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

Geylang, si paku geylang

Pulang marilah pulang, marilah pulang, bersama-sama...

Apparently there has been a burning occurence in Batang Kali, Selangor, earlier today - hence the smell of smoke on your clothes today, folks.

Yep, haze is at its worst today here in Klang Valley, Negeri Sembilan and parts of Perak due to the above reason, plus what we've been having for the past few days.

It started with the fire that happened in Putrajaya, and with fires in Sumatra and now Batang Kali, today as the API index breached 500 points, Selangor has declared state of emergency...

Jom le balik!

Reasons to watch Malaysian Idol 2

What reasons?!

Azam's gone! :(

Atilia's gone. :(

Faizull in :P

Fauzi out :(

Lisa out :(

If you like Faizull then he's worth tuning in I guess, cause save him the Malaysian Idol 2 is truly barren of supervoices... Hopefully Azam'll get a recording contract - or at least come back with a single. If Fauzi or Lisa gets to cut a single bet they'll be worth buying too.

The silliest line I've ever heard...

... came from a lady landlord I happened to bump into last Saturday. She was angry at her tenant, and outbursted a comment that went exactly like this:

"You can't talk to me like that! I'm an engineer you know!"

... to her tenant who earlier to that said, "I paid a month of deposit, surely you can't expect me to pay for three when I only needed to pay for two - that's easy maths, surely you can count?".

And what could we - my mom, my sis, and my poor ticklish soul - could do but slam a few guffaws straight into her ears.

Even earlier to that, the lady landlord was trying to screw the tenant by asking for extra payment, eventhough she well know that the tenant has placed a month's deposit before moving in 5 years ago, paid to her dad.

I'm sure not all engineers are as sensitive as that when someone happens to question his or her math prowess (I happen to know some really cool engineers who constantly make fun of themselves for not being able to count the percentage of increase of oil prices for the past two months).

Still, it was the most hilarious thing I've ever heard so far... minus that one involving a minister who owns like a hundred and eighty-nine open APs... now that one deserves to be documented on film.

Prank caller update

Apparently three girlfriends of mine received those calls too. Yep same number, same sorry pathetic loser. And the wanker called me and Nadya on Tuesday morning. We both decided to press the pick up button then left our handphones by the side, and moved on with whatever we were doing (me sleeping, Nadya the nightbird watched the rest of the DVD). Do I wanna trash the wanker? Naah... I do wana make him pay though. Time to see the IT guy again...

Obviously: The trash bin...

Relocated booboo

This is something I posted at another blog I maintain (dated then and there July 19, 2005), and the relocation is due to the fact that the story no longer fits in its original context, but never should it be wasted.

~~~~~~~
Blah and go
By Siti Rosman

KUALA LUMPUR, Tue. - A twenty-something youth commited breach of contract by leaving his workplace with a hollar of "Blahlah!" to his colleagues plus an SMS note saying "I quit!" sent to his superior yesterday. According to senior colleagues, this markes his third time big screw-up on the job, but this time there were no trace of guilt, remorse nor repentence of any sort.

"What makes the matter so weird is that no one in the group really knows why he is really upset," said one senior colleague. "He simply refused to come back to the main line to perform his duty, and even signalled somewhat insolently to another senior colleague who had beckoned him to come back."

A few other senior colleagues suspected that he might have been too embarassed and disraught over his very last outing on the line, in which he had forgotten his lines, delivered what he could muster in out-of-tune manner and fumbled to the end.

"Everyone makes mistakes, but with experience you will know how to handle it. Perhaps the venue of the operation, which was packed with people made him even more upset, having embarassed himself in front of what he though was too big of a crowd. He ain't seen the real crowd yet!" gushed another senior colleague, who relayed the experience of working in a hall packed with way too many people so much so that going to the loo became almost an impossible feat.

When asked by Bandsuperfriendsblog if the possible permanent loss of team mate will affect the group badly, a spokesperson for the group optimistically said, "Indeed when there is a breach of contract by individuals who are not professional nor are they respectful of others, the group is affected. However this has happened before, and it had not stopped the group from delivering their best. We're confident there are lots more capable performers out there who will fill in his shoes."

Last in, first out: Quitter who said, "Blahlah!" and unabashedly left.

"Breach of contract is a legal concept in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other party's performance." - About.com In some cases contract quitter may not be granted payment for any previous service rendered, unless his/her superior is willing to be generous.

Another frontline colleague of the nincompoop youth even went as far as saying, "Actually, when he was roped in, there wasn't a lot of change. I still carry the same load. So if he really wants to quit, it doesn't bother me."

Another senior colleague who had had old-school training on the job commented that new recruits should be trained as how it was done in the old days, when freshmen gets a variety of scolding and spanking until they became proficient.

His comment was supported by the founding member of the group, who observed that recruits of today are generally lembik and tend to quickly naik lemak when given some slack.

~~~~~~~

* For the record the guy has returned to his team after two days of feeling sorry for himself. Capital L...r...

STOMP!

Halamak... STOMP nak mai la... Bakpe gok maha dok'oh tiketnye?

Why oh why are the shows in Istana Budaya always so expensive? I'm not just talking about Cats and STOMP now, even Alang Rentak Seribu or National Symphony Orchestra performances cost quite a bundle for an average Malaysian like me.

And they wonder why it is so hard to promote these shows.

And they wonder why art appreciation is lacking among Malaysians.

And they wonder why they're being accused of being clique-ish.

Why won't they reserve more places for students? Why won't they give more early bird discounts? Why won't they give cheaper options?

You'd think students nowadays could afford RM77 for a seat? Even working individuals like me would think thrice (to the power of two) to pop RM77, let alone RM127 per show - and that's minimum prices!.

Sure, STOMP (etc.) is a recognised, international outfit. However, surely there must be a way to make these acts more accessible to normal people like me.

Gripes!

However, if you are lucky enough to be among the minority of people who would not think twice paying more than RM50 per show, perhaps the JPEG I borrowed from Axcess.com would be worth perusing...

McDilemma

Ordered the Double-Cheese, felt a bit guilty.
Got the Light Coke that just doesn't hit.
Soggy fries complements but tasteless without chilli.
The saviour is Apple Pie minus the heat.

p/s: This is a mild, almost mis-manifestation of my ketidak-puasan hati kerna McDelivery during lunch tadi agak lambat dan mamat yang deliver tu tumpahkan air kitorang, pastu tanak bertanggungjawab lak tu! Dah la fries ku yang berpeluh-peluh tu tak cukup chilli sauce. Marah la ni.

Did I say beach? Well, I meant...

... sea. Deep sea. Deep enough for novice South China Sea.

Plus thunder and lightning. Whichever comes firstlah. I was too terrified and excited to notice.

Plus high waves. Plus rocking boat. Big boat with parangs and other dangerous utensils lying around...

Plus a trio of seamen who said, "Going to sea while the rain is a-rocking and a storm is a-brewing? Why not? Then we can take a shower AND go fishin' at the same time - cool huh!" (OK for the record the neither pakcik nor the abangs used the word "cool" but in essence, that's what they said... or something to that effect. Remember? I was terrified and stuff...?)

And I never did find my sea legs. And I lost my orientation (meaning I could not recall which way was the mainland once we lost sight of it, hence that sinking feeling that says if the boat capsizes and I'm thrown into the ocean, I would not know which way to swim to).

Yet there we were, two boats full of top executives attached to a billion dollar company and a bunch of IT journalists, sailing right into the middle of the spot where fishermen always go when it is squid season.

We were already partly wet the moment we got onto the boat, and the dark cloudy sky finally delivered the shower it's been meaning to bestow...

In simpler terms, after five minutes struggling to get on the boat, most of us were wet waist below with saltwater, and after another five minutes, we got the needed cleansing.

After braving a 20 minutes wild ride on the open sea, we finally anchored at a place where squids were OK with being caught without a bait.

And some actually did fell for it!

See, to candat sotong we were given a roll of nilon thread with a rod of hooks attached to it. Then we're supposed to drop it all the way down, then tug it every now and then so that passing squids will get entangled by surprise and in the end, earn the name "My catch".

The pakcik onboard said you'll feel the hook gets a bit heavier - that's how you'll know that your hook has gotten a catch. In fact as the rain subsided and we were given the roll of nilon thread, he confidently asked some of the girls onboard to tanak nasi...

Then after some time of throwing and tugging, and complaining about the possible development of uneven biceps, and wondering about how the other boat was doing (see we were separated to two spots about 100 metres away from the other)... one journalist finally, nonchalantly, indifferently, hooked a squid up.

Yours truly got so much more excited than her. After all she is one of those shy types, so if I was jumping and squeling rocking the boat then I must be exponentially happy, no?

But not long after that another reporter caught one, then another, then I did (acted cool to cover up my previous joyous outburst over someone else's catch), then another lady reporter caught a big ebek fish (This guy *barks! Literally! I mean the fish did! Did bark I mean. Really!), then more squids came up!

We went on tugging for about another hour, told bad jokes, a guy barfed, watched the sunset then finally went back to shore...

We all had to jump back into the water to get off the boat - most went straight to their rooms in order to get cleaned and dressed for the BBQ after thanking the nice boatmen, but some of us (three of us actually) stayed in the warm, calm sea water, happily paddling and ignored the call backs to the beach.

The beach was nicely lit with spotlights from the adjacent garden, so we could see how clear the water was. I was staring at my feet swishing the sand below with water at shoulder level... Then it struck me...

... that my Petaling Street watch is still strapped on my wrist, and it's still tickin'! Considering I spent RM10 on it... what a steal huh?!

* I highly suspects that the fish knew we were calling him The Fish with a Suicide Mission, and begs to differ! But seriously. To be caught without even a small worm of a bait.. C'mon...