ode to the soapbox

urghh my abs pain. semalam lepas keje, semangat pegi gym, then at home doing tummy crunch pulak tuh. sekarang dah sakitt..

saper kata pegi gym baik utk kesihatan? saper???

tak pernah2 laa aku pegi gym.. ok pernah tu pernah tapi jarang-jarang bak kata p ramlee dalam nujum pak belalang. sampai kalau pergi jek, orang2 tua boleh kata buang tebiat, orang cina pulak kata, boleh cepat2 pegi beli nombor ekor...

teringat zaman dulu2 lepas sekolah time merewang ngan kawan2 berpeleseran di kota KL, aku pergi beli bunga malai yg minachi india dok pakai kat kepala tuh.. alaa kat tempat2 yg ada india they all selalu jual tepi jalan kan? yg tu laa.. aku curious, lagipon murah jek.. 50 sen jek tak salah..

seminggu lepas tu kawan2 aku kata they all ingat aku dah buang tebiat masa tuh, berkelakuan aneh ala2 tanda2 nak meninggal gituh. keji takk??

anyway, pegi gym ni gara2 nak pegi boracay next month laa nie. swimming pool totop for maintanence.. biasanya aku pegi swimming jek. btw, terperanjat gak first time nampak tetiber ada tape mengelilingi swimming pool last week. ingat ada orang mati lemas ke apa, kes police hahaha...

pergi beach, kena laa in tip top condition kan.. karang kalau orang ingat ko dugong terdampar tepi pantai, terus tolak ko masuk laut, saper yg susah? keji jer aku punya alasan. kawan aku yg nak pegi sekali nie very the muscular pulak tuh, nanti tak laa aku rasa macam rejected good jer.

lagipon pergi holiday sana sini lately makan tak terjaga laa. yelah, sampai tempat orang kena laa cuba local delicacies. takkan nak mintak healthy food pulak kan?.. nak healthy duduk rumah diam2 masak sendri...

cakap pasal holiday, err.. banyak ke aku pergi holiday akhir2 nie? last monday masa main tennis, aku bagitau my tennis kaki yg aku baru balik dari hong kong dan macau the night before. they all siap tanya, how come you always go on a trip?

then message2 kat facebook pon, indicate macam laa aku pegi trip2 tiap2 bulan. ok maybe aku pegi tiap2 bulan, tapi all short holiday ok. weekend plus one or two more days. no big deal right? lain laa aku ambik 2 minggu off terus, baru laa keje bertimbun.

plus, those westeners always go on holiday for two, three months at one time.. some even the whole year, and they are more developed than us. so what does that tell us?

exactly.

btw, sekarang my heart also pain. haruskah aku pergi Mekah also in december???



...adie

i have cough. i have flu, and till few days ago, i got a bit of fever.

urghh...

i don't mind getting sick you know, as it's just flu, not life-threatening (unless it's H1Ni but somehow i don't think that's what this is) and i can use a bit of rest at home too (whilst playing my new virtua tennis xbox 360 game that i just bought last week).

but i already took 2 days mc last week because of gastric pain, the week after my one week hari raya break, and getting one this week doesn't look too good from the eyes of the boss and HR no matter how you look at it. plus, i'm going on leave tomorrow till next week.

the timing is just all wrong lahh.. my body chose such an inconvenient time to fall apart. last friday night, we went to zirca pub in clarke quay. my friend asked me to go along since he could get us into the guest list.

you see, it was a mr singapore final event that night, and his friend is actually mr bukit timah. how he got a friend like that, i don't know, but i just wanted to go out and chill.

but then, my nose started running the moment i stepped inside. it was like a curse or retribution or something. i tell you, it doesn't make you feel good to be all wet and drippy while looking at those perfectly healthy bodies on the stage. i felt like such a reject.

and now, it's less than 24 hours till my flight to macau, and i'm not even sure i don't have fever yet. at least, i think i don't. this should be just the normal warm blooded heat. still, i must find a way to cool down the body today, be it by gulping liters of barley drink or wearing ice patch all over. it's just common sense to be prepared, or like the singaporeans say, be kiasu a bit.

i guess eating ice cream is good too, right? i already started coughing anyway, so it's not like it's a big deal. the company thinks it is though, because they think it's appropriate to reward us for getting through the pay freeze and retrenchment and zero OT through this difficult economic downturn by giving us ice creams.

yes ice cream. 2 cones of it. they even elected representatives from each department to decide whether their respective departments will get cones or scoops of ice creams. when other companies get bonuses or even outside outings, we get 2 cones of ice creams, and it's not even haagen daas, or one of those premium brand. i mean, what kind of brand is dairy farm??

well i guess at the very least, all those middle age men and women could flashback their childhood memory, to the excitement when their kindergarten class teacher treated the whole class ice creams to get them to cheer up. after all, this is what it's all about, the company tryring to cheer you up for 2 seconds despite all the shortcomings.

so, good job company x, keep it up! i almost forgot my pay is stagnant already.

the newspaper can say what they want, like today's headline proclaims that singapore is already out of recession, but for me, until we are feeling the benefits, it's all just empty words.

people say, until you walk the talk, you're just talking cock. if the company is doing better, then how come i still cannot claim medical expenses? if i go to work and spread H1N1 to the whole department then it's really not my problem.

when our friends will get married is also not my problem. well most of the times, but when your good friend suddenly announced he's getting married in few months time, it does send shock waves to the richter scale. i felt just like susan meyer suddenly being told that her daughter is pregnant by her neighbour lynette scavo in season 6.

the only difference is, nobody is in life support machine here. well, except PAS that just got whacked left and right after the malaysian state bagan pinang by-election last sunday. they deserved it though. my point is, what's up with endless islamic or secular state, canning or not canning, drinking or not drinking, covered up or not covered up debates? can we just concentrate on how to improve the quality of life of common folks?

but what do i know? i'm just a stagnant-paid employee of a company that rewards ice creams, with drippy nose and unstoppable coughing, and kept in the dark when his best friend was getting married.

quo vadis, adie??



...adie

ari nie dah 26 Ramadhan ok..

rasanya baru semalam bangun sahur for the first time, tetiber sekarang tak sampai seminggu lagi dah nak raya.

dah nak kena start selongkar gerobok keluarkan travel bag untuk packing baju2 raya bawak balik kampung. dah nak kena mengira2 berapa duit nak withdraw untuk bagi duit raya. dan bagi last-minute king, dah gelabah carik2 masa nak singgah bayar zakat fitrah.

kad2 raya elektronik pon orang dah start hantar. kalau dulu dapat kad raya tu boleh laa digantung2 kat dinding, atau tabur atas meja supaya boleh riak, menunjuk2 kengkonon diri ini glamer laa dapat byk kad raya. tapi zaman serba e-canggih nie, kad2 raya orang hantar e-kad ajer. tak gantung2 dah, paling bangsat pon buat wallpaper...

tahun nie pulak we go one step further, tak main dah hantar pakai e-mail. obsolete kata orang jawa. leceh kan nak hantar satu2, sorang2. so sekarang kita pakai facebook ajer. lepas tu publish kat wall. hah, terus beratus2 orang dapat. convenient, rite?

sampai ntah sapa2 orang pelusuk mana, non-muslim pon secara automatik akan dapat e-kad nie sekali. yelah sekarang friends added pon random, semata2 untuk jadi barn buddy or farmville neighbours. agaknya orang kat africa balik dari safari bukak facebook, terus terperplex, (~alihsuara ke bahasa malaysia) amende ker nyer "hari raya" nie???

aku dah apply cuti. tahun nie aku plan cuti seminggu. hah lama kan? yelah sanak saudara lama tak jumpa. sebagai anak rantau yg terkontang kanting sorang2 mencarik rezeki di tempat orang nie, sanak saudara tu stardard jumpa setahun sekali jer, time raya.

which is for some of them, actually still ok sebab we are facebook buddies. takut kan? sekarang no privacy ok, sepupu sepapat sumer dalam facebook. aku bangun makan sahur apa pon depa2 nie lagi tau dari mak aku. tak payah jumpa pon. cuma atuk, makcik, pakcik kat kampung yg takde internet bak rumah Tompok di bandar something-something putra tu jer, kena bertandang untuk bertanya2 khabar.

tahun nie baju melayu pon aku beli. lengkap satu set ok. walaupun standard pakai sekali dua jer setahun, tapi sebab tamak haloba punya pasai, ghairah nampak kaler hijau tergantung dengan diskon RM82 di the curve, terus terbeli. hmm.. takpelaa.. kita azam pakai baju nie for the next 5 years. takyah beli2 lagi. in fact, kalau aku kawin pon, aku buat tema hijau supaya boleh pakai baju nie. bolley???

selalu aku belikan kek lapis monica indonesia untuk mak aku dari bazaar ramadhan geylang serai tiap2 kali raya, supaya boleh dihidang pada orang datang beraya yg kita tak berapa suker, dan di kala lauk2 pauk raya dah habis tak sempat nak top up. tapi tahun nie memandangkan warga indonesia dah benci kita, aku pon idak laa membeli. instead, aku nak belikan mak aku rempah kari malabar 10 packet supaya lazat lauk kari di rumah...

ok laa everybody.. selamat menyambut 10 malam terakhir ramadhan!!



...adie

wow it was fun time in JB. fun with a capital F ok. especially bila peserta import dari bangkok turut serta. lokasi? rumah baru tompok yg berada di bandar something-something putra (tak ingat laa aku apa nama tempat nie hehe..).

rumah dia nie masih lagi virgin.. in the sense that semua benda still inside plastik. tompok memang suker laa benda2 dalam plastik ni kot. so bila nak potong bawang, pisau masih dalam plastik. nak guna papan pemotong, masih dalam plastik. even pinggan mangkuk pon still ada tanda harga ok.

but still ok lah.. pinggan mahal. tax custom JB sahaja dah mencecah RM180. in fact, agaknya tanda harga tu memang sengaja ditinggalkan nak bagi she-who-should-not-be-named aka RBS jeless....

sampai sahaja rumah, rupa2nya we all peserta2 kehormat nie terjebak menjadi mangsa kerahan tenaga memotong bawang, sayur bagai untuk menu berbuka. sampai even bila tetamu jemputan sampai untuk berbuka puasa pon, we all still dalam fiesta potong-memotong. akhirnya tetamu jemputan itew hanya pasrah berbuka dengan juadah bazaar ramadhan sahaja...

yg ni pon still ok lah.. sebab bini dia siap kata, memorable sungguh datang jauh2 semata-mata untuk berbuka dengan lauk pauk bazaar ramadhan tersebut..

akhirnya pukul 8.30pm baru lah lauk pauk semua siap. menu hari itu, merangkap sessi berbuka puasa 2nd stage, ialah ketupat nasi berserta kuah lodeh (bukan londeh ok.. ingat tu) dan sambal tumis udang.



hasil setelah kami membanglakan diri selama 2 jam


bangla2 imported from luar negeri + tuan rumah

rasa? trez magnifique, walaupun kuah lodeh berwarna pucat sebab serbuk kunyit lupa beli. ada ke aku disuruh ketuk rumah jiran mintak kunyit? patut tak? hehe.. but everything else was perfect lah. tak percaya? lihat saja bentuk2 potongan sengkuang di dalam kuah lodeh itew...

bila dah tersandar kekenyangan bagai ular sawa yg baru menelam seekor kambing gurun, masing2 pon terlena dalam rahap.. eh, i mean, atas sofa. sampai bila RBS sampai pon tak perasan. RBS bawak bahulu. cheh bahulu aje? mana kuih raya coklat chip yg fames itew??

memandangkan tompok sudah mengajak ustaz kecik untuk berbuka bersama, tapi sengaja tidak memberi alamat rumah dengan harapan ustaz kecik dapat ilham meneka di mana dia tinggal, menyebabkan takde mana2 ustaz pon menyertai sessi berbuka kami, maka esoknya kami sebulat suara mebuat keputusan untuk membuat lawatan sambil belajar ke pasir gudang.

pasir gudang di mana ustaz kecik ini tinggal terletak kira2 40 menit sahaja dari bandar something-something putra, tapi sudah pon terletak di zon iklim berbeza. kerana sampai sahaja si sana, langit tetiber mendung dan angin bertukar dingin sehingga kami semua terperplex...

dah setahun tak jumpa ustaz kecik, aku nampak dia sedikit kecik dan lebih fit berbanding setahun lepas semasa berjumpa di pizza hut reunion. ini mesti gara2 banyak merempit dengan basikal mountain nie. even sports channel yg tak wujud di rumah tompok pon, menyiarkan sukan rempit basikal ini ok. ustaz obsessed!

aku bagi peluang laa mereka2 yg berkenaan melepaskan rindu dendam sambil aku diam2 bermain lego. yg best, dia ada buku AAJ graduation yg mengandungi karangan bahasa jepun yg kami tulis. wah, masa bila aku mengaryakan karangan masterpiece 'shukudai ga kirai da!!' itew?? langsung tak ingat ok. ternyata ginkgo biloba yg aku telan tu tak memberi kesan apa2. balik nie harus aku komplen kat nature's farm.

sesudah melawat jiran ustaz yg membuat bisnes spa di rumah sendiri, dan kemudian membuat spekulasi2 liar mengenai jiran tersebut, we all balik kembali ke bandar something-something putra, pickup kereta aku dan menuju balik ke tambak. disebabkan peserta bangkok harus kembali ke rahmatullah, i mean, ke bangkok, maka kita merancang untuk berbuka puasa di singapore sahaja lahh...

sebelum meninggalkan bandar something-something putra

berbuka puasa di afghanistan (nama manja restaurant di N2 tampines ave 2) pon ok jugak, sebab tak crowded, dan nasi ayam sambal dia best! ada pulak rojak char kueh yg aku suker, plus goreng cempedak. air? kopi ais tarik. fuh kepuasan di tahap klimaks ok.

menunggu masa berbuka puasa di tampines N2

sementara menunggu masa untuk ke airport, we all mencuci2 mata melihat scene2 yg tak menarik langsung di swimming pool rumah aku. then aku hantar tan balik ke toa payoh, bilamana we all realized jalan balik menuju ke airport jam giler.

huh? tak pernah2 jam tetiber hari tu jam? ni yg nak jadi alanis morisette nie. ok so we have 30 minutes before the check-in gate closes, and a highway yg tetiber jam. bolley?

maka dengan serta merta aku transformed, terperasan menjadi pelumba F1 city track singapore, melalui celah2 barisan alternative jalan merentasi balestier dan geylang untuk bypass bahagian highway yg jam, masuk semula highway di paya lebar dan memecut laju menuju garisan penamat di terminal satu.

sampai saja, aku pon ala2 screech burnt tyre kat tepi pintu masuk arrival hal (padahal sebenarnya aku berenti dengan penuh sopan santun belakang taxi yg lembab banget). aku tunggu dalam kereta ok samada we made it on time ke tidak. tetiber hamba Allah ini menelepon mengatakan check-in kaunter dah totop, and then kata.. usoooo!! he was kidding. wah evil ok!! hahaha...

so all and all everything turned up ok lahh. kalau ada sesiapa hantar santau ke, polong ke sebab kami merosakkan plan bercuti mereka, maka ternyata santau dan polong itu tidak menjumpai kami di bandar something-something putra yg tiada internet, apatah lagi di pasir gudang yg bersinar dengan cahaya keimanan (kecuali rumah spa yg mencurigakan iteww lahh).

thanks guys, and let's do this again!!




...adie

Last weekend aku tak gi mana2 pon. Stay singapore jek. Terdetik gak nak turun JB sebab they all kat sana berbuka kat Blue Wave (ntah amendenyer Blue wave nie pon aku tatau.. Yg pasti dengar macam Grand. Jangan kelab dangdut ke.. Sudahh), tapi since Tan merangkap human navigator aku tak available, menunaikan tanggungjawab dia di kuil, aku pon lepak2 rumah jek. Ok laa at least got chance to explore Singapore punya Ramadhan buzz kan.

Kalau nak tau, Ramadhan buzz kat sini (Singapore) lain laa dengan Malaysia. Kalau bazaar Ramadhan kat KL, masa dekat2 berbuka tu laa klimaks membeli makanan sampai lupa diri. Lalu celah2 kelompok manusia berimpit-impit di tgh2 deretan gerai nak membeli roti john, roti bom bagaii tu, ala2 bagaikan nak melontar kat Jamratul Aqabah pon ada. Cuma bukan lontar batu, tapi lontar duit.

Kat Singapore semalam, pukul 6 lebih pegi bazaar Ramadhan kat Kampong Glam, makanan2 sumer dah tinggal rejects. Dah abiss ok. Ada laa roti tirai satu peket yg nampak macam kain buruk tak bersidai, nasi yg lauk pauk tinggal kacang panjang yg lebih bawang dari kacang. Sekali tu nampak lemang, terus aku teruja tapi rupa2nyer tinggal lemang jek. Rendang sumer abisss.. Nak makan lemang dengan apa?? Kicap? Sadis btol.

Gerai2 and Restaurant pulak selalu tutup lepas sessi berbuka. Ada sekali tu aku balik lambat, pekerja misali nak abiskan keje kat opis laa katakan. So aku bedal dulu biskut2, apa2 laa atas meja opis aku nie selain daripada kertas dan stapler. ala kadar jek. Lepas tu balik, dekat pukul 8 baru sampai ke kedai2 melayu. Tapi engkau, they all dah pancut2 air atas simen nak totop kedai. Abis tu aku nak makan apa?? Uwaaaa… terjelepok aku kat kaki lima ok…

Kat Malaysia meriah. Sampai time sahur pon ada kedai bergelimpangan di sana sini. Kira ko nak terawih kat kedai mamak sambil tengok US Open pon bolley. Orang Malaysia flexi laa. Kat sini sekali tu aku nak singgah sahur sebelum hantar Tom ke airport to take early flight, yg bokak Mc Donalds jek. Apa kelass kan makan Mc Donalds time2 bulan puasa nih.

Anyway, last weekend laa last aku berbuka puasa di kota Singa ini sebab next weekend aku ada plan nak paint Kukup town red. Uppss.. Ok maybe paint Kukup town Green laa kan sempena bulan puasa. Dolly pon ada nanti, sebab tu laa organizer committee go all out nak organize. Hmmm apa2 laa Cik Kiah. Yg pasti aku tak sabar nak ambik dodol melaka yg aku kirim dari Jamal. Orang sumer kata sedap. Aku harap2 jek yg mengacau dodol tu malas mengacau bulan2 puasa nie sampai dodol2 tu berkerak. Aku sejak azali suker makan kerak dodol ok, tapi apakan daya orang mengacau dodol terlebih rajin sampai perfect takde kerak. aku suka sebab dia crispy2.. ala2 makan dodol ada walnut gitew....

Alamak2.. Mereka2 yg pegi lunch tadi dahpon balik. So aku kena laa sambung berpura2 membuat kerja ahahaha…

Happy berpuasa everybody!! (to Selangorian aka Cow-head state yg cuti Nuzul Quran ari nie, I hate you!!!!)



..adie

pening.

benci betul kalau pening, susah nak buat apa2. rasa kepala ni nak diletakkan atas pinggan.. eh salah. atas bantal jek. tapi apakan daya. sekarang still time bekerja. bekerja demi mencarik sesuap nasi. panadol extra pulak takleh telan sebab puasa. isk dugaan....

sesuap nasi untuk berbuka karang ialah berkemungkinan besar nasi ayam sambal. hehe.. actually not good kan, pikir2 pasal makan waktu berpuasa. tak barakah giteww..

this weekend i have no plan. well, except nak set rambut raya har har har. actually tom and the geng ajak bokak puasa kat bandaraya JB esok tapi si tan pulak busy ngan activity2 temple dia. aku nie jenis yg kalau drive sorang cross tambak johor ke JB rasa cuak, tak selamat.

takpe laa.. boleh aku kemas2 rumah sikit. tukar air ikan. buang exprired products dari kabinet2 dapur. keluarkan minggu lepas punya groceries dari dalam plastik supermarket etc etc. sebab minggu depan weekend satu lagi we ols dah kompem nak gi kukup.

actually aku memasrahkan jek diriku ini mengikut mereka2 dan anak mereka ke kukup. cadangnya biar tenpat terpencil supaya kita senang berkaraoke di bulan ramadhan ini. boleh tak? ahahaha.. ok lah.. kita karaoke lagu nasyid jek.

anyway, yang penting kita boleh berbuka, dan bersahur bersama sama. tak kisah laa kat kukup ke, kat JB ke, yg penting kita tidak ditangkap oleh majlis ugama islam johor sebab err.. ok takde sebab laa untuk kita ditangkap..

dolly baru ajak pegi penang. wah sejak aku dapat base kat penang lepas jumpa amai tuhari, aku excited ok nak pegi penang. last time aku betul2 pusing penang ialah masa zaman cross laut naik feri kuning yg dilabelkan dengan nama2 pulau, eg feri pulau tioman, pulau kapas etc menuju ke pulau pinang. suaku tak? sekarang aku dengar dah pon cadang nak buat jambatan kedua.

cuma ntah bila ek? lepas cuti raya seminggu, aku dah plan nak gi macau/hong kong in october, lepas tu phillipines in november. bulan december ok kot. hmmm....

eh cakap pasal travel nie hilang pulak pening aku sket. apakah maknanya ini?



...adie

i skipped dinner again.. nak kata tak lapar.. lapar gak. tapi kan.. bosan ler.. tak tau nak makan apa.. nak keluar malass... lagipon malam bukan buat apa2 aktiviti physical pon.. today laa.. dok melangut main facebook jer hahaha...

sometimes i do go to the gym. i hate the gym at my place because prime time macam nie, malam2 kol 8-9pm selalu jek penuh. apa kes? dari budak sampai pakcik makcik bergiat dalam tuh.. aku kengkadang datang dengan sport shoes dan singlet, pasrah jek.. terpinggir.

or monday when i have my weekly tennis session. i love this, the feel when u're on the court, ready to take whatever shit that is coming your way. this is the only time when i drink tons of water. if you should know me, i'm operating in low-water mode. sehari kengkadang 3-4 glass jek aku minum. tu pon 3 glasses coffee.

anyway, tonight i'm staying put. my motto is, no movement, no food. senang.. macam kereta laa kan.. ko letak terparuk kat garaj, takyah laa isi minyak. overkill. lain laa kalau ada orang hidang ke, orang suap ke.. aku still balun. nak suruh aku carik sendiri ke, masak ke.. sorry.

unless of course, i'm already outside..

rasa nak makan dinasour..

tetiber..



...ad

• i started to like that 'emo' adam lambert in american idol. i don't really prefer his voice but i like his performance. my ultimate favourite is still lil round though. can't wait for tomorrow result show when they will have KELLY CLARKSON as a guest performer. now that'll rock for sure!
  
  
• talking about kelly clarkson, i think i've heard her new album HUNDREDS OF TIMES. that's all that i've been hearing since past 1 week, morning, daytime and night. seriously! it's very very addictive.
  
  
• i went to kukup last weekend for a get together with some new friends. it was really out of my circle but surprisingly enjoyable nonetheless. we karaoke'd, ok they karaoke'd and i just hang around and played mahjong.
  
  
• oh yeah! i know how to play mahjong now hahaha.. it was fun! more fun that playing cards ok. i didn't play with money, i don't understand why people have to gamble with mahjong. it kinda give that game a bad name.
  
  
• A LADY SCRATCHED MY CAR BUMPER with her motorcycle when i was in pontian town on the way to kukup! what a bloody @#$%! lucky it wasn't that obvious but my heart was very painful. it was the first major scratch ok. i don't care if you're a little sweet girl with tudung and everything but if you scratch my car, i'm gonna CURSE YOU ALL THE SAME!
  
  
• i have to find time to curse her more and write everything about that kukup trip in my other blog '~unsent'. there has been suggestions that i merged that blog with this blog, but i definitely wanna keep that one as it is. i feel like i wrote that one as my alter ego, ed. haha you think only celebrities have alter ego?
  
  
• today, my colleague told me that she's going to take 2 months leave from work to do her church missionary work. when she told me that, the thing that immediately crossed my mind was, oh gosh, god forbid i have to cover her assignments while she's gone.
  
  
• she isn't the first one doing this in our company. makes me wonder... let's say if i decided to take the same long LOA and join some islamic missionary work in pakistan or syria, will the company allow me without thinking i'm becoming a terrorist or something?
  
  
• i'm hooked with xbox 360 top spin 3 and facebook's Mob War recently. so if i don't call you or ask you out lately, it's just because i'm OCCUPIED.
  
  
• the desperate housewives latest episode last night was entertaining. the jokes really chuckled me. heroes... ermm.. not very good lately. i feel like the writers are not very sure the storyline themselves, there were a few conflicting details in the storyline. lost is the one that is becoming more interesting lately with many surprising twists, yet still believable.
  
  
• i'm flying off to KL this friday night, and then take flight with my family to labuan for a 4 night family escapade. i really can't wait! i'm not sure what to expect in labuan really.. hope it'll be fun. maybe i'll write from there next time bah.
  
  

...adie

i just LO-VE kelly clarkson's new album 'ALL I EVER WANTED'. seriously, all i ever wanted now is to hear this album over and over again.

haha ok that's lie. there are many other things that i truly wants, you know, like for the economy to be out of recession and all of us have job security again. oh! ...and bonus money pouring in our accounts hehe...

anyway, but till that happened, i'm gonna enjoy this album.

it's a solid album from kelly. there are many catchy songs with big choruses and heavy drums. some of them kinda reminds me of pink. if kelly's previous album my december is a bit dark musically and lyrically (which i love too, because i love songs with venomous lyrics hahaha), this time kelly lightens up a bit and take the music closer to rockier edge.

think 'since you been gone'.

due in store march 06

adie's favs

• my love would suck without you (everybody must have heard this by now)
• i do not hook up (i love this one! it's the 2nd single i heard)
• cry (slow song, lovely but i think because of you was better lyrically)
• long shot (love the catchy tempo, love the lyrics. kate perry wrote this!)
• whyyawannabringmedown (this got me banging my head in no time)
• don't let me stop you (what sing-a-long chorus!)
• if i can't have you (fierce disco music, i like to play this out loud)
• impossible (love the melody of this one)

"It’s a long shot but I say why not
If I say forget it I know that I’ll regret it
It’s a long shot just to beat these odds
The chance is we won't make it
But I know if I don't take it there's no chance
Cause you're the best I got
So take a long shot"



My Life Would Suck Without You - Kelly Clarkson -



...adie

haha ok that's NOT sakura/cherry blossom ok.. that's just the tree beside the HDB flat that i passed through everyday to go back home from office.

now that tree has lots and lots of pink flowers, and when the wind blows, it feels like autumn.. no.. spring!

what do i know? we have no season here in tropic singapore.

...adie

no american idol review last nite because...

i think..

I got flu again!!

urghh.. baru jek baik 2 minggu lepas.. apsal kena balik??

HATE IT!
HATE IT!
HATE IT!
HATE IT!
HATE IT!

this morning, i swallowed down many many pills... flu med, then pycnogenol antiox, royal jelly, vit-C, lipoic acid, multi-vit...

..coz i'm officially at war with my body.


so i say BRING IT ON!!!


..and btw, aku suker 'lil round' in american idol last night!!! she was GO-OoD!!



...adie

britney spears release a new single 'if you seek amy'.

AND IT CAUSES SUCH AN UPROAR. the radio stations are afraid to play it. they even released the clean version of the song, alternatively titled 'if you SEE amy'.

parents were quoted as saying, "I was astonished and totally taken aback when I heard my 5 and 7 year old kids walking around the house singing the verse... When I asked them what it was, they told me it was Britney Spears. I was horrified"

I WAS PUZZLED ok.. what's so controversial about this song's lyrics?… what's wrong with amy?? is she some missing girl? is her parent suing or something??

until I look at the lyrics closely.. and after a couple of googling finally I REALIZED IT!!!


OH...
MY...
GODDDD!!!!


Hahaha!!! No wonder this song is so controversial :)


"Love me hate me, but can't you see what I see?
All of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek Amy..."


If You Seek Amy - Britney Spears


So do you get it too??




Guide Review - Britney Spears - "If U Seek Amy"

With the release of Britney Spears' latest album Circus, one of the songs instantly drawing attention was "If U Seek Amy" and the profane phrase the title seemed to spell out. It is no surprise that the song would eventually appear as an official single release. As expected, pop radio stations became nervous, and it even seemed like the single release was in jeopardy until a slightly less offensive mix with a new title "If U See Amy" was put together specifically for radio airplay. All of this hoopla looks past any questions of quality or artistry in the recording.

Just as the cutesy wordplay of "If U Seek Amy" may seem somewhat absurd, Britney Spears gives as good as she gets here. The song amounts to a clever kiss-off of her critics. She is exactly right. Any time Britney Spears is attacked in the press, there will always be plenty of people waiting to get close to her.

Max Martin provides a pounding pop framework here that may have you singing the words in spite of yourself. It is difficult to quantify the impact the controversy may have on sales or airplay of "If U Seek Amy," but don't be shocked if you ultimately see this song in the pop top 10.


Britney Spears
If U Seek Amy lyrics

La la la, la la la
La la la, la la la

Oh baby baby have you seen Amy tonight?
Is she in the bathroom is she smokin' up outside? Oh
Oh baby baby does she take a piece of lime
For the drink that I'mma buy her do you know just what she likes? Oh

Oh oh, tell me have you seen her? Because I'm so oh
I can't get her off of my brain
I just want to go to the party she gonna go
Can somebody take me home?
Ha ha, he he, ha ha ho

Love me hate me, say what you want about me
But all of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek Amy
Love me hate me, but can't you see what I see?
All of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek Amy
Love me hate me, la la la, la la la

Amy told me that she's gonna meet me up
I don't know where or when and now they're closing up the club, oh
I've seen her once or twice but boy she knows my face
But it's hard to see with all the people standing in the way, oh

Oh oh, tell me have you seen her, because I'm so oh
I can't get her off of my brain
I just want to go to the party she gonna go
Can somebody take me home?
Ha ha, he he, ha ha ho

Love me hate me, say what you want about me
But all of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek Amy
Love me hate me, but can't you see what I see?
All of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek Amy
Love me hate me

Oh, so what you want about me?
Oh, but can't you see what I see?
Oh, so what you want about me?
La la la, la la la

So tell me if you see her
'Cause I've been waiting here forever
Oh baby baby if you seek Amy tonight
Oh baby baby we'll do whatever you like
Oh baby baby baby
Oh baby baby baby

La la la, la la la
La la la, la la la

Love me hate me, say what you want about me
But all of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek Amy
Love me hate me, but can't you see what I see
All of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek Amy

Love me hate me, say what you want about me, yeah
Love me hate me, but can't you see what I see?
All of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek Amy
Love me hate me

Oh, so what you want about me?
Oh, but can't you see what I see?
Love me hate me
Oh, so what you want about me?
All of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek Amy


... ok if you still don't get it, and still blur-blur like a SOTONG, read (here)
(i can't get myself to explain it myself.. very vulgar for me yg menjauhi lembah kehinaan ok hahahaha)



...adie

ok.

ni nak tanya...

apsal sumer orang tiba2 pergi bali????

mentang2 aku baru beli ticket nak pergi bulan depan, tetiba jek..

kembar si nora pegi last week.

aishah + family pergi semalam.

joe kawan aku budak indon pergi esok.

another friend fazlie going end april.

my office friends also just going....


apsal ek??? apa kess?

ala2 musim haji laa pulak, semua berbondong bondong hijrah ke bali.. dan tiba2 jek berjejer-jejer laa blog masing2 pasal bali. aku kaget okay...

even though aku suker laa kan.. dapat banyak info. baca sini, dapat info supir. baca sana, dapat info hotel, info babi guling halal.. upssss... babi tak halal laa kan.

sebabnyer aku still laa konpiuss... nak dok mana ek kat bali nanti? kuta ke? ubud ke? nusa dua? lovina? perginyer cadang 3 malam jek, nak pegi pulak macam2.. kintamani lah.. tampak spring lah, besakih lah.. tanah lot laa.. uluwatu bla bla bla..

ntah laa.. dalam jelajah sana sini tuh, kolam yg banyak bunga2 dalam spa tu pon aku nak masuk. nak lepak lama2 dalam spa.

apa ingat lelaki tak masuk spa ke? yg penting, seronok di manja2 gituh ahahaha.... yelah penat tau membanting tulang jari jemari aku ni menaip ari2 kat opis mencari nafkah...

cuma lepas balik nanti nak eksen2 pegi bali.. alamak tak bley laa... nak kelentong dalam blog pon susah. sumer dah pegi kan. bukan macam gi madagascar.. ko pakai cheogsam pegi disco lepas.. kalau aku citer aku jumpa iguana besar rimau pon orang percaya ahahaha..

isk isk..



...adie

i have a friend in the office. his hobby is to participate in contests, you know, those in magazines, brochures, radios, etc etc... and you know what? HE ALWAYS WIN. i'm not kidding! even in those lucky draws, he always win. it's like life's one big wonder, the one that mulder and scully tend to end up investigating...

he's sweet though, he always forwarded us the contests details and even wrote up the answers for us but when the result comes, he still wins. to which i'm not complaining. i won sometimes too, but that's really once in a blue moon kinda thing...

last week, he forwarded us this nokia stripe party invitation details for the launch of their new 5800 handphone. you wear anything with stripes and you are entitled for the lucky draws.. 58 lucky numbers can buy the SGD700+ phone with just 58 cents, and another 58 numbers to get SGD258-off voucher for the phone.

58 cents!

that's just ridiculous.. i mean, that's cheaper than one piece of roti prata, right?

so the party was held in zouk's car park last friday, starting at 10pm. we wore stripe shirts to work and then started queuing for the numbers from about 830pm.

by 9pm we were in.

and my number was 20313.

hmm.. 313? that doesn't look like a lucky number...

anyway, while waiting, we signed up for nokia online music account. not that we really wanted the account but actually to get the free t-shirt. hahaha!! we saw the crews walking around in that nokia music t-shirt and we thought they really look nice.

i got my t-shirt just on time when all american rejects started to play their music on the temporary stage just above where we signed up for the online music account.

yeah that's right. ALL AMERICAN REJECTS!!

can you believe that? when i first read the itenerary for this stripe party, i couldn't believe they would have all-american rejects the band. first, they are such an international artist. their song 'gives you hell' is currently at no-4 on the american billboard top 100 chart. then, this party is held not inside zouk, but zouk's CARPARK!

and i must say, it was not even a nice carpark too. the surface was stony, uneven and rough, no proper borders, and there were even some constructions going on just beside it.

in short, the place WAS UGLY.

but still, there they were, just few metres away from me singing their hit songs. it was surreal, but i was not like those teenage girls who went ga-ga. at most, i just shook my butt once in awhile whilst maintaining my cool hahahaha... to be frank, i had no idea how the members of this band looked like until last friday. i knew their main songs though..





all-american rejects playing on the stage

so in the end i didn't win the lucky draw.

not surprising. i didn't put much hope anyway. so i didn't manage to buy that latest cool touch-screen phone for 58 cents. big deal. i could do a lot more with that 58 cents that i saved.

...like, buying sticks and pike those who won that night.

the night was not totally lost though, i gotta see all-american rejects and their live music, i got cool free nokia music t-shirt, many many bottles of nokia water (which tasted funny but hey, they were free), and managed good gossips with my friends..

oh yeah, my other 3 friends didn't win anything either.

except this friend that i mentioned earlier that always win.

he DID WIN that night, the SGD258 voucher.




...adie

aku tengah tgk american idol nie, 2nd group of 12 vying to be top 3 to get into top 12 to get into.. ehhhh.. final 12 lahh...

first part B.O.R.I.N.G... merepek2 ok.. aku nyanyi pon lagi best. i mean, they have one chance to impress, for God's sake, pilih lagu betul2 laa.. aku sampai dah start main facebook kat bed room sambil dengar tv dari jauh..

..until that 16y/o brunette nyanyi lagu Alone. wah.. i like her. she has this rocky edge, icy attitude that i found cool.

then after her, this young boy-band-look kinda guy, Kris, nyanyi lagu Maikel Jeksen.. wah i like him more ok.. he reminds me of zaman2 dengar lagu westlife dulu...

i think i'm soooo gonna root for this guy throughout...

actually, bukan nak eksen ke, riak ke, tapi aku ada tendency to pick the winner based on past seasons.. macam fantasia.. i loved her from the beginning. then jennifer hudson. aku makan hati sesangat bila dia booted out prematurely, but now she's a big star kan?

then after Kris, this girl megan pon aku suker. aku rasa rupa dia ada iras2 cameron diaz.. very very beautiful and nice to look at. dia gelek2 pinggang tu funny laa.. tapi cute. i'm gonna root for this girl too.

the rest ermm.... biasa jek.

bring on the other 12!




...adie

adoiii kenyangnyer.... aku rasa macam ular sawa. serious! ular sawa yg baru baham seekor ayam dan terlantar kekenyangan tepi reban.

cuma aku bukan laa dalam reban, dan ayam yg aku makan tadi tak sampai setengah pon aku habis makan. ntah kenapa biasa jek aku rasa nasi beriyani zamzam tadi. nasi dia kering laa.. sedap lagi kalau aku masak ahahahaha...

memandangkan sejak semalam si tom kemaruk nak makan nasi beriyani tapi malangnyer meja memanjang penuh kat ah mei cafe AMK Hub, even lepas tu jalan keluar ke AMK banquet pon ntah kenapa takde jual lak nasi beriyani malam tuh.. memang takde rezeki laa.. so aari ni aku arrange dinner kat zamzam arab street.

yelah.. karang dia carik batu belah bertangkup, saper yg susah???

lagi pon, ari ni birthday tom!!

tu yg kenyang giler tuh. ayam beriyani dah seketul tergolek atas pinggan, aku pulak menumpang roti prata tan. besarr okee roti prata dan roti telur dia, macam sebesar alas kaki pon ada kott.. tu pon kalau tak aku ingat nak beli kek.. tapi dah kenyang. lagipon nasi beriyani dengan kek macam tak kamcing jek.. tak seswooaii..

anyway.. wahh dah besar dah kawan aku sorang nih hehehe... berapa umur dia?? cepat2 dia ingatkan alah umur tu sekadar angka.. hmm ye laa.. takkan huruf pulak ye tak?

aku tanya dia, apa azam birthday tahun ni? dia kata, nak menjauhi lembah kehinaan...

err... aku no commento.

padan laa tiba2 ari ni hujan turun mencurah2 time aku balik keje tadi. dah lama ok tak hujan sampai ada kebakaran hutan kat tampines. aku ingat indon jek hutan terbakar.

bukan hujan jek, ada pulak pelangi lepas tuh!! wahh.. aku rasa sejak aku dok spore nie, ada laa 2 kali kot aku nampak pelangi. ala2 endangered spesies gituh, kerap lagi org nampak big foot kat johor.

berkat si tom nak menjauhi lembah kehinaan laa nie kott..

nora pon join for dinner! nasib baik laa dia datang, at least habis gak lauk pauk atas meja kan hehehe.. lagipon dia ni fresh dari balik indon, so sempat laa dia laa impart wisdom kat kitaorang aku dan tan, budak2 yg baru nak merangkak ke indon nih..

alamak.. tak sabar pulak nak tunggu april...



...adie

because i'm addicted hehehe...

Semalam nak tido,. tiba2 dapat mail dari Airasia, kata ada promo ke Indonesia. Pergi Bali/Bandung/ Jakarta/Yogja SGD50 jek pergi balik termasuk semua tax etc etc..

MURAH!

aku memang nak gi Bali, so terus beli pegi Bali untuk Good Friday holiday in April, lepas tu beli pulak ticket ke Yogjakarta untuk National Day Holiday in August.
Takde restriction apa2 pon, semua SGD50 dollar jek.

SGD50 isi petrol kereta satu tank penuh pon tak cukup ok. Very worth it.

Hmm.. Tahun nampaknyer ni berjalan jer laa, tapi ok laa.. semua murah2. setakat lawat2 neighbour jek, pergi pulak weekend tambah sehari dua.

Adie's 2009 travel plan

Mar - Labuan
Apr - Bali
May - Kota Bharu/Perhentian
Jul - Kuching (RWMF)
Aug - Yogjakarta


Bila laa AirAsia nak buat promo gi Umrah..



...adie

i like musics. songs particularly.

i always dreamed of being able to play musical instruments like guitar or piano, but so far i don't think i'm all fated to be able to play any of those. i'm just hopeless...

anyway, i'm content to just enjoying the music for now. good songs rarely come by, but when it does, it stays on rotating playlist inside my brain. which means, if you ever caught me while i'm driving, or walking in a lone path or taking elevator with no other people around, chances are i'm gonna be humming the tune :)

like the recent song i'm hooked with. it's by utada hikaru, one of the prominent figure in japanese j-pop world. a note about her, i seriously thought she had run her course few years back but apparently she's still going on strong, even more after her divorce.

hmm.. previously amuro namie, now utada hikaru. women do tend to do better when they are not married, don't they?

ok the song is called 'the flavor of life'. i like how utada plays with her soft upper notes in this one, and the lyrics! i don't know why, but when i sing it, i got goosebump. seriously! i got chills on my back. the lyrics are very ermm... innocent and frank. when she sings it, i believe her words after words. plus, where else could you find a song with "aoi fruits" in it? :)

here is the video that i got in youtube with the english translation. for japanese speakers, the japanese lyrics are below.

enjoy!

~ diamond yori mo yawarakakute atataka na mirai te ni shitai yo
kagiri aru jikang o kimi to sugoshitai :) ~







Flavor Of Life

ありがとうと君に言われると
なんだか切ない
さようならの後も解けぬ魔法
淡くほろ苦い
The flavor of life...... The flavor of life......

友達でも恋人でもない中間地点で
収穫の時を夢見てる青いフルーツ

あと一歩が踏み出せないせいで
じれったいの何のってBaby

ありがとうと君に言われると
なんだか切ない
さようならの後も解けぬ魔法
淡くほろ苦い
The flavor of life...... The flavor of life......

甘いだけの誘い文句
味気のないTalk
そんなものには興味をそそられない

思い通りにいかない時だって
人生捨てたもんじゃないって

「どうしたの？」と
急に聞かれると
「ううん、何でもない」
さようならの後に消える笑顔
私らしくない

信じたいと願えば願うほど
なんだか切ない
「愛してるよ」よりも「大好き」の方が
君らしいんじゃない
The flavor of life…

忘れかけてた人の香りを
突然思い出す頃
降り積もる雪の白さをもっと
素直に喜びたいよ

ダイヤモンドより軟らかくて
温かな未来
手にしたいよ限りある時間を
君と過ごしたい

ありがとうと君に言われると
なんだか切ない
さようならの後も解けぬ魔法
淡くほろ苦い
The flavor of life......The flavor of life...






...adie

i'm at home right now. well of course i am. 99% when i wrote this blog, i'd be at home because

1) that's when i'm free
2) free wi-fi speed outside sucks
3) free internet/wi-fi almost non existance outside this country
4) i'm aware of ppl nearby peeping at my screen

... which is silly because it's not like i'm writing anything about earth-shattering secret, or alien invasion or something. ok maybe some wild gossips and bitching once in awhile but hey, who doesn't?

even at home i find it difficult to write. mainly because recently i'd rather play my xbox 360, watching heroes, lost or desperate houswives and bugging people off with my endless notifications at facebook.

but right now, i'm kinda forced to stop my gaming and stay in my room because there are people servicing my aircond. so i have to stay in the room and protect my area. not that i'd peed at every corner of the room, but it's more for a peace of mind. especially because directly below the aircond they are servicing is my drawer where there are USD2000 dollars cash in an envelope.

i've never serviced my aircond before, and i've been staying here more than 3 years. do you service yours? i'm only triggered to do this because when i signed the agreement to rent this house few months back (which eventually i ended up terminating a week after that and paid them almost SGD6000 in compensation), there was a clause stating they need to service the airconds every 3 months or face the firing squad (haha ok i made up that last part). so i figured this must be something that everybody does.

plus, my aircond sort of giving funny sounds lately.

or else, i've never thought of servicing my aircond. it sounded like throwing money down the drain. probably because my entire childhood was spent in a room with fan in it. how the hell am i supposed to know we need to service our aircond every quarter of the year? i mean, you watch tv everyday, but we don't service the tv right?

but think about it, we do send our cars for servicing also huh?

ok now this is what i'm gonna do. i'm gonna service my aircond every 3 months from now on. it's recommended because apparently if the thing spoiled, it's massively pain in the neck to take out the unit and replace, not to mentioned the amount of money i'd chuck down the drain. it's like an insurance you know, even we need to detox once in awhile right?

and also because the silver star company i enganged is pretty good. bless them for dropping their company paper brochure into my mailbox. they charged me 30 bucks for one aircond one time servicing. that's cheap, because previously when i called electrician or plumbers, they charged almost 50 bucks just for coming here, not adding the services yet. and this silver star company guys even cleaned their mess and most importantly never asked me to change any parts and induced more money spent for me.

oh ok they are done. so i'm gonna go back to my gaming.



...adie

i'm watching american idol now, yet i'm writing this.

after 8 seasons, i really want to see someone who could blow me out, make me jump off the couch but what i got so far were mediocre singers.

ok some of them do have a good voice but they were plain boring to watch. i mean, what's up with the songs selection? why must it be elvis', or aretha franklin's songs? they should know that most of the voters are youngsters, and even me cannot relate much to those kind of songs. i'd rather hear backstreet boys than, you now, elvis or even the beatles.

and those contestants! have some attitude please. goodies-goodies are plain b.o.r.i.n.g.

and the judges now are 4 people! i don't know what's the point, 3 of them are just bleah ass-kissers. really! only simon comments with some sense.

so far.. not liking it.



...adie

pagi ni bangun2 tido jek aku bukak pc kejap kan, sementara tunggu air heater panas kat bilik air. aku bokak laa utusan malaysia, sesaja nak tau mana tau kan, perak jatuh balik ke tangan PKR ke, najib razak kena langgar lembu ker...

dalam pada browse2 tuh, aku terbaca la this article yg joyah tulis... apparently si joyah ni dok critisize this particular malay movie laa.. and its theme inside..

nak tau title dia apa?

ANU DALAM BOTOL.

boleh?? yes.. title movie by raja azmi nie, ANU DALAM BOTOL.

wah.. sensasi ja nai??? padan laa si joyah tu tak sabar2 nak tulis.

kata lah ko bosan2 weekend takde mende nak buat, so pegi tengok wayang kan.. ko browse2 through movie showing now decide apa nak tengok, tiba2 ternampak 'anu dalam botol'... sure teruja nak tengok kan???

yg aku tau, citer nie pasal gay. sebab joyah yg dok critisize raja azmi sebab dia pikir raja azmi nak publisiti murahan letak title movie lagu tu, also kritik theme citer nie yg pasal gay. apa yg dia anti sangat aku pon tak paham. PMS kott dia ari nie.. ahahahaha...

amende agaknyer ek? benda dalam botol tuh...



..adie

god. i'm coughing coughing coughing...

it's been a week, hasn't it? my flu is better now but god, my throat itches like crazy. it feels very dry too inside there, which is weird because i swallow my slivers everytime.

wait, do we normally swallow our slivers?

anyway, cough or no cough, i'm still going for my tennis later. i might give reason not to swim before because my body is still weak, but i'm never gonna give any reason for not playing tennis.

even if nadal has lost his final against muray last night. god that was so irritating. i'm never gonna open any tennis site now for a few weeks.

ok what else should i write? hmm.. i guess this is part of the year when suddenly things become uneventful. except the suicide of our colleague last week of course but even that, nobody was talking anything about it in the office. like it's one big taboo now in our company.

gosh, why does everybody wanna keep things hush-hush? just now when i was busy doing my weekly report, few of my colleagues behind me got together and started whispering to each other. as if i cared what they were talking about. for all i know maybe they were discussing about work.

ok maybe i did care a bit.

at least one of my long lost friend suddenly dropped me a message today at work, just when i thought facebook has became so boring with no new notification for a long time ~gosh my contacts/friends are all so passive and boring~.

wow we haven't been in touch for.. close to 9 years! can you imagine? actually come to think about it, we tend to move through different stages of our lives and unintentionally dropped our friends along the way. such a waste huh?

ok me going to grab dinner (as usual, milo and oat biscuts again...)



...adie

Day-02

ok today we wait for other participants who are scheduled to arrive to Kota Bharu Sultan Ismail Petra Airport on 0825 via air asia. maybe just wait from the city will do.

then we need to find out how to get to kuala besut. a bit info on kuala besut.
- Kuala Besut is in Terengganu, 50km south of Kota Kharu, 110km for K.terengganu
- It is the gateway to the Perhentian Islands.

Kota Bharu - Kuala Besut

* From Kota Bharu there is a direct local bus service.
tak jumpa info lagi dalam net, how much? hong long? where to take?
* easy to arrange shared taxi ride-virtually any guesthouse/hotel will organise this.
* will take about 1 hour by road
* so far i only found taxi fare from kuala besut. let's assume they charge the same.
Kuala Besut - Kota Bharu (Town) - RM40( Ac )-RM30( N-Ac )
Kuala Besut - Kota Bharu (Airport) - RM49(Ac)-RM45( N-Ac )

Kuala Besut - Perhentian

ok this one need to survey the various package first....


...adie

we are going for pulau perhentian trip in may, so i must start planning. planning for trip is always half the fun hahaha.. i'll start with what to do on Day-00/01.


DAY-00

Singapore-Johor Baru
Express Timuran
Depart 1800
Arrive 1857
SGD9.00

Johor Baru-Wakaf Bharu
Express Timuran
Depart 1857
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DAY-01

Wakaf Bharu-Kota Bharu
* wakaf bharu is 5km away from Kota Bharu city center
* take public bus

Kota Bharu
* go-round city

• Go to the day and night markets.
• Walk around the downtown area.
• Go to the beach, either PCB Beach or Irama Beach.
• Local Food
  Ayam Percik (Yati Ayam Percik (847, Jalan Long Yunus)[5] has got to be the best around;
  Nasi Ulam (locally called Nasi Kerabu) traditionally dipped into budu (fish sauce), sambal Murtabak (Murtabak Raja is the famous one on Jalan Bayam)
  Keropok Lekor Losong (the local version is Keropok Gote)
  Lepok Durian or Gelembung Buaya, they are in 3 colors: red, yellow, and green, at Kubang Pasu wet market in the mornings - for durian lovers with strong stomachs only. Buy from the lady at the corner, not in the middle of wet market.
• Other attractions
  Masjid Muhammadi ( State Mosque )
  Padang Merdeka
  War Museum
  Islamic Museum/Istana Jahar /Istana batu/royal museum
  Kota Sultan Ismail
  Bazar Buluh Kubu
  ***Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah
  ***Pasar Malam Kota Bharu

* sleep

• ridel hotel ~5 minutes walk to pasar city khadijah RM97/room <-- looks good.
• others??

... next --> DAY-02

..adie

i woke up this morning with a painful dry throat and a running nose i had difficulty to keep still. i even have cough now.

now what did the company doctor gave me few days ago? flour pills and red sugar syrup? for all i know, i AM NOT getting better.

so i didn't bother to drive 12 km to my company and wait half a day to see the same doctor and get the same medicine and be expected to work after that. my cubicle mate already closed his nose whenever he came near me, which i don't blame him because he has a daughter who gets all the illnesses available all the time.

i went to this neighbourhood family clinic instead. the doctor is always this young chinese guy who always look as if he just won the lottery. well, considering the money he could get after every patients visit, he probably is.

i got some medicines, and to my surprise, they even include in vitamin C capsules. errr.. i do take vitamin C at home so do i really need this? but i couldn't make myself to stop them to include that in. oh well, at least my company will reimburse half of the cost.

so i am on MC today. YESSS!!! a whole day to rest and recuperate to get well just in time for the weekend. whole day of bedtime rest and i must remind myself, NOT to write blogs.



...adie

ok it's official. the one that jumped from the building is actually our fellow colleague.

oh man.

at noon while we were having lunch at company cafeteria on 4th floor facing the block where the person jumped, we even distastefully joked that maybe the person was from our company.

then after lunch rumours started spreading that the person in fact, WAS from our company, and a name was mentioned.

i was like.. oh god.

oh god oh god oh god.

i just saw him yesterday at cafeteria with a blank expression on his face. but again, he always had that expression ever since he was involved with a car accident almost 2 years ago. he turned into this quiet guy after that incident that left him in one month hospitalization due to broken thigh.

nobody knows why he committed the suicide. it's sad, to know someone so close yet not able to prevent such drastic insident. we could have done more to help him cope, you know, whatever things that got him troubled.

but then, this is life. some missed chance would never come back. what we could do, is to learn from our mistakes, and cherish life all we can.

may he rest in peace.



...adie

SOMEONE JUST JUMPED FROM THE BUILDING IN FRONT OF MY COMPANY.

man, there was a small blue tent there at the base of the block covering the body. the police already barricaded the area, and some kay-poh people are watching from the road side, and (including me) from the windows of our company.

it felt so surreal, to know some one just died nearby.

i bet it is due to the current recession. that person must have lost a lot of money or something..

cherish our lives guys!



...adie

by the way.. by the way...

recent hot news! have you read about chris brown and rihanna? wow apparently he hit her. ok they didn't mention who was the girl that called 991 and reported the assault but today'ss news mentioned it was, as we had suspected, RIHANNA!

can you imagine that? i mean no matter how bitchy a woman is, and this is rihanna, a girl gone bad that we are talking about, but under no circumstances should a well grown man hit a woman with his own bare hand. let alone leaving bruises and some website said (eekk!!) broken jaw.

well, unless she has superpower, a catwoman or something...

especially when that act is gonna get broadcasted ALL OVER THE WORLD. man, that guy is soooo busted.

i wonder what was the reason. they argued inside the car. maybe she just told him to shut up and drive. maybe he was in disturbia. maybe she was unfaithful... i don't know..

so i guess, this is the classic case of a good love gone bad. i bet rihanna won't allow him to stand under her umbrella-ella-ella anymore, and next time she sings take a bow, we know who she sings it for. that chris brown really should check in the rehab.

and.. and.. i'm so happy that those people and malaysia gonna miss her concert hahahaha!!! i saw her last year in the singapore concert okay..

dream on guyzzzz!!! ~evil grin~



...adie

i saw the company doctor today, right after the conference call. i was having sore throat since saturday, and by this morning i started to have a bit of flu so i better treat fix this fast. can u imagine? i swallowed half of the vitamin pills available in the drug store and still got this flu?

we have this small clinic right beside the HR department, so that everytime after we register to see the doctor, we could flirt with those HR ladies.. i mean.. aunties. they are very chatty. one of them like to call me 'adekk' which surely a bit rude? i mean, am i that close her age?

anyway..the point of this clinic also i always questioned. if we can go to the clinic in the office, that means we are strong enough to go to work, right? what's the purpose then? maybe they anticipate people get injured or something during work so it's handy having a clinic inside the office.

so i went to see the doctor. apparently they have this new doctor, dr ivan something. i read it on the door. i wonder it the doctor was the same auntie doctor last time. she was pretty ok though. ok here largely means, easy to get mc doctor. even better? the one that gives without asking. they really should teach that at medical school, under customer service section.

this ivan doctor is a tall young chinese doctor. i couldn't register his look properly because from the moment i sit on that chair, and less than a minute later when i stood up, i felt like i was in a fast forward motion. he asked what's wrong with me? since when i have those symptoms? do i feel this and that? and what medicine he's gonna give me all in one breath.

at the moment i stepped outside the door, i only realized about the mc thing. i didn't have my chance at all to play sympathetic.

damn this doctor is good!



..adie

i had conference call early morning. after japan hang up their phone, and i was all alone with my boss, my boss asked me..

if, touch wood, the company were to implement 4-days a week scheme, which day would i prefer to be off?

dang. there we have it. i knew it would come to this finally. i mean, our japanese branch and our italian branch already implemented a shorter week work-time as a pay cut measure to get through this economic downturn. what are the chances that singapore won't get hit too?

i asked my boss, if this is for real? but of course he said that nothing has been confirmed yet, that he was asking just in case.

yeah right. if he was asking just in case, he would be asking about all sorts of other stuff, wouldn't he? like what if the government refused to reduce the transportation fare, or what if i won that 1 billion toto. see? but he didn't.

recession sucks. i tell you, never have i been in this period so gloomy, that everyone that i met, sighed during work. a big, loud sigh that sounded like, god i wish i were somewhere else.

but you know what? there's no place left to go during this downturn. i heard 2 of my ex bosses are now still unemployed since the expansion plant was shut down. and there are many people in the interview fighting for that few empty spots.

so if i think about it, still having a job is still a bless. the point is, there's always people that fare worse than you. at least i can still go to work and bitch about the conference call or the bosses at night.




...adie

ok i figured i must write this now. it was getting harder to write nowadays. i don't know, maybe because it was due to the holiday season from christmas last year all the way to the recent chinese new year, making me abandoned all my routines. then even after that i had to go through holiday withdrawal phase, or HWP as i called it, so awhile more after that until i could come back to my senses.

..like now. so.. what's up with me nowadays? well nothing's up, all down. nothing much really. work has been neither here nor there. but still, i have to wake up early tomorrow to attend this conference call with japanese branch at 8am. deep in my heart, i wonder, what's the use? we always communicate through e-mail anyway, and it's not like we have big issues to discuss. plus, it's a dinasour-period device i'm handling as far as i'm concern. what the conference call means to me, is that i will miss my daily breakfast in office canteen.

but i guess, the boss has his own means. so i will have to be there before 8am. which means i have to try to sleep early tonight. which is kinda impossible since i have to write this, and then watch star wars the clone wars new episode after that. before i knew it, it will already be 6.30am and i have to curse and swear to wake up for work.

at least, my body seem to be holding fine after tennis just now. like every monday, it was a tennis day today. the only thing different was, one of our usual partner was hit by flu, so my another friend asked her husband to join our session. the thing is, he was so good at playing tennis. he striked the ball with ease and he could do spins and stuff. i was in total awe. if you must know, 2 things that could get me drop dead envious, are people who can play guitar, and people who can play tennis. i mean, good tennis. because i'm so hopeless in those things. for all i know, i have 2 left hands when it comes to playing guitar or tennis. so in the court just now, i was a bit stressed-out.

by the way, have you seen the moon tonight? while i was in the office today, my colleague told me that the moon tonight is going to be the biggest viewed in about 50 years. i searched for that news in yahoo news but couldn't find it. he must have got it from some chinese news websites. he surfs the chinese news a lot. it's amazing things that he knows from reading those chinese sites. anyway, i already happened to know that tonight is a full-moon night. so when we were at the tennis court just now, we got the chance to have full view of the moon. it looks like this.

of course i didn't take this while i was on the court. after my friends went back after the game, i went up my house, took my camera and my tripod, came down and shot this using my telephoto lense. some people walking by must have thought that i'm a moron who never seen the full moon before. because for one thing, it didn't look that big to me. it looked pretty normal, i'm sure i've seen the moon bigger before. it was very bright than usual though. still i couldn't see chang-er from the photo. maybe she was at the other side of the moon.

ok it's already almost 1am. did i tell you the clock always tick faster after midnight? one glance it's 12am, and another glance it will be close to 1am. and i haven't even start watching my clone wars.

so later guys...




...adie

aku kat KL LCCT nih, waiting for my flight to singapore (wah seems lately asal aku tulis blog, mesti kat airport haha.. very the mobile gituh). it will be another 2 hours before departure. it's my first time here, tu yang punyer kiasu datang awal. yelah KL ni unpredictable. mana tau LRT breakdown, or traffic jam, or jalan banjir kilat, or bas sesatt...

but everything was smooth until now. in fact, i think LCCT nie not bad at all. very convenient and not too shoddy. comparable if not better than bangkok suvarnabumi yg waiting room seats dia ala2 puduraya punyer seat. service ermm.. not too bad. even kakak2 kat kedai coklat dok mengumpat time aku lalu pon aku tak kisah sangat, at least sempat aku pasang telinga.

few days in KL rasa macam lama jek. enjoyed sangat main with my cute nephews, and then tengok tennis Australian Open with my whole family. very fortunate laa, my whole family are into tennis, even though my dad tak suker nadal dan aku ngan my sis suker giler. at least all of us tak suker serena williams dan kalau boleh nak buat voodoo doll biar dia kalah.

and we all sempat brainstorm kat mana nak arrange this year's family trip outing. last year KK trip was very succesful until we all tak sabar nak buat trip lagi. our requirements :-

1) tempat tak penah pergi.
2) go with flight, not too near dan murah.
3) top notch hotel (halal) breakfast, sedap dan byk pilihan
4) ada tempat shopping (for my mum)
5) maybe beaches to snorkel (for me and my siblings)

so yg memenuhi kriteria2 tuh, are those are east malaysia borneo cities, bcoz my mum kata indonesia ada bird flu (ye ke?). nephew2 aku tu pulak sumer kecik2 lagi, so maybe borneo is more suitable. lagipon takde tsunami, or errupting volcano.

so in the end, we kinda chose pulau labuan. none of us, or those that we know been to labuan before. yg dengar dari kawan, family member sumer kata boring. ermm.. ok lah.. we all jenis yg sukar bermalas2an, takde laa nak explore city tu sangat pegi night club or bermesra2 ngan local ppl. it's a gamble really. as long as we have each other, dan ada nice food, dan maybe a day trip to brunei pon dah ok.

(look at watch) ok it's one more hour to go. sekejap jek dah sejam. aku dari tadi pulak terlekat kat kerusi nih godeh2 facebook (see.. even KL LCCT ada free internet. not bad at all). one of my junior masa zaman sekolah dulu online, so we all chat this and that. it's very cool really.. i'm very thankful for facebook, byk jumpa kenalan2 lama.

isk byk pulak announcement kat airport nih.. bising. panggil orang yg tak reti2 nak boarding biler dah sampai masa. hello, susah sangat ke nak standby depan pintu kapal terbang? tengok macam aku, 2 jam lepas dah sampai.. ek?? kalau ada award penumpang misali, dah lama aku dapat.

ok i got to go now, cafe espresso kat sebelah tu nampak very inviting.. battery laptop pon tinggal seconet jek. so later...



...adie

aku kat changi airport nih.. nak balik KL. waa ramai orang ok.. mostly foreign workers kat airport nih.. nak balik negara masing2 kot.. aku rasa macam kat dhaka airport laa pulak.. haha..

aku lupa nak print out sky bus ticket air asia yg aku dah bayar kat internet.. sky bus nie transport from KL LCCT ke KL Central. terus aku tanya airport information counter, ada tempat print out tak.. sebab aku nak print ticket sky bus airasia yg aku dah beli ikut internet.

wah! ada! bayar 50 cents untuk sekeping.. ok lah.. thank god! kalau tak, kena aku beli ticket lain. impressed aku kejap. yelah.. airport lain free internet pon tak ada hehe...

cuma aku breakfast kat toast box airport nih.. cashier dan pekerja2 situ cakap english ntah hapa2.. saitei lah.. tak paham.. macam org pekak aku tanya, hah? hah? org tanah besar. agaknya yg local sumer cuti, tinggal foreign workers jek keje time raya2 nih. spoil jek.

the rest.. hmm now tunggu boarding time jek.. harap2 flight tak delay.

cya in KL!



...adie

faizal tahir - bila sampai syurga (AJL 2009)

dah berpuluh2 kali rasanya aku tgk video nie.. hehehe.. overr tak? time dia tarik suara tinggi tu, aku dapat goosebumps.. meremang bulu roma ok... biar sampai syurgaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.....




vs


ziana zain - dingin (AJL 2009)

yg nie pon banyak kali aku tengok, sampai boleh bilang laa berapa helai bumapal ziana zain.. err.. bumapal tu singkatan untuk bulu mata palsu ok.. time ziana tarik tu pon aku tepuk tangan sorang2 kat rumah ahahaha.. nasib baik takde orang nampak.




aaaaaaaaanddd the winner? faizal tahir.

faizal dapat best vocal dan best performance. tu laa lain kali tak payah laa pakai bumapal kan, lepas basuh muka terus jek nyanyi atas pentas pon boleh menang. tak payah pon bukak2 baju cat dada sumer.

lagu satu, lirik ziana zain, 'ku tak bisa.. juarai...'.. hah.. terus langsung tak menang. bad luck laa.. dulu asal ziana nak memang jek, ada siti.. now ada faizal tahir. hmmm...

ok laa nak layan 'sampai di syurga' one more time....



...adie

last saturday we all pegi melawat aishah kat JB. aishah ni is our friend, baru lepas bersalin last tuesday. citernyer, the birth kena buat c-sec sebab bayi tu songsang. bukan songsang atas bawah, ni jenis kepala dan kaki kat kiri kanan perut. bolleyy?? ntah apa si aishah buat sampai bayi tu terpusing 270 darjah...

hmmm aku sebenarnya still tak sangka aishah yg dulu pakai cheongsam pegi kelab malam kat madagascar tuh, dah pon jadi ibu. hmm time flies huh..

me and all the participants, including yg imported dari bangkok.. upss.. surabaya tau!

nak tau sebelum we all datang visit, siap singgah plaza angsana nak beli hadiah, sampai berlawan2 hadiah saper paling mahal ahahaha.. tapi sorry.. ringgit malaysia mana lawan hadiah singapore dollar kan hehehehe...




ni anak dia. sebijik rupa bapak dia ok.. sepanjang we all kat situ asyik tido jer.. aku belai2 pipi dia, time org tak nampak aku nak ajer aku picit sikit biar menangis so boleh tengok mata dia tapi still tak jaga2 gak laa .. isk..

nama dia hairunnis@ tapi panggil lisa. elok laa tuh.. nanti jadi pandai ala2 lisa simpson.

welcome to the world, lisa!
.. from abang adie.. NOT uncle adie ok.



...adie

Bukan Di Sini (Sofaz)
first, apa kejadah nama sofaz?? bahasa arab ker? aku nie first time dengar sumer lagu2 juara lagu nie. lagu sofaz nie.. errmm ok laa.. ada irama tertentu.. tapi suara tak keluar laa. overall persembahan biasa jer..

Lagu Kita (Aizat)
wah.. dia ni buat lagu, buat lirik dan nyanyi sendri..siap main gitar pulak tuh. masa mula2 nyanyi tuh aku dengar dia gementar.. agaknya first time atas pentas besar kot.. tapi lepas tu suara best jugak. crisp clear suara aizat nih, cuma tak flexible note2 dia, takde goreng-goreng sangat orang kata.. kalau ada chorus ulang 10 kali, 10 kali laa dia nyanyi macam tuh.. tapi kan.. aku still suker laa aizat nie.. berbakat.. dan not bad this ballad. boleh menang ke? maybe...

Dusta Berkalang (Aiman)
errm apa tema kostum aiman dan penari2 dia nih? nak kata arab.. macam raja majapahit pon ada. yg pasti pada aku, over acting. err terus aku turned-off, tak berminat nak follow up everything yg berlaku atas pentas.. lagu dia pon.. forgettable.

Cuba (Faizal Tahir)
ok ni first time laa aku nak dengar lagu faizal tahir nih.. glamer aku dengar dia nih. 2 lagu dia masuk AJL. aku ni sekali imbas, tak suka tengok rambut faizal nih.. gatal jek tangan aku nak carik gunting. dan lekuk kat dagu tu original ker?? lagu Cuba nie boleh tahan, tinggi nada dia.. suara faizal nie impressive. tapi aku tak laa terkinja2. lagipon persembahan dia nampak plastik pon ada.. nampak arrogant. aku prefer lagi aizat tadi.

Hanya Di Mercu (Ayu)
eh aku pernah dengar lagu nih. last year masa pegi kota kinabalu, dalam teksi on the way to kota belud, lagu nie keluar dalam radio. dolly tanya aku, eh sedap.. siapa nyanyi nih? aku kata, ntah.. tapi dari sebutan dia, macam indon.. lagu indon nih.. terus pemandu teksi tu betulkan, eh ini ayu, dia ni pemenang one in a million (aku still tak tau amende program one in a million nih?).. orang SABAH!! laaa.. hehhe.. padan laa pemandu teksi tu marah. tapi kan.. betul, macam oprah winfrey laa Ayu nih. suara dia best! very soulful. aku ingat dia nie mesti practise tengok video misha omar nyanyi lagu bunga2 cinta. cuma ayu nie pon tak pandai goreng2 suara laa.. kalau teran2 sikit suara tu mesti lagi best. dan next time, buang laa penari2 belakang tuh. menyemak.. terkinja2 sangat. mengganggu fokus. (mental note: harus aku check out album ayu nih).

Doa Dalam Lagu (Zahid & Heliza)
patutnya mawi nyanyi tapi dia sibuk honeymoon kot. terus zahid ganti. aku pon terus tak berminat. kalau penyanyi asal tak berminat nak attend, aku pon tak berminat laa nak dengar. lagu dia pon tak menarik perhatian.

Persoalan Cinta (Farawahida)
masa masuk pentas, aku nampak pempuan2 bersanggul pegang kipas. eh nice mixed up malay dan chinese theme. patut laa, lagu nie ada elemen2 muzik cina. aku tengok farawahida, macam janet jackson. rambut dan make up dia laa.. rambut palsu dan bedak tebal seinci. suara farawahida key tinggi tapi biasa jer.. pentas sibuk dengan kibaran2 kipas cina. chinese new year comes early! overall ok jek persembahan dia. bosan pon ada.

Sampai Syurga (Faizal Tahir)
satu lagi lagu faizal tahir. aku rasa dia nie mesti sibuk.. nyanyi dua lagu laa katakan. tak sempat nak bersiap so atas pentas sambil nyanyi tu orang tukar baju dia, dan set rambut dia. very efficient! tapi.. best nyanyian dia!! very very high note faizal nie tarik. aku pon siap teruja. yg aku musykil, kenapa tiba2 tengah lagu tu dia lari belakang pentas basuh muka? nak kata kena tempias penyanyi2 latar, takde pulak.. kalau faizal tahir tak menang vokal terbaik aku tak tau laa.. dan lagu nie memang best!

Bila Naik Saksi (Spider)
biasanyer persembahan. mmacam satu segment dalam hiburan minggu ini kat rtm jek. boring.

Dingin (Ziana Zain)
aku excited tunggu ziana nyanyi. dia ni jer penyanyi veteran dan kita semua kan suker dengar ziana jerit2 atas pentas sambil buat acrobatic kening.. dan.. dan.. apparently pernantian aku tu very the worth it bcoz... BEST persembahan kak ziana! waaaaahhhhh very tinggi dia tarik. siap goreng sana goreng sini.. this is how it should be done, girls.. now aku rasa ziana patut menang the best vocal. ok antara ziana dan faizal tahir. yg lain tak payah laa mimpi2..

Lagu Untukmu (Meet Uncle Hussien)
hah? meet uncle hussein? hahah aku suker make up clown separuh muka tuh. so penyanyi dia ala2 cebek bila menyanyi heheh.. nada suara dari A sampai Z tinggi. so bila dah tinggi tuh, aku tak dapat grab rentak lagu nih..

Yang Pernah (Estranged)
alamak, tak trendy langsung rupa penyanyi estranged nih.. macam baru keluar time machine dari zaman 70-an jek.. rambut gerbang. lagu pon forgettable. band nie ker yg memang juara lagu tahun lepas?? macam tak logic jek.

Aku Stacy (Stacy)
sekali imbas.. eh miley cyrus? sampai aku ingat aku terbukak disney channel, tapi rupa2nya betul laa stacy nih. tapi waaaahhh impressive dia nie menari sambil menyanyi.. tak mengah sangat pulak tuh. fauziah latiff mesti makan hati. sampai aku pon rasa nak berdiri sama.. very entertaining. tapi kalau dah tajuk lagu dia 'aku stacy', tak logic laa menang lagu terbaik kan.. ada pulak faizal tahir. dapat kemenangan moral jek laa dik ek??

Kalis Rindu (Elyana)
macam japanese paper doll punya theme. err.. mengarut laa.. suara pon tak keluar.. dan tak padan laa, aku nampak macam mak budak pakai baju cute.. lagu pon aku tak perasan sangat macam mana.. next.. upss.. dah abis ke??


so pada aku laa..

persembahan terbaik : faizal tahir (sampai syurga)
vokal terbaik : ziana zain (dingin)
juara lagu : faizal tahir (sampai syurga)



..adie