THAT Question

Alas, today this particular guy in my class just popped me the question I wouldn't want anybody to ask.

"I see your finger is empty.. so you are not married..?"

Damn. "Well, soon!" nodding my head, "In fact, very soon.."Haha.

At times, I won't mind to fake it and say I'm already married, rather than being asked by a guy whom seems impossible to my liking. Haha.

Did I appear bad when I say that?

But there was an extended question to it. "Oh, not planning to get engaged?" Duhh~

I did this before: I wore a ring when I went to conferences or trainings to avoid people asking me that question, and most importantly, to avoid undesirable men from coming my way (definitely!). Afterall, the piece I have does look like a real wedding ring. Anyway, it is not an ideal thought to stop people from wondering. Many asked me if I was engaged.. (>_<)

C'mon guys, I'm still in the 'early 20s' category. Perhaps I look too matured.. or have I aged? Hmm..

The highlight of my weekend (^_^)

Introducing my nephews and niece, the cutest in the world!

Mukhriz and Marsha

and little Mirza

This Gen-Y lady gets a low score

I have this kind of behavior. Anything that has to do with the zodiac Capricorn, the Pig year (yes, I was born in the year of Pig! Though the Chinese say that it is a year of good fortune, I'm not proud of it), January, 16, 1984, the month of Rabiulawal, blood type O.. name it, anything that has to do with me, anything that helps me understand myself better, I would love to learn it. Somehow I enjoy being classified, but sometimes over-generalizing decreases the validity of a claim.

I came back from work when I saw the front page of the Malay Mail: No fears for the young: World-wide credit crunch a non-event for Malaysia's Generation Y.

Haha. Generation Y. Obviously it has something to do with me. What caught my attention was this profile of the average Gen-Y person. And on behalf of myself, I would love to compare the mentioned profile to myself. Let's see how well I score as a Millennial (another name for Y-ners)

1. They spend around RM300-RM500 a month on entertainment and leisure - definitely not me, where 'life' is sought at home, not outside. No point.
2. Their love for shopping has earned them the label of "dream consumers" - hmm, the 'dream' word cuz maybe I can only dream of buying an authentic LV or Marc Jacobs. At least for the next few years to come. Well, yeah, I love shopping. 1 correct point there.
3. On a good day, they hang out at designer coffee outlets and indulge in good food, which easily comes to RM15 per meal - Well, I have stopped visiting Coffee Bean and Starbucks since I got the emails that informed they are financing 'that country'. But eating out at a place where a meal is RM 15 is normal. So okay, 1/2 correct point for this.
4. Many own the newest handphones, equipped with the latest technology. Doesn't matter if they are not technologically savvy enough to utilize all the functions; what is important is that they own something at par with what their peers have - Not true. I only call, send SMS, MMS, Bluetooth, surf the Net, download songs, take a pic, make a recording, organize my calendar, listen to the radio and wake myself up (whoa.. so many functions ah??) only by using Nokia 2630.. and I bet even schoolkids will laugh at me for having a very cheap, basic phone. I can imagine the moment someone sees my phone, he/ she will go like "Ler.. guna fon tu je.. tak up-to-date nyerr". Okay. Not applicable to me.
5. Two-thirds know the price of an iPod, but three-quarters have no idea what a carton of milk costs - Hey, of course I know, I still drink milk! No points.
6. They have hundreds of illegally downloaded songs - Who doesn't? CDs are so damn expensive. Neways, we all have thousands of free downloaded songs. Another correct point here.
7. One in 20 spends more than RM200 a month on mobile phone bills - I must be one of the 19. My bill seldom exceeds RM50.. hehe.
8. A number of them have more than one phone - Used to. Not applicable anymore.
9. Many do not read the newspapers, or watch the TV news - Well, I will read the national and international news, but very seldom on sports. Like football for example, tau nama pemain je. Which club pun dah tak tau. Still, sports isn't everything. So no point for this.
10. They are heavily dependent on 'helicopter parents' who hover protectively over their offspring - Well, I stopped being dependent since I finished school. So again, no point here.
    

Wah.. 2.5 points/10 or 25%. Well, can't say that I am not a Gen-Y, but I guess this profiling is over-generalized. Perhaps it is more right if I was still in the varsity. Yerp, back then, phone bills were high, and I seldom read the papers or even watch the news. But still, shopping excessively was obviously out of the question. What more owning a hi-tech handphone? The percentage may still be more or less the same, only that I would have answered the questions with different answers.

P/S: Iman, this is not the topic I mentioned to you about.

Hiccups on 1st Raya: Maaf Zahir Batin!

1st day of raya: MY REPORT


I'm writing this in the interval to wait for the next chore to end the day: basuh pinggan! after the final guest makes a move.

Tomorrow we're heading north to my dad's hometown. Excited or not? Hmm.. although it will be just me, Ozal and my parents, I am hoping that it would be a good visit. Today's beraya was ended with an ultimate anticlimax. ULTIMATE anticlimax. Pengalaman pahit, kelat, semualah.

So what's left for me to feel excited about raya this year? I would wanna say the TV shows lined up for the celebration SHOULD be most likely (whoa.. LOTR is being aired now on 8TV.. tapi saya dah mmg ada koleksi LOTR trilogy pun.. so.. hm, not so much of a surprise..) but then, the movies lined-up by TV3 and TV9 were already being aired last year (see what do I mean by being glued to the TV during raya? I can remember clearly what was aired last year!) Plus, too many Siti Nurhaliza's clips turned my mood off (walau mcm mana susahnya pun saya mencuba, namun saya rasa takkan boleh menerima minah yang satu ini) So on the first day of Raya, I spent the entire noon on bed, reading.. until I dozed off. I need that okay, since last night was a busy night in the kitchen main masak-masak!

Since I have been working for almost a year, there is no argue on why I am not eligible anymore to get duit raya this time around. Yes, it's my time to give. And yes, I'm kinda fortunate that I don't really have that many little cousins or nieces or nephews to entertain. Well, not to say that I don't like little toddlers. Let's rephrase. I like little toddlers who are cute and well-behaved only. Naughty ones will get some 'twisting on the skin' for being so 'happening'.

(Oh, sekarang TV9 tengah air movie 'Rock'.. cerita last year jugak ni.. isk)

(Ok, berbalik kepada 8TV, LOTR. Smeagol tengah gila cakap sorang2)


Hmm, takpelah. Mungkin dengan sedikit kesabaran, Syawal akan menjadi masa yang bermakna juga.. I will need to pack after this, and sambung menonton LOTR while waiting for the guests to balik.. arghh sleepynya.. >_<

In between Ramadhan and Syawal

Ramadhan is nearing its end quite soon, and the heat of Syawal is definitely here :) Like the past years, we are going to celebrate Aidilfitri here in KL first. After that we will visit Opah in Abah's hometown, Sg. Siput, Perak. Believe it or not, Abah has not decided when to go back, either on the eve of the 1st Raya, or on the 2nd, or on the 3rd (I don't really prefer travelling without planning though..) but it's okay, cuz Abah's gonna drive, and we'll definitely sleep along the way, hehe.

Today we finally ended our series of shopping for Aidilfitri, in KL and Shah Alam. It has been a few years since we last shopped together in KL (usually we siblings do our own shopping cuz my parents were always too tired of following us around) and this year, I have no idea what made my parents braved the effort to buy the things for the house in that busy Jalan TAR.

Yes, it was busy indeed. Anyhow, the atmosphere of the shops were not the same as three years back. I was taken aback by the condition of the once-glorious Globe Silk Store, which has been taken over by another label called Sarah Hughes. I thought, hmm, cool name. So we went to the home furnishing level, cuz Mom wanted to buy new drapes and cushion covers. When we got there, we were surprised to see that there was no visitor (except for us!) and what was even worse, the cloths sold were the old stocks. I guess they lost the challenge to Gulati's and Jakel la. Feeling down, we descend the stairs, and went to Sogo instead. Ain and Aishah got their stuffs, and Ozal and Abah got themselves new shirts.

We headed for Bukit Antarabangsa after that, to get the cookies that Mom ordered from her cousin Auntie Rahmah. Our Auntie Rahmah has deep passion in baking, and she spends a lot to experiment on new recipes. She even dragged me to her fave supply shop to show me her fave items to bake cakes and cookies during my last visit to her place. Believe it or not, she is now probably 64 years old, and she's still standing strong in her kitchen!

Auntie Rahmah was checking which cookies that Mom ordered

These are just a portion of her cookies. There are more in her kitchen and on the other half of the dining table!

(Sorry if the pics are not so pretty. Phone's of VGA cam je..)

Shah Alam was our final destination for the day, as Ain, being the most unsatisfied one, wanted to find a 'glamorous' kurung moden for our cousin's upcoming wedding. We called it a day after she announced her hunt a success. Finally!

The great thing about Ramadhan (apart from being His most blessed month) is that Ramadhan is a month where rezeki is abundant. It is during this month where, we can see Ramadhan Bazaars are everywhere, the increase in charity to orphanages and old folks' home, invitation to fast-breaking, iftar at the mosques and surau, exchanging dishes among neighbors, the opportunity to get extra pocket money through selling Raya biscuits, scarfs, opening stalls at places where crowds gather.. and the list goes on. Amidst the political instability and the rise of the price of goods, we still manage to keep the Ramadhan spirit alive, though modesty in spending is still the priority.

But believe it or not, this is my first time of not visiting the Ramadhan Bazaar the whole month. Why? I dunno myself, but the drive just wasn't there.Perhaps getting home late was one of the reasons, compared to last year when my office was nearer. Or perhaps, I am getting used to curbing my spending on the extras! Well Sharifah, let's call that a good progress =)

To everybody who reads this post, I just wanna wish you Selamat Hari Raya, and maaf zahir dan batin. Do drive safely back to your hometowns ya :)

Ahhh.. esok kena kemas rumah lagi~ penatnya... (>_<) sendi-sendiku sakit semua.. lalala..~

A perfect mini reunion

It's been twelve years since we left our primary school. But yet, we never forget our childhood days.

Today is my most awaited weekday, and that it has been a while since I had a great Friday night. Thanks guys.

Well, I didn't know that I would be the only girl turning up. I thought Diba or Hazlinda would come along. Thank God Faizah and Nurul were there =)

Standing from left: Edzuan, myself, Arshad

Sitting from left: Zuhairy, Azraai, Kamil, Faizal

Arshad with his girlfriend, Nurul, and Edzuan with his wife Faizah

Me the photographer: We were about to leave the restaurant

TQ Nurul for this pic =) I was dwarfed by Kamil and Azraai.

The idea to break fast together sparked when Hazizi placed our Std 5 picture in his Facebook. Thanks to him for tagging most of us, we came up with the idea to meet up, since it has been really long since we last met.

There were twelve of us initially, including Hariz, his wife Marlina and the 3-month old Hana. But they left early. We didn't manage to take photos with the three of them. But nevermind, Raya's around the corner, we might meet up again.

Well, it's great that most of us are now employed. Faizal (or should I call you Dr. Faizal? hehe) just got back from Russia and will start his housemanship soon. Azraai will be going back to Germany for his final year in Mechatronics. Zuhairy will be a lawyer soon. Kamil just got back from Cardiff, and he's now looking for a job. Edzuan's working tomorrow (takpe, SLB kerja dua hari, cuti dua hari Edzuan..) and Arshad is progressing with his production thingy with RTM. Cool huh..

Thanks for a great fast breaking gathering guys :) I'll upload these pics in Facebook definitely!

P/S: Fadli, Zaki, Zamila and Hazlinda, you missed this!

Watch your words, boy!

When you think what you say matters the most, that is when you might be prone to making mistakes in conveying it. Due to excitement maybe, that made you too occupied to think about the impact of what you say. Yeah, you just gotta say something, don't you?

When you think that what you say can really reflect your intelligence, especially when commenting a debatable, open ended topic, that is when you will succeed in making yourself appear to be a thoughtless person. Yerp, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but of course, MINUS unintelligent opinions.


Too many slip-tongue cases happen, especially to our politicians eh.. what a pity.

Example 1 (Cerita lama): Perhaps because the Info Dude felt he was superior to the De-Facto Guy that perhaps he felt because he is one of the current Dudes, that he forgot to strategize the way to rebut the De-Facto Guy's arguments. Couldn't imagine how people bombarded his blog the day after.. with all the shameful words of not proving his credibility. That was indeed a shame..

Example 2: Datuk X must have said it wrongly.. I believe he actually wanted to address the word 'immigrants' as something else. But perhaps, because of the excitement he felt of being broadcasted, and that perhaps was the only chance for him to comment something on the newspaper before God-knows-when he gets to do it again, he used the wrong word. Well, the irony is that, the ones criticizing him are not really the politicians from other races, but mostly, it was done by the Malay politicians.

Tak kasi can langsung kan.. dapat je peluang belasah, belasah cukup-cukup. Sian Datuk X..

To join any political party, especially those that practise money politics, I think, can be analogized like this: You are a billy-goat, inspired to join the big group of tough billy-goats. You just have to be like them, follow them, not taking the lead, lead when requested only.. only then can you be pals with the rest of the group members. If you try to do something different or act smart (or even act stupid for that matter!), you'll be knocked out. As humans, not only it's painful to be kicked out, it's humiliating too! But.. hmm.. politicians ni tau malu ke eh? Entah!


Drama
"Datuk Si Polan bin Si Polan is demanded to apologize...." Mainstream newspaper reports politician X as saying.

"I'm sorry, it was not my actual intent.." and the reasons go on and on for the Datuk Polan.

-"Jatuh ego aku.. dem! Haisshh susahnya nak mintak maaf nih.." seraya berkata si Datuk dalam hati.

1 Ramadhan =)

(1)
You know.. whenever I encounter some 'gelabah' feelings when I'm about to deal with people that I am not used to, I like to picture this scene in my head: that the work can get done if the fear is not there. That I can just go and discuss a few things, get the finalization, and tada~ kerja siap!

To get that pictured in mind is easy.. but to overcome it, why so hard?

I like to imagine myself operating without any emotions. Perhaps it would be a lot easier to accomplish things. Say, the boss says "Do this and submit it next week.." I really hope that employees can just respond " Alright boss, next week it is." without the intervention of "Alamak.. next week aku nak cuti la.." or "Can't my boss speak a little softer to me..?" or "Why is it that I get to do all the chores.. mamat sebelah aku ni tak kena pun!"

Imagining this, I remind myself that it is best not to whine. Because of that, I view people who complain as loathing. So, if I have a few grumbles, I'll just keep it within.

(2)
Generalized list of people's idea during the fasting month:
- terawih every night (dapatkah??)
- hmmhmm.. apa ada di Bazaar Ramadhan petang nanti? hehehe..
- Malam nanti nak berbuka apa/ kat mana?
- Hotels giving good Ramadhan buffet deals.. let's go!
- Baju Raya/ kuih raya dah beli belum?

Hehe.. regardless of whatever that we think about, I just wanna wish my friends selamat berpuasa and selamat beribadat =) tiada gangguan untuk sebulan ni kan.. kerana si 'dia' kena unpaid leave sebulan.. hehe.

I swear~

Mungkinkah selepas ini, perlakuan bersumpah demi Al-Quran akan dipertikaikan kesahihannya?

In my case, I am thinking like that because I doubt him. (ok.. mungkin selepas ini, aku akan dikata shallow lagi, huh)

My concern is that, when he swore in the name of the holy Quran, and when he stated that he is willing to accept any consequence, i.e. dilaknati Tuhan, did he really mean it?

Yeah, some may say that I doubt him due to the fact that I dislike him. No, it's not like that. I don't hate him, nor like him even. It's just that I doubt his faith.

If his faith is really strong, if he is really God-fearing, and if he feels that swearing by the name of the holy book is the only way, then I would say he is telling the truth. (But still, what took him so long to reveal he was a victim after a few times being the toy? Well, perhaps his contemplating took him a while to do so la kan.. PERHAPS!)

If he is not that God-fearing, has never seen God's damnation to those who swears in falsity by His name, I would say his decision to swear is based on something like this: "Alah, laknat Tuhan tu bukannya immediately taking place, so boleh la ada masa senggang to finish the case before I am really grounded by God". That is my perception je la.. Budak-budak muda ni bukan boleh dipercayai sangat. Especially yang iman tak kuat ni.

Sama ada he is really God-fearing or not, I don't have the say. There are too many munafiqs around, which makes it hard for ordinary people like me to really see right through them, whether they perform their obligation purely on sincerity, repentance and succumbing to His divinity, or just to maintain a good name in the eyes of people, so that they will benefit something out of it. Politics.

Entahlah... there is always interesting political story when it comes to Anwar's case, since 1998.

What is exasperating about it is that, now, swearing in the name of Al-Quran has been politicized. If that boy is true in his swearing, fine. If, the swearing made by him is a swearing of a munafiq, then, nobody will trust the swearing in the name of Al-Quran anymore. Again, the pride of Islam will erode bit by bit. I don't wanna witness all those, I wish I won't have to.

What do I tell..?

I could weave a thousand chronicles
perhaps a tale or two will make you fumble
I could tell you many many stories
that I know could make you chuckle
... but I didn't mean to make you frown
... nor to keep you in elusiveness

don't you know I'm just a clown?

At times I wonder what's best to tell you
'Cause you know a lot more than I do
... Perhaps to keep it inside would be good,
but then that will undeniably eat my mood

So tell me what do I do..?

Honesty and truth,
Choose to know, it might open your eyes
Facade and pretense,
and you will hurt knowing that they are lies
or should I analyze
your desire
and only tell what you want to hear..?