The MCOBA President’s Nite was a blast!!

Had a wonderful time at Lake Club last nite...

Tapi I lupa bawak camera!!!

Of courselah we snapped the table nearest to the food – yeah my idea – itu sebablah badan sedap-sedap.

As usual the same people turned up – tapi Morky Moqq tak datanglah pulak – he said he had something important to attend to – kami paham.

Had a great time catching up with Kichi, Rizal, Wawa, Datuk Kelly, TAB, Bullet, Radin & partner, Kecok, Apek, Peejoun, Azlanhazli, Latt, Hasnul and the rest of the budak-budak Kolek.

Anyway Moqq you must join us for the Old Boys Weekend. I booked 4 bilik kat hotel murahan Sri Kangsar – Hotel for the ‘stars’. PARTY TIME...

Kerusi Cekem Patah

Yesterday I sat on Cekem's Swivel chair and tiba-tiba kerusi terus patah...



Apa maksudnya?

a. Orang yang duduk itu berat?
b. Kerusi itu tak kuat?
c. All of the above.


But Cekem said -- itu maknanya ada 'takhta' sedang menanti. And I said -- what about when the stage punya tangga kat one launch event dulu patah? Dapat stairway to heaven ker?

Malas Mandi

Semenjak dua menjak ni I malas mandi.

Malas nak blow-dry rambut.

Malas nak lawa-lawa.

Malas segala...



Just love to curl up with a good magazine/paper/book.

Crisis oh crisis...

Selamat pergi Pak Andak.

This morning my dad and I went back to the place where he was born – Ramuan China Kecil in Melaka. It’s a very small kampong.

The reason for the trip, my favourite uncle, Pak Andak, passed away early this morning.


Pic from www.fotosearch.com

Pak Andak was a very famous Cikgu in the kampong, Cikgu Salleh Maatan -- One of the early ‘budak kampong’ made good through good education during British-Malaya.

My dad was inspired by him.

He made dad study hard and under his wings, dad made it to the prestigious Sultan Idris Training College, SITC (today SITC is ‘upgraded’ to a university -- UPSI).

Dad later on got his degree from Universitas Nasional in Indonesia and moved on from being a teacher to headmaster to registrar and later to life in the corporate world.


Pic from www.fotosearch.com

According to dad, SITC was THE place to train great teachers before Malaysia’s independence and many graduates of SITC were teachers of great Malaysians and they were also heroes who fought for our independence. My father's good friends at SITC who are still around include Tan Sri Awang Had and Datuk Wahab (Muluk's dad).

Pak Andak’s house in Ramuan China Besar, a few kilometers from Ramuan China Kechil, was filled with people from all walks of lives – politicians, academicians, civil servants, unemployed souls and the 'kerja kampong’folks. Almost all of them are related to me.


Pic from www.fotosearch.com

We have successful ones in the extended family – accountants, teachers, educationists and we also have relatives in the middle to lower income groups.

They were just so nice to me, since I have not been back to see the sawah and kerbau for ages and of course my aunties took the chance of a lifetime to ask the zillion dollar question “Bilo ekau ni nak kawin. Kek kampong ni banyak anak dagho lawa-lawa. Kawin yo lah mo orang kampong, dapek dio meraso”

Meraso? Hmmm....


Pic from www.fotosearch.com


But this trip to Ramuan China Besar made me realized (infact INSAF) two things:

1. What if all the elders were no longer around – I wouldn’t know how to mandikan jenazah!!

2. Will my poor relatives really benefit from the soon to be improved Public Transportation System with the ‘funds’ collected from the fuel price hike? They don’t go to KL. They don’t use the LRT, Monorail, RapidKL and the bridges with cracks here and there. I cried in my heart knowing that they have to pay for our convenience in KL when they are going through tough times making ends meet in Ramuan China Kechil, Ramuan China Besar and Lubok China in Melaka. Surely there must be other ways to improve our infrastructure without taxing my relatives too much...

To ayah, I love you...


Pic from www.fotosearch.com

You can take the Melayu out of the Kampong...

But you cannot take the kampong out of the Melayu...



Bukti-buktinya:

1. At the office, I’ll change to my kain sarong – phew... now ‘they’ can breathe...

2. At Heathrow, we’ll bersila and minum kopi makan biskut cicah dalam kopi.

3. Wasabe is treated like sambal belacan.

4. Gyros and Sovlaki must have Tabasco sauce (bagi effect sambal belacan gak).

5. Ada shower, still nak pakai gayong.

Firomli The Weatherman tagged me!!

Oh, I’m hopeless when it comes to ‘revealing’ – coz I really lead a boring (capital B) life.

Anyway, tag punya pasal….



5 things you can do

1. I can sing – very well – but the recording companies failed to discover me – their talent scouts should be fired!!!

2. I can cook – just ask those who were with me at Portland State University – my chicken curry, sambal udang, curry oyster, nasi farsi memang best -- but nowadays, I prefer to only eat.

3. I can make you happy – aha… see, never try never know wor…

4. I can sketch – see my designs – I’m working on some deals now – midlife career change – more like midlife crisis (says Cekem).

5. I can eat – A LOT!!!


5 things that scare you

1. Rejection – That’s why I never start. Penakut macam tikus (eh... wrong .. the tikus in Bangsar berani bukan main...besarlak tu)

2. Hantu – There are 3 or 4 in the office.

3. Lost in space – I like to venture aimlessly.

4. Snake – It applies to humans with snake like tendencies too.

5. Heights – No…. let’s do it downstairs… hahhaha



5 things you can’t do without.

1. Sambal (mom’s sambal udang and sambal ikan).

2. Hair dryer – the hair on my head should trade places with the hair on other parts of my body. The hair on the head = frizzy. So I need to blow dry ‘em straight every single morning – penat lah brader.

3. Hair spray – Coz it’s humid here, I have to spray the artificially straightened hair to keep ‘em straight throughout the day.

4. Miyami -- to make sure I don’t look like I just finished cooking in the kitchen – I have a very oily face.

5. Lipliner – coz my lips = so discoloured that I will look ‘extremely poor and sick’ without a bit of lipcolour – gloss tak main lah. (I’m so shallow kan?)



5 things that you love

1. My family.

2. My good friends (not many – they know who they are).

3. My self – narcissistic to the max.

4. My space.

5. Beautiful surroundings.




5 things that you hate

1. Bad people.

2. Bad people pretending to be good.

3. Users – relatively good people making use of really nice people.

4. People who are always late.

5. Self-centred humans – balik-balik nak ikut syok dia jer… selera dia… eh…tak larat…


5 random facts about you

1. Lovely personality – you think so?

2. When I fall in love, I’m a hopeless romantic – I’ll be your slave.

3. My place is a mess – lets go to your place…

4. I love hard boiled eggs – cholesterol lover.

5. I’m so easy to please – just put food at my door and I’ll make my way to your place/heart/soul.


5 things you want to do before you die.

1. Leave a mark – like what those animals do on trees and shrubs on Animal Planet – in other words – kecingkan tempat tu.

2. Do nice things.

3. Leave nice things.

4. Create lots of extremely nice things.

5. Spend good times with nice people.

My designs on Shazwan

Hari ni, Shazwan dipaksarela menjadi model.

Enjoy my 'conteng' on Baju Melayu and Nehru.

Coming up next, cadar, etc.. bila Bib?

Design 2

First and foremost, thank you for your ‘vote of confidence’.

Especially jauhari yang mengenal manikam like Bib, Muluk, Rizal, Hazel, Kelvin Ong, the SSO family and friends who told me to take my ‘menconteng’ (yes, not mentjanting) foray seriously.

And yes, I will take it seriously... Here’s my second design – baru siap kat opis. Muluk nak empat - lima helai...macamana ni? Kedai belum bukak lagi...

I want to be a 'designer'

Would you buy my designs?

I design patterns – not exactly batik, but whatever I have on my mind -- I will draw it on cotton and linen.

Lihatlah sample ni – I wear all my designs – Kalau tidak siapa lagi...

A 'Surprise' Shine On Dinner

Thank you Mokciknab and Gang for organizing a ‘Shine On’ Dinner for me.

Below are the pictures from the wonderful event at Fasta Pasta.



Mokciknab and Dada.



Ian and Nadia.



Shazwan and Nadia.



Zell.



Mami Nomi, Papa Khalid, Mokciknab, Dada and Abang Poelese.



Rizal and Papa Khalid.



Cekem



As usual Husni had to fly the plane.

Congratulations Yazid

Last Saturday night, me, Mokciknab, Rizal, Hazel, Bib, Bib’s hubby, and Dida Mallik went to the MPO Forum for Malaysian Composers 2.

Husni was not able to make it as he had to fly the plane to Taipeh and Shazwan was caught in the U-Haul business.

I really enjoyed the compositions, especially Yazid’s Mahsuri and As-Saff by Syed Sharir Faisal Syed Hussain. BTW Syed Sharir Faisal ni budak kolek – yes, MCKK – hidup sekolah jalan setesen.

Yazid made it to the next round. He will go through to the second stage of the Forum and may potentially be selected to particiapte in the MPO International Composer's Award (MPOICA) in 2008.

I first met Yazid during the launch of the Yayasan Dunia Melayu last year.

Yazid started his career with the Petronas Performing Arts Group in 1993 and was the musical director for many dance dramas. Among them -- Raja Sakti, Puteri Gunung Ledang, Lambang Sari, and Mahsuri.

He won a Cameronian Arts Award in 2002 for best original composition, Indera Putera.

Most of all, Mohd Yazid Zakaria is such a nice guy.

Paternal Maternal Instinct

Is it only me or you too feel the same?

Now, the older I get, the less I care for my baju or kasut (but hair still maintainlah...)

And I care for other people more...Pelik tetapi benar... (I know.. I know... you'll say, yeah right Sioux, sakit apa pulak kali ni...)

I do risau... dia dah makan ker... dia demam ker... dia tension giler ker... (well, Papa Khalid and Cekem said "Kera di hutan disusu, kera di LDP dilanggar triple somersault -- ha macam tulah kiasnya...)

Strange.. I used to be so self-centric.

And to Dida Mallik, pemain violin kegemaran you, Sebastian See Schierenberg tu ada dipaparkan di bawah ini... Enjoy...

Gari Terlerai

Once in a while I will have this feeling that ‘suddenly kita terlepas from gari di tangan dan kaki’.

I felt that very early in the morning and couldn’t wait to go kick some ass.

Quote of the day – “tak larat orang yang slow loris”.

BTW, rumah baru Husni lawa... I love the dinding kaca everywhere—sesuai untuk “exhibitionist” like me...