original Charlie's Angels Farrah Fawcett has just passed away due to cancer a few hours earlier. But Michael Jackson? No one - I mean no one - ever saw this coming. The last time I remember a prominent figure's sudden death was waaayyy back in 1997 when Princess Diana dies from car crash in Paris. Celebrity twitters notification at Eonline was rolling non stop with Twitter status updates from celebrities from Lindsay Lohan, Samantha Ronson, Fred Durst, Katy Perry, Khloe Kardashian, Kristie Alley, Emmy Rossum, Ashton Kutcher and others, all of whom resoundingly in state of disbelief, and no other news agency dared to confirm the news as there was no official statement coming from Michael's rep or UCLA officials.

CNN reported that Michael was in coma, for a moment, while more and more online news like CBS News and Los Angeles Times confirming the TMZ news. But media agencies from Google News were obviously in dilemma whether to run with the "death" news or not. Around 6.45am, Eonline finally ran the story.

Riuh Pagi ERA changed it's usual bubbly tone to a slow announcement by Aznil saying that "Kami di ERA turut berasa terkejut di atas berita kematian superstar Michael Jackson walaupun masih belum disahkan" but already changing it's playlist for the morning to Michael's tunes. And Din Beramboi was nowhere to be heard.

CNN finally ran the story around 7.30am when a coroner from the hospital confirmed the news. Aznil repeated the same announcement every 10 minutes or so and kept in touch with Astro Awani representative for any developing story until CNN confirmed it. CNN brought live streaming of video coverage on it's website showing the outdoors of UCLA where huge amount of fans starts turning up.

After a few years living in seclusion following his acquital from child molestation prosecution (even rumour of his conversion to Islam), Michael Jackson looks ready to step back into the spotlight and announcing his 50-date comeback tour which will kick off this coming July 13th in O2 Arena in London.

RIP Michael Jackson.

Update: 12 hours after his death, Michael's albums are dominating 7 out of 10 most downloaded albums on iTunes Music Story at the moment.

And for the 400th time...

2009-06-16T20:16:00.005+08:00

... I start my rant. Yes folks, this is my blog's 400th post, a month after it's 4th birthday. Coincidence? (So, that means on average I post 100 entries/year = roughly 1 entry/3 days. Ok la tu kan)

So, what to talk? I just watched the second episode of Weeds and c'mon! You can do better than this! 2 episode and barely a plot development! For viewer's sake, you're a 13-episode-a-season series, not 22. So better pick up your pace, will ya? We've waited for a whole dang year for this.

Nancy Botwin buat muka tak bersalah. Nasib baik ko lawa.

So, I'm gonna review the 2008-2009 TV season that has come to end several weeks ago. What's good, what's bad, what's new and what's cancelled. Here we go again... (my review last season)

30 Rock
One word - Tina Fey! Her pitch perfect impersonation as Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live attracted more viewers for 30 Rock than it ever does. Adding a shelf of A-list guest stars like Oprah, Jennifer Aniston and Steve Martin couldn't hurt either. 30 Rock continues to amuse us with its unconventional, either-you-believe-it-or-hate-it plots and outrageous punchlines that makes you wonder "how funnier can they go?" Will this 2-time Best Comedy Emmy winner able to score a hattrick this year?

90210
Yaa... I liked this better than the first season of One Tree Hill a while back, though its adopting the universal love-tri/quad/pentangle approach, it has this sazzy vibe to it (the hot casts help a lot). Annalyne McCord (Naomi) is the breakout star of the season. Juggling between being a bitch one minute and sympathetic the next one, you hate yourself for loving her. Ethan will not return next season, but the season finale doesn't deal with his departure. I wonder how will this work next season.

Desperate Housewives
The glorious "5 year leap" that was heavily hyped turns out to be... nothing new.... after several episodes. Of course, the childrens are grown up, there's always new funny plotlines every weeks, but the main "mystery" of the season - Dave, the psychopathic mourning father+dad - was very predictable. Dana Delany makes a welcome addition to the housewives, and I'll miss you Edie (nice cameo in the finale!). So, what's in for next season? The central mystery revolves around Gaby's new teenager member, and can't wait to see another twins in Scavo's household!

Dirty Sexy Money (CANCELLED)
How could a dirty, sexy show, touted as the modern day "Dallas" gets cancelled?! That's beyond my imagination. Stupid writers strike last year cut short the first year shows, leaving a long hiatus, resulting in viewers abandon their return, thus forcing the network to cancel like almost all of them. I'll miss you, Darling family.

Eli Stone (CANCELLED)
I just invested my time in the series and play catchup on the first season before the second one starts, and this is how I got paid!? Screw you ABC! The second episode (the one with Katie Holmes) wet my eyes. Life is unfair!

Ghost Whisperer
Ghost Whisperer turns the table round this time when it bravely kill Jim this season... (thus solving the "missing shadow" mystery at the end of last season) And in the most bizarre storyline this season, Jim transfers to another body, but we still sees him as "Jim", but we will wholeheartedly believe in that because we can't stand the sight of Melinda making out with anybody else. The season in overall? Average.

Heroes
Heroes? This son of a bitch bore the hell out of me after a couple of episodes with it's "mindblowing" twists and turns, until when it was revealed that Petrellis' mom IS Sylar's mom - I think I reached my end point. But I still continue downloading the remaining episodes - just in case.

How I Met Your Mother
Slight....ly off the par from past seasons, but nevertheless a healthy dose of comic relief every week for this season I think. The Barney-Robin relationship that we were "promised" at the end of last season never fully materialize, damn it. But at this season's finale, we finally see a weak light of hope to find the "mother", when Ted becomes a "professor" (what the hell? 2-week crash course?) at the university where he say he found the mom here.

Lost
OMG. Just O M G. Another fantastic season, although a relatively short 16 back-to-back episodes, continue to delve more and more into the deep, complicated, mysterious threads of plots that is LOST. I don't know where to begin, but the different thing between Lost and Heroes, though both a champion in the "WTF?? storyline" department, is that - we believe in Lost, however WTF we think it is, because it always explains itself later shortly after, and not without adding more things for us to wonder at the same time. Can't wait for it's final season next year!

Parks and Recreation
Amy Poehler ventures out from her Saturday Night Live staple into primetime TV, accompanying her former co-star Tina Fey in 30 Rock and The Office in NBC's thursday night lineup. Joining them is Ugly Betty on ABC and what more could you ask for? Thursday night (or Friday morning here) is definitely comedy time. Amy single handedly raise this show from mediocrity, but unless this show grab some Emmys, it better hope to find more viewers to avoid cancellation next season.

Pushing Daisies (CANCELLED)
Our favourite pie maker has pushed the daisies after a promising first season. Being nominated for an amazing 12 Emmys didn't seem to help this visual feast.

Privileged (CANCELLED)
I watched the first couple of episodes. Average. Ainul was crazy about it. Didn't expect it to be yanked off the list, though.

Kath & Kim (CANCELLED)
Call it trashy comedy, but I love it! Molly Shannon and Selma Blair made an unexpectedly tasty combo. The supporting casts are fantastic too. Critics said that this re-incarnation of the Australian comedy of the same name "pale" in comparison to the original. I haven't watched so I'm not in a position to judge. I'm sad that it's cancelled.

Samantha Who (CANCELLED)
Our favourite evil turned do-gooder retrogade amnesiac has found her light at the end... NOT! A breakout hit during it's first season, this sophomore comedy's ratings went downhill this season that leads to its cancellation.

The Office
The fifth season was great as usual. Michael made a surprising move at the middle of the season when he resigned and create his own company, and I thought The Office has gone to the whole new level. But it's just temporary and everything was back at normal again. I hoped that Jim and Pam would get married in the finale - but they're not! Looks like Pam's pregnant instead?! How can I not expect this! haha

Ugly Betty
Not it's best season, but the charm remains intact. Moving Amanda as Betty's housemate was one of the memorable moments of the season. By the way, what's the point of bringing Gio back if it's only for a single episode? Awkward! I hope Alexis will return sometime. And watching Christina for the last time leaving inside the elevator was pretty heartbreaking.

Here's to another 400 post! (in 2013?)

A Rumi That Could Be Roomier

2009-06-14T00:23:00.009+08:00

Yes folks, after almost 5 disconnected, freaking hot summer days (tu dia, berangan summer), I came back from RUMI 2009 Architectural Workshop XXI several days ago with thousands of stories and millions of morals. Of course I'm not going to blab everything here, some things are better kept to ourselves. I was looking back at my Olympiarch 2006 entry and BOY HOW MUCH FREE TIME I HAD BACK THEN! I certainly don't possess that zest and energy to post such photodiary anymore. Adding to the fact that I'm not a participant this time.. just an innocent observer (motif innocent?). Preparation pun xdapat turut menolong... sori ya junior2ku. I got some work to do back home.

But having been in what's dubbed by many as 'the best' workshop (Olympiarch) before, I have to be honest here - this time it falls short on many aspects. Maybe because of the dire state of current economy, or sponsorship problems - the organizer knew better. But that shall be no excuse to the "pale" atmosphere of the workshop this time. They should get the music to play all day and more booths opened to give life to the main venues like the dataran and amphitheatre.

Nevermind about the hot weather or the fact that there's thousands of mosquitoes at the college rooms, we know it's beyond your control. But the pathetic water level "dripping" from the showerheads? Really, you can't do anything about that? (This really freaked me out: I was flushing the toilet, than it's like 8 COCKROACHES coming down with the flushed water into the bowl, and crawling back up to the toilet. I SWEAR I HAVE NEVER BEEN MORE TERRIFIED.) The food was kinda bad too, luckily I'm best at adapting. And Beh's car came handy to get our midnight meal. But for those who just completed a module or exhausted after performance, getting a single piece of chipsmore for your so-called "supper" and do not have means of transport to go eating out? There's no sundry shops nearby the college or faculty, for God's sake. Kesian budak-budak kelaparan tau. But I have to give credit where credit is due: the organizers are very warm and friendly - it's like they knew we're not so comfortable and try to make it up by smiling all day.

Technical glitches overshadowing the events held at Dewan Sri Budiman... dari opening, performance until closing, bunyi microphone berdesing dan speaker meletup menghiasi acara. Talking about the performance - what can I say, suma kene demam Britain's Got Talent kah? Lots of street dancers a-la Diversity and Flawless - walaupun berapa kerat je yang benar2 sharp movementnya. Overall, from the two nights I observed, there's a clear line separating the performances into 3 categories

1. The sketch - involve a heavy usage of dialogues, lots of humor elements, with the exeptance of UM, almost all IPTAs went with this type of performance.
2. The surreal - most IPTS prefer this type of perfomance, with huge reliance of audio visual and lighting element and less dialogue.
3. The sampah - refusing to name any (yang pergi tau sendiri), but this 2 institutions put up a full-blown, awkward, syok sendiri performance, totally unrelated to the given concept. Its like watching a disaster happening before your eyes. Nak je blackoutkan dewan.

For UKM? Haha I would say I'm pretty surprised. Maybe sebelum ni tengok latihan je. Things turned out better than I expected. The crowds are pretty supportive too.

So at the end, UKM won nearly all categories that we went for - Best Booth, Best Actress (for perfomance - bravo Yinto), and Special Mention for installation (I think sebab tak cukup requirement 3m x 3m kot). We also tried out for Photography but competition was so stiff. Then tak cukup masa untuk join in other PAM categories. InsyaAllah tahun depan ada lagi, kan?

Penat cakap panjang-panjang, nak tengok gambar? Silalah ke sini.

P/S: Results were already out during the closing ceremony but my convocation fees are blocking mine! Aargh!

Pantun Jenaka

2009-06-05T19:13:00.006+08:00

Stumbled upon last week when I was checking my outstanding student fees. Selama ni status "mendaftar". Alhamdulillah. Now it's time to fork out RM110 for convocation fees.

Biar grad lewat,
asal gred selamat.

Bila takhta jadi rebutan,
musuh negara pun boleh dimaafkan.

Mampu ke tidak nak buat yang gah-gah,
baru bumbung long span pun dah rebah.

Dulu ajak melompat, semangat giler,
bila dah kena lompat, oh tahu pulak tak adil yer?

Dulu konon datuk dengan pramugari,
rupa-rupanya ustaz dengan wassini.

Hehe.

... And It Turns 4

2009-06-01T18:41:00.006+08:00

Wahaha... it's been an excruciatingly busy semester that I forgot that it's my blog's 4th birthday a month ago!

I wrote my first entry on April 26th, 2005. And I won't go rambling about "oh! how it seems like yesterday" crap. It did not. It feels like ages ago. Haha. But that doesn't necessarily a bad thing. Although I didn't update on a daily basis, this blog has been a pretty good time capsule, capturing most of my life's ups and downs through this 4 years. (Although when I blog about something that deeply personal and involve another person, I tried to be as cryptic as only I could understand)

The fact that I'm able to make it this far is pretty darn achievement, as I'm easily get bored doing same things after certain time. But I guess the fact that I kinda love writing and reviewing things make it a continuous affair.

I don't blog to follow the trends.
I don't blog to find new friends.
I don't blog to entertain the mass.
I don't blog to earn dollars and cents.

My life is far from interesting, let me be the first to admit that. I don't crave for visitors or followers (although it's humbling to get some). I'm just sharing my views on what I see happening around me. It would mean a world if I can just sit back and read my old entries with my sons and daughters in the future. Reminiscing back on my life. My life as a me.

Happy birthday, Mr. Blog.

Britain's Got Talent

2009-06-01T04:00:00.003+08:00

So, the curtain's pulled down on the third season of Britain's Got Talent, this year's surprise global phenomenon that owes it's success to YouTube and Susan Boyle. I'm not a talent show aficionado, so I refused to follow the series even after watching that 200-million-hits "I Dreamed A Dream" clip.

But right after having a test watch of the first round of semi final earlier this week (to watch Susan again), I got magically hooked on by the other contestants as well, and decided to make the best use of faculty's speedy internet to download the show from the beginning.

What a treat. I especially love the show's format. It's unlike Idol or other singing talent reality shows, where you continually got surprised by the most unlikeliest of performers because you'll never know what they're gonna do, or how good or bad can they be. The show also make good use of background music to "inject" certain emotions to the viewers that can ultimately make the audition looks like a scene from a movie. Ant and Dec are officially my newest TV darlings (and Stephen Mulhern with the spin-off show, Britain's Got More Talent is utter genius).

Although Susan lost to Diversity (another superior act), she's only beginning her journey towards a greater destiny ahead. After decades of rejections and ridicules, she's finally got her well-deserved break and epitomizes the phrase "it's never too late". Thank you Susan, you're an inspiration.

America's Got Talent will premiere it's fourth season next week, but I doubt it will be half as good as it's British counterpart. We shall wait and see if there's another Susan Boyle waiting to be discovered.

Home. Now What?

2009-05-30T18:04:00.004+08:00

After a seemingly neverending 4 years, architecture finally let me off it's deep and treacherous claws. And I'm back home now. So, now what?

(main title rolls)

Itulah akibat pengaruh tengok TV series banyak sangat. Haha. OK, back to title. As I've mentioned in earlier entries, I will be pursuing my Masters in January next year. So, in the meantime, I was planning to work, NOT in architecture firms (I've had enough!), but in other relevant field such as communicative graphics, publishing media or advertisements. With the same starting salary with architecture firms, I would rather slaving myself for something that I actually passionate about.

But life is, and always have been, a written masterplan. You can plan, but it always play itself. Something came up out from nowhere. An opportunity that I think I would never had if I did graduate last year. This, again, goes on to prove that everything happen for a reason. Semua yang berlaku ada hikmahnya. Praise God.

So, let's lay out my agenda now that I'm back home.

1. Room renovation. Haha. (belek2 katalog IKEA)
2. Project 01: Codename daun
3. Project 02: Codename hutan
4. Project 03: Codename XS
5. Project 04: Codename burung
6. Project 05: Codename lena.

Penatlah baru habis belajar dah kene kerja. I need a backpack tour across Europe or something.

A Series of Farewell Events

2009-05-26T12:14:00.014+08:00

Haha balik-balik datang sini tak update-update jugak kan. Tula jadinya kalau suka menangguh-nangguhkan penulisan. Cite semakin banyak pastu tak sempat tulis akhirnya terbengkalai jua. Haha.

Just like when Tun Mahathir's ending his service ... (err Wikipedia, help me!) six years ago with endless nights of farewell and thank-you dinners thrown by various parties and organizations, that's what happened to us recently, except that we throw the events ourselves, and we paid for it ourselves. hahaha

So, here's a quick rundown:

Event 01: ~~Mountain (cewah)~~ hill hiking
Date: May 16
Venue: Broga Hill, Semenyih
Participants: Zaid, Gedik, Sansit, Fadhil, Sansit's brother, Chee Way, Che Lan, Soo Yung.
Notes: Exhausting, but the scenery from up there was totally worth it. I only felt the pain on my feet 2 days later! Later after burning some 10000 calories (exaggerated), we quickly replaced it back with cucur udang, Soo Yung belanja. Haha

Event 02: Karaoke
Date: May 18
Venue: Metro Point, Kajang
Participants: Farah, Gedik, Alyaa, Nisa, Mas, Che Lan.
Notes: Pelepas tension (tension kah?) selepas internal review, we quickly resume the long-paused intention of our favourite pastime. For 3 WHOLE FREAKING HOURS! ahahhaa... best giler.

Songlist (not in order, my memory's not THAT fantastic):
01 Hot & Cold
02 Senja Nan Merah
03 You Are My Destiny (ini Che Lan yang pilih, pastu xtau nyanyi pun)
04 Sampai Syurga
05 Angkat Kaki (ini Mas yang pilih haha)
06 Tangisan Marhaenis
07 Di Akhir Garisan
08 The Ketchup Song
09 Kaulah Segalanya
10 Antara Anyir dan Jakarta
11 Stay The Same
12 Hati Ini Telah Dilukai (yang ni Farah tertekan stop tengah2 lagu)
13 Tegar
14 Cinta Dalam Hati
15 Jatuh Cinta Lagi
16 Aku Stacy
17 Masih Terserlah Ayumu
18 As Long As You Love Me
19 Duhai Malam
20 Kiss Me
21 There She Goes
22 Tiada Lagi
23 Fantasia Bulan Madu
24 Hanya Kau Yang Mampu
25 Pemuja Rahasia
26 Lagu Siam
27 Lagu Siam (dua-dua ni Gedik yang pilih, sume orang tak tau nyanyi)
28 Matahariku
29 Bleeding Love
30 Lemon Tree
31 It's My Life

Event 03: Steak Night
Date: May 18
Venue: Kampung Baru
Participants: Farah, Gedik, Ainul, Che Lan, Finas, Iman, Yeen, Kak Aida, Dayah, Dalila
Notes: Ainul, in the spirit of her new car (cewah), cordially invited us all the way from Petaling Jaya to Bangi, to have a western dinner at Kampung Baru infamous (yakah?) ship-themed steak place.

Event 04: Angels & Demons
Date: May 19
Venue: Capsquare, KL
Participants: Ainul, Ceeda, Farah, Gedik, Chee Way, Shafiz, Alias, Ya
Notes: After hours of planning (pretty last minute, getting tickets for a hot movie for quite a number of people at the right cinema was a daunting task). But thankfully Capsquare never fail to accomodate. haha.

Event 05: Birthday Kak Aida + Farewell Party
Date: May 20
Venue: Studio Duranta
Participants: Kak Aida, Kak Maz, Kak Z, Yong, Kak Adzlin, Fadhil, Gedik, Ya, Farah, Iman, Finaz, Alyaa, Farida, Pkah, Sue, Alias, Dayah (tu dia.. mengikut susunan 5th year, 4th year, RA, 3rd year dan 2nd year. 1st year mana ek?)
Notes: Kaboom! Meletup abis la. What a party! Sederhana tapi meriah (konsep wedding Dato' Siti) haha... Lots of thanks to organizers, masterminds, sponsors, chefs, decorator, set designers (cewah), and everyone lah.

Event 06: Farewell Luncheon
Date: May 21
Venue: Kenny Rogers Roasters, Alamanda
Participants: Gedik, Shafiz, Kak Huda, Ya, Alias, Sarah, Nisa.
Notes: Sad day, because it's the last day before I went home (kejap), and the last time meeting Sarah and Nisa before the convocation.

The Last 60 Minutes

2009-05-22T21:42:00.004+08:00

Currently in Master's+RA room, waiting for my dad to fetch me from campus and back home. He should be here any minute.

So this is it. This is my final hour in UKM.
(Well, not exactly. Because I still have to return next Monday for a meeting)

How do I feel? Excited? Happy? Sad?

I'm overwhelmed. Really. Words can't describe it. One thing for sure - I'm proud. I'm proud to be able to finally finish this course, and I feel like I've done the best I could over this (3+1) years. I really do.

OK, dad's arrived.

Bye Bye UKM.

(Farewell dinners/luncheons stories will be updated later)

The Dream

2009-05-17T00:34:00.005+08:00

Somehow I forgot something.. it's my graduation day! It's freakin' TODAY!
Reached DECTAR (from... I dunno.. home maybe?)... hastily putting on my mortarboard, and it turned out that everybody had already come out from DECTAR already! The session's OVER! Oh damn damn!
But I recognized someone at the front of DECTAR. Puan! Thank God.
She smiled and never looked happier. Shook her hand and ask for a picture together.
Click!

(Wakes up)

Oh. My. What is this? What a bizarre dream.

Maybe this comes from what she told my studio the day before.
"My proudest moment is when I see my students up there on the stage receiving their scroll"
I believe the whole studio's touched by those words.

I get chills everytime I think about the dream. Don't know why.

Final Presentation

2009-05-15T07:01:00.004+08:00

Pentas berdarah

(just woke up after a long, much needed sleep)

Yesterday was the final presentation+assessment+submission before we wrap this semester out with internal and external review next week.

What can I say? Just what can I say? Well if I were to simplify it in a single sentence : you better hope lady luck is staying by your side.

You may have worked semi-hard over months developing your design with lecturer A, but if lecturer B couldn't grasp the concept and agree with your point of view that you tried to sell in a 10-minute presentation, so that's it.

And if somebody else who was rarely at the studio, but it just so happen that his/her design struck a chord with lecturer B's wise and ever wonderful mind, you know how the rest will turn out. Not that I'm being jealous (jealousy is a big, evil word), but I think it's a bit unfair to those who work our asses off.

And some people had a little too much time on their hands to produce stunningly-beautiful-photo-realistic 3ds, but sadly not on the basic drawings. Come on.

Thankfully all the marks will eventually go through Lecturer A before the final marks are keyed in, so hopefully I'll stay away from trouble.

Malaysia Top 30 IPT Websites

2009-05-09T18:09:00.007+08:00

There's been much argument about who's who in Malaysia's IPT ranking over the years... But I'm not gonna touch on that now. Instead, let's see how popular are their official websites. Data compiled from Alexa.

01 Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) - 20,946 (traffic ranking)
02 Universiti Malaya (UM) - 24,452
03 Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) - 24,891
04 Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) - 25,684
05 Multimedia University (MMU) - 29,424
06 Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) - 29,744
07 Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) - 33,731
08 Open University Malaysia (OUM) - 43,272
09 Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia (UIAM) - 52,378
10 Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) - 59,419

11 Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) - 74,253
12 Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) - 89,757
13 Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) - 92,505
14 HELP Institute - 128,822
15 Sunway College - 129,668
16 Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) - 133,161
17 Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (UNITAR) - 138,970
18 University College Sedaya International - 145,358
19 Monash University Malaysia - 148,063
20 Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN) - 157,390

21 Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) - 170,266
22 Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) - 171,170
23 Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) - 177,345
24 The University of Nottingham, Malaysia Campus - 182,197
25 Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) - 192,783
26 INTI International College - 205,586
27 Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) - 223,415
28 Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) - 233,102
29 Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UNIMAP) - 248,941
30 Universiti Industri Selangor (UNISEL) - 269,521

"What Would I Do Without You"

2009-05-09T08:03:00.002+08:00

You'll never realize the power that those six words hold up until someone said it to you.

Sometimes a little appreciation does wonder.

5 days to submission.

Have a nice weekend everybody!