Tale of two batangs

My friend, A, never knew that there was a place called Batang Berjuntai throughout her 20+years existence. Having lived and studied in the East Coast throughout her younger days, it was only on the day she followed her aunt to Kedah that she found the signboard.

On the other hand, I, never knew that there's a village called Batang Bergedik throughout my 20+years of happy-sad-happy-happy life. Having read newspapers only when I have the time, it was only today when I read the New Straits Time ("'Acid man' finds true love again' pg 15 col 1) that I found out tat in Tanah Merah there is such a place.

Booker... Blooker...

Just when you thought you're bloggin' for nothin', someone comes up a great idea to keep you going. For the unitiated bloggers out there, be in the know that if book authors look forward to getting Bookers, bloggers can now look forward to getting Blookers.

As reported by BBC UK, the best books based on blogs are to be recognised in their own literary prize - the Blooker Prize. Shortlisted works will be released in March while winners will be announced on 3 April 2006.

Back in 2003 I started a blog with some friends and we weaved our real-life incidents, real-life communication, real-life affairs even to make our so-called chic-lit more relevant to the real people out there.

However, some people perasan pulak with what we wrote, thinking it was some kind of direct insult to them without knowing that we've spiced it up, makin it to more ficticious than anything else - bodoh betul.

Anyway... too bad lah they didn't take up English 111 seriously (like, hello, critical reading!). But we didn't wanna jinx the blook (blog-based book), we halted the project...

But we're working on something much more fun soon after we killed the real-life-to-fiction blook. It has something to do with food - now if any calorie counting person out there gets offended and think it's our ploy to attack anyone over, under or just the right weight we're not gonna layan lah this time...

... cause we want our Blooker lah!

Sing, sing, song

Thanks to whoever was previously using the Fifth Generation iPod 60GB unit I am currently reviewing, I am now hooked to this yesteryear hit, Beautiful Ones by Suede. Had you been a teen in the late 90s, Suede will be a really familiar name, alongside Weezer, Oasis and the likes...

Beautiful Ones
Suede
(Coming Up)

high on diesel and gasoline
psycho for drum machine
shaking their bits to the hits

drag acts, drug acts, suicides
in your dad's suits you hide
staining his name again

cracked up, stacked up, 22
psycho for sex and glue
lost it to Bostik, yeah

shaved heads, rave heads, on the pill
got too much time to kill
get into bands and gangs

oh, here they come, the beautiful ones, the beautiful ones

loved up, doved up, hung around
stoned in a lonely town
shaking their meat to the beat

high on diesel and gasoline
psycho for drum machine
shaking their bits to the hits

oh, here they come, the beautiful ones, the beautiful ones

you don't think about it,
you don't do without it,
because you're beautiful,
and if your baby's going crazy
that's how you made me,
la, la, la, la...

photo borrowed from www.glam-rock.de, lyrics from www.elyrics4u.com - thanks!

"Beware of the moon!"

So says Reverand Clement Hedges, who's terrorized by the Were-Rabbit in Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. I gotta tell ya this is one cool stop-motion animation film.

After the adventurous pork and the poultry (I mean Babe and Chicken Run) I never thought things can get so dramatic when it comes to animals that humans can ngap ngap ngap. (Pix borrowed from Y!Search)

But then again, sometimes we forget that they are living, breathing things too, just like us. Fortunately Wallace and Gromit of the Anti-Pesto team, along with nature lover Lady Campanula Tottington are heroes to the veggie-lovin rabbits in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

I especially enjoyed the script. There's a whole bunch of puns to LOL about if only you're quick enough to spot them. Don't say I didn't ya about the Reverand and the moon!

Done this:

1] Put a new link in my bloggie for Bob-siebaby the man who sings his heart out and says all the nice things at the right time.

2] Put a new link to Ariel's new blog, which is still a magical wordical adventure eventhough she claims she's no longer a creature of the divine sort. (Yo Ariel, the word "wordical" is just like geramity, and that means I invented it. I like it cause it rhymes at the end with the word "calculator" at the front. So if any IT taipans wana converge a dictionary with a calculator can anyone guess what they'll use if the word "wordical" gets adopted by Merriam-Webster?)

3] Updated the Band Superfriends blog - simply to spite cute 'lil Sue cause she's not there when they were photographing. Sakat-menyakat is a wonderful thing.

So go check 'em out...

Seen good movies lately?

I saw Children of Heaven last night - yeah, yeah, I know this is quite a popular artsy movie and I'm a bit ketinggalan in that sense. Bawled out I did, as I saw certain scenes - kesian siot bebudak tu. But I do admire their sensitivity towards their parent's struggle to make ends meet.

I don't know whether I was that bright enough when I was younger, to realize that my parents too had to struggle to provide food on the table, education etc. for my siblings and me. On top of that my ailing grandma was living with us.

My younger cousins - the so called Coffee Beans generation - is a total contrast from Ali and Zahra of Children of Heaven. If Ali told Zahra not to tell their parents about the lost shoes, it is because he knows they both will get trashing from the father, whom he knows has no money to replace it either.

On the other hand, once I heard my uncle complained to my mom that his daughter simply said, "Ala Bah, ice blended kat Coffee Beans RM10 je, bukannya mahal!" and that nearly gave him a surge of high blood pressure.

Girls, you gota get out there!

"If you want to beat boys in cyber games, you can," says the sole female player among the 700 participants from 67 countries in the World Cyber Games Finals in Singapore. She is 24, studying to become an elementary school teacher and has a cleavege. Haiya, manyak susah to photograph one..

Days of dissing dishes

The older your parents get, the more visitors they get. Come Raya time this fact will hit you at full speed, and all you can do is grab some Sunlight and a sponge, and get things started at the kitchen sink.

Of course prior to that there will be all the cleaning and rubbing and mopping and arranging you'll have to do. And as the guests arrive there will be a lot of bancuh airs and hidang kuehs on the way.

Before you could join the crowd for some socializing more guests will arrive, and you're back at step two. That of bancuh airs and hidang kuehs, of course.

Some guests with a tad of kidney failure and slight case high-blood pressure tend to ask for air suam, so there'll be that to take care of too. Young at heart and strong in spirit, that's what they are. Most likely your parent's schoolmate back in Sungai Sumun in 1949.

Kids without fail will be part of the new demographic brought by the guests. Screaming, laughing, running, kencing, TV-remote-control stealing kids. Adorable, pinchable creatures, that's what they are.

And parents with standard control measures: "Aidil boy, mama said put-that-down! Now!" or "Fitri..! Fitri! Muhammad Fitri Afifi Haziq Ziryab bin Muhammad Iqbal! Stop it!" Unimpressive hardworking matadors, that's what they are.

Then there's you - the one with the pair of hands and a pair of legs and some brain cells behind the eye sockets. Yes, you, the one capable of making changes in the domestic plane:

The you who brings out the ketupats and lemangs and clean up the crumbs when all guests left.

The you who juggles the glasses and plates and make two litres of air sirap under ten seconds. (Some say 9.98 seconds, but who's timing?)

The you who knows where the rest of the semperit and London Almonds were hiding.

The you who managed to tidy up three separate parts of the house while making the air sirap for the next lot of guests.

And the you who did dishes, dissing and cursing as they slip and crack.

Bila larut malam

... try not to watch The Exorcism of Emily Rose...

For me it's quite scary! The contortions on her face! The eyes! The scream! The curse! Waaaa!!! Terbayang-bayang siot!

I caught it on big screen pulak tu! What to do, kerja maa...

"One two three four five six!"

Ish... seram...!

Thrills and chills

"Maya Karin is now Malaysia's Dian Sastro... yep... winnin' here and there... But she seems to be called the specialist when it comes to horrors ekk.." - So says one of the high-profile film critic in the coop I'm stuck in.

The comment came out right after he saw Maya's photo on the front page of today's Malay Mail, right next to the headline that reads, "Porn Queen busted". (The smaller print that carried Maya's story which goes, "Meet the vampire queen" was obviously a proof that the sub-editors responsible for the frontpage have no qualms about using the same word twice on the same page. Hmm...)

An akak critic comes in and argued, "Eleh Maya won the first award cause Jins said very few actress don't mind having her face dihodohkan on screen... Come on la! The second one I bet may not be as interesting... Sequels usually suck!"

I played peacemaker and said, "OK juga Maya tu berlakon... But I prefer Nasha Aziz's performance in Trauma anytime man. Damn scary one..."

Our other colleague from a far corner of the room interjected, "You know what's scary? You wanna know what's really scary?"

We all turned and looked at him expectantly...

"What's scary is Wan Maimunah man! Wan Maimunah I tell you... Any telemovie, any serial drama! Brr..!"

Wha..? Huh? Sampai sekarang kitorang tak paham siott...

Selamat selamat

Selamat Berpuasa to all my Muslim friends.

Here's to Ramadan Resolution!

I shall go easy on the kuehs.

I shall bring only RM10 saje everytime I go to Pasar Ramadan.

I shall buka puasa with my family more than just a couple of times (yep, last year's hectic).

I shan't binge during sahur (I promise I'll wake up for sahur).

I shan't kutuk the lagu rayas that is not up to my taste.

I shan't get involved with last-minute shopping at areas like Jalan TAR.

I shan't order Jam Tarts or London Almond again (will let my other siblings get em!).

Happy malas-kerja-mau-tengok-DVD-pulak day

I nak tengok...

Goonies

Neverending Story

Batteries Not Included

Chocolat

The Wedding Singer

The Truth About Cats and Dogs

The Mirror Has Two Faces

Mystic

Imigran

Bring It On

Pirates of the Caribbean

Two Weeks Notice

The Shawshank Redeption

Amelie

City of God

Pulp Fiction

10 Things I Hate About You

Almost Famous

My Cousin Vinnie

Empire Records

Easter Parade

The Importance of Being Earnest

Strictly Ballroom

Robots

The Green Mile

Ever After

dan lagi... dan lagi... and then I'll work. How about that, Ed...?

More puke

Adoi...!!!

Belum habis baca paper, I came across yet another write up that makes me wana puke. Again.

Apparently a reporter in Malay Mail went to this restaurant called Tsunami, located in Desa Sri Hartamas. Spearheaded by three chaps - owners Shariff Shah and Tunku Sham Tunku Mahmud and head chef Ahmady Putit.

(The article carried a photo of the three - damng, they looked so local to me. In fact, two out of three of them looks very Malay.)

Among the highlighted cuisine - marinated lamb meatballs sauteed in brandy sauce.

In fact, as writer Edy Daniel pointed out, the outlet also has an extensive selection wine.

The icing on the cake: The restaurant is planning something special for this coming Ramadan!

WTF (again)...! What's wrong with this picture? (I'm not that pious, but the scene of Asmidar calling Ali, "Ali setan, Ali bodoh, Ali gile, Ali babi..." kept repeating in my mind.)

For the sake of argument, maybe those chaps aren't Muslims. PAH! I bet they're not until it's Raya time...

Puke. Again.

Things that make you wanna puke

Here's a case that recently shocked my plates:

Excerpts from NST:
18-year-old Sixth Former student stabbed his 16-year-old Fifth Former girlfriend, killing the eight-month-old foetus in her womb. (Ayoyo!)

The girl became pregnant early this year but is thought not to have realised her condition for six months. Even her boyfriend and family members had been unaware. (Huh? OK....)

Anyway. The guy found out about it, had initially agreed to marry her but the couple had fights in between. The last fight ended in the stabbing tragedy.

Boy was arrested, girl survived - but baby died.

Now, today's newspaper reported that the guy's defence team had told off the press that the case is not murder. Yes, someone died, yes, the someone who is a foetus is fully formed and showed signs of life as it was moving about in the mother's stomach, but no, it is not murder - so they arguued.

They brought forward Section 316 of the Penal Code, which was specifically enacted to deal with situations in which unborn children die as a result of an attempt made upon the life of its mother.

If you read on you'll get the general idea - that the boy was trying to kill the girl, and failed, but as a consequence of his attempt, the baby became a casualty.

Please!

Then WTF did he aimed the knife right at her belly then? If he wanted to kill her why not stab her heart or slit her throat right at the pulse line?

I remember a medical expert telling me that a stab wound in the abdomen is among the slowest way one could die, if pressure is applied to stop further bleeding. (For the record I was asked which kind of cancer kills the fastest - English 111 research paper assignment).

So what else would he be aiming for? Isn't the baby the cause of their misery? Isn't it typical for a mad man to blame the innocent for his predicament?

Puke.

Think IKEA, and push it a notch higher

Yep, ladies and gentlemen, that's what Finland's all about. Among the things one'd noticed during the first 12 hours in the country are:

1) Finns are helpful and cheery lot, save for the immigration officers. However, if you have a press ID or a Nokia employee tag, you'll get the stamp quicker.

2) People start their commute to work as soon as 6AM-ish. If you are on the highway it is OK to go fast on any of the three lanes - no much of hogging here.

3) Dog owners are many, and most of them have twin K9s.

4) From furniture to utensils to toiletry box, everything looks so simple yet astoundingly elegant, making all the stuff in IKEA look like rejects.

5) Local brand chocolate, Fazer - damn sedap man!

Bangkok airport has cute buggies

If you are travelling to Bangkok with friends who have problems with long distance walking, don't worry, cause Bangkok airport has this cute buggies - you know the kind like they have in golf clubs, only bigger - 4 seats plus luggage bunk at the back.

No, I didn't get to ride on one. Was trying to ditch some fat while I'm at it, of course.

Espoo hoohoo!

When I say "hoohoo", I had more of a "boo hoo hoo" in mind, and a bit of "yoo hoo hoo".

After a lot of searching, it seems as if Espoo would be terribly cold (for most tropicanites anyway) around this time of the year, and most of their fests are over (e.g. Cinefest, Music Fest)... So that's boo hoo hoo.

The yoo hoo hoo part was due to the fact that yesterday, I managed to score a lovely winter jacket at 50% discount, making the RM179.00 good down to RM89.50, and to think I had budgeted RM250 to RM300 for it! So yoo hoo hoo for that!

The most important part is that there will be a chance for me to do what's expected, smoothly. Wish moi luck!

Selamat Hari Merdeka

Fourty-eight years of independence. Tomorrow will be the day, tonight there'll be the fireworks, the crowd, the massive, massive, massive jam.

I'll be staying home with my lovely little flag. Be wavin' it at the stroke of midnight, watching the boom from the little balcony at the back.

Azam kemerdekaan saya ialah to be free of my own tantrums. Selamat Hari Merdeka to all, keep us there, right!

About Salmonella... But not the girl in AH-HA Season 1

You know there was a girl named Salmonella in AH-HA Season 1? She's the centre of the soap opera which has voice over jobs that sealed Oshin's coffin...

But there's another Salmonella out there, and this one's more deadly that the one mentioned above. This Salmonella is Salmonella Typhi, the bacteria that causes Typhoid fever...

You could get this gastrointestinal disease if you're not careful with what you eat. As a thumb rule, websites like www.cdc.gov and www.plainvillecitizen.com recommends that you boil it, peel it, cook it or forget it.

Or else, you'll get these stuff in your food, water, stomach, and eventually, your stool/feces... Scroll down...

Anyway, I happen to know that most licenced food stalls owners have been enforced to get TY2 vaccination shots (costs RM20 per needle) which ensures that they are no longer Salmonella Typhi carriers... (FYI Salmonella Typhi lives only in human bodies, some who recovered from the Typhoid fever may continue to carry the bacteria..)

p/s: pix borrowed from Yahoo! Search Pages. Thanks.

And 45 minuts ago it was declared...

Today will always be a memorable one...

Air pollution index soars to hazardous levels; Malaysia declares emergency
KUALA LUMPUR,(AFP)

Malaysia declared a state of emergency today as the air pollution index soared to extremely hazardous levels on the west coast, which is worst-hit by smoke from fires in Sumatra, an official said.

"We are now in a state of emergency," a National Security Council official said after the environment department said the index had reached 529 in the shipping centre of Port Klang and 531 in the coastal town of Kuala Selangor.

The government said on Wednesday that levels above 500 would trigger a state of emergency.

The National Security Council official said that although only the two west coast locations had exceeded 500, the emergency measures would extend to the whole of the Klang valley in which the capital Kuala Lumpur sits.

They will include closing schools, advising citizens to stay indoors or wear masks outside, and beginning rain-seeding in an effort to wash away the dust and smoke in the air.

In Kuala Lumpur the pollution index reached 321 and the city was shrouded in a yellowish mist that made the tops of buildings disappear. In the administrative capital of Putrajaya, which lies further towards the coast, the index reached 364.

REF: www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/aug112005/update738432005811.asp