Back to normal

I have only about 10 days to two weeks away before I go back to the routine which I left about 4 years ago. Frankly I'm not looking forward to return to that kind of life but I think after a few weeks it would feel like I have never left. Hope things are not as bad as people what have been telling me.

New Cooking Area

Dapur extend aku dah siap 90% sejak Sabtu ari tu. Yang tinggal cuma grill dan kitchen cabinet. Kitchen cabinet insyaallah akan dipasang minggu depan. 10 tahun aku guna dapur lama (wet kitchen). Dulu ada tembok 5 kaki, tiles dengan awning. Awning dia pun dah bocor. So kitchen lama aku ni memang betul-betul wet bila hujan. Kiri kanan jiran aku dah extend masa dia orang pindah masuk mula-mula dulu. So aku kira save jugak lah.

Bukan dapur aku

So ari ni aku dah masak kari ikan kat dapur baru aku menggunakan stove yang baru jugak. Sehingga Sabtu ari tu kontraktor ambik masa dalam 51 hari untuk siapkan dapur tu. Dia janji 2 bulan gerenti siap. So kira dia tepati jugak lah janji dia.

Bukan kari ikan aku

Bercerita pasal kontraktor ni aku tanya 5 orang pekerja dia pasal boss dia orang. Semua kata dia ni memang orang baik. Kalau minta advance tu dapat aje tanpa banyak soal. Aku tengok raut wajah dia memang orang nya baik. Semua pekerja dia cakap dia ni takkan lari dan akan habiskan kerja tapi janji dia dibayar bila dia mintak duit. Bila dapat duit, memang dia suruh orang dia jaga betul tempat kerja tu. Kontraktor aku ni tinggal tak jauh dari rumah aku, so memang aku pilih dia sebab senang kalau apa-apa. Dia ni berbangsa Cina. Aku kalau bab-bab buat rumah, pasang apa-apa kat rumah, repair ke apa ke, aku memang prefer orang Cina. Melayu ni aku kurang sikit walaupun orang tanya kenapa tak ambik Melayu, tolong bangsa. Macam-macam aku dengar pasal kontraktor Melayu ni, suka lari, dan paling benar kerja buat tak kemas. Tapi tak semua macam tu.

Bukan mesin fotostat yang dia orang guna

Cakap pasal tolong bangsa ni kedai fotostat yang aku selalu pergi tu dah tutup. Kedai tu milik dua orang adik-beradik Cina. Aku baik dengan dia orang, selalu bergurau bila jumpa dia orang. Ada satu hari tu dia orang tanya aku 'belakang ada main ka?' Ceh...aku jawab. Pastu ada hari lain adik dia kata badan dia gatal2, dia kata kat bawah pun gatal. Pastu dia kata kat aku, nak tengok ka?. Aku kata aiya talak mau woh. Aku suka pegi kedai ni sebab dia orang buat kerja memang cepat dan bagus. Tak macam kedai Melayu kat bawah jalan sikit. Satu buku tebal aku hantar fotostat ambik masa 5 hari untuk siap. Kat kedai Cina ni 4 buku tebal ambik masa 4 jam jer, siap binding lagi. Dia orang terpaksa tutup kedai sebab customer dah kurang. Dia orang bagi tau kat aku dia orang rasa since kawasan rumah aku ni banyak Melayu, maka dia orang akan pergi ke kedai Melayu, tolong bangsa sendiri. So dia orang tak boleh survive. Aku rasa kalau Melayu buka kedai kat kawasan Cina benda yang sama akan terjadi.
Bukan pekerja2 Bangla itu

Cakap pasal pekerja2 kontraktor aku ni, aku perasan yang Bangla ni ada malas sikit. Dia orang ni suka berehat panjang sikit dan isap rokok. Skill pun kurang. Kalau bab mengecat baru bagi kat dia orang. Bangla ni most of the time jandi pembantu pekerja Indon yang memang ada skill. Sebab tu dia ni banyak artisan. Tengok je kat panji Borodubur, batik dia orang dan furniture yang Indonesians buat.

Bukan aku

Apapun aku happy dapur nak dekat nak complete.

Movie

I don't go to watch a movie at the cinemas that often. I can't even remember the last time I went to the cinemas and the last movie I watch. Even the movies on Astro I don't normally watch. I don't know why. Nevertheless, I will make an effort to watch Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I've seen the other three Indiana Jones movies in the cinema, back in the 80's, in the States. I have to say the Americans are the best movie audience. I remember watching Return of the Jedi. The minute they started projecting the movie on the screen everyone clapped thunderously. When they showed a baby Ewok, everyone went 'aaaauw'. It's really an added fun and a worthwhile experience when the audience are engrossed and respond to a movie well.

Unlike Malaysian movie goers they don't react that much to a movie. Worst still if there are stupid Mat Rempits with their rotten-pussied girlfriends in the audience. They are there for no other reasons other than sticking their fingers up their girlfriend's you-know-what or stroking their idiotic boyfriends' prick. Once I went to watch 'Evita'. They should have known that Evita is a musical. One stupid Malay man remarked, 'Nanyi lagi'. It's a musical you moron, of course there's a lot of singing.

On a slightly different note, I rarely watch a Malay movie in the cinema. The last one I saw was about 14 years ago and it was a friend's treat. He wanted to see that movie because Ziela Jalil was in it. One thing I can't stand about Malay movies is the the quality of the dubbing or ADR. I don't understand why they have to re-record the lines spoken. Old Malay movies don't seem to have this problem.

M.A.H.A.T.H.I.R

A friend send me this text:

M - Must
A - always
H -hentam
A -Abdullah
T -till
H - he
I - is
R - removed

Vesak

Today is Vesak day. We (or probably me alone) do not know the meaning of certain celebrations - like Vesak which has been made into a public holiday here - that other races and religions celebrate. If someone were to ask me what does Vesak mean and why is it celebrated I would have turned purple (not red since I'm dark) with embarrassment because I wouldn't be able to answer even though this is the 40+ time I've enjoyed the leave given. Probably I have been told about it in primary but since I do not celebrate it I probably have forgotten about its significance. Living in a multicultural, multiracial and multi-religion nation I think I should at least know why it means.

American Idol

Hooray, the two Davids are in the final. I hope David A will win but I have a feeling that David C will instead. Anyways I like them both. Unlike previous two Idols when I was hoping that Daughtry and Melinda Doolittle would win but didn't. Instead two girls I was not in favour of were in the finals and one who is annoyingly bubbly won.

Known Figures I've Seen in Person

Whenever I sit on one of my toilet bowls, I would either start to read, to sing, to curse, to talk nonsense, to fantasize, to dream or to think about my past, the present and the future with occasional peek at my poop. (Dr. Oz of Oprah said that if your poop is an S shape it means your poop is good. If it comes out pebble-like than it's not good. If the poop floats, than it means it has a lot of fat in it. Dunno whether that's good or bad). One of the things I have thought about is famous and not so famous people I've seen in person, whether a short distance away or from far. This is a very trivial entry. Let's start with the public figures.

VIPs

Queen Elizabeth II - I saw Queen Elizabeth very briefly when she came to Malaysia back in the early 70s. In the past whenever foreign dignitaries were to come here it would be a big deal. School children will be lined up almost the entire distance from the Subang Airport to KL. When QE came school children were lined up from Port Klang to KL. (They said it was to block from view the filthy squatters). I wasn't one of them but I did line up too with my family and waved happily at her.


Pope John Paul - The late Pope's motorcade passed through a street not far my apartment back in 1988 I think.

The Sultan of Pahang and family - met the Sultan and his family several times at the same function in the 80s at the Bay Area.

The Previous and the current Sultan of Selangor - of course
Dr. Raja Nazrin - the man stands out beautifully amongst the crowd
Tun Mahathir - saw Tun at Subang Parade and Pan Pacific years ago
Annuar Musa - sat next to him on a flight back to KL.
TS Muhammad Muhammad Taib - he was in a car when he was the MB, big man

Khir Toyo - small man
Nazri Aziz - used to represent my father in an accident claim years ago, coming out of a car at Subang Airport and was sitting a few seats away on a flight.
Raja Perlis and Permaisuri - At a dinner function
Mustapha Muhammad - at my workplace
Sharizat Jalil - at my workplace
Harun Din - kat Saie
Sultan of Kelantan & family - Heathrow, same flight back to KL
Hishamuddin Hussein & family - at kafe batu keras during lunchtime


Celebrities - International

Sheena Easton, Maddona, Whitney Huston, Tina Turner, Hall & Oates, Ricky Martin, Paula Abdul - all at concerts, thus, can't see them clearly except for Ricky Martin.
An actor of a very popular daytime soap, don't know his name and a "Playgirl" centerfold at a motor show at the Emerald City.






A male American porn actor of the 80s in the Bay Area. This guy's wee wee is huge.


Lau Ching-Wan - at the food court at the Mall, good looking man

Celebrities - Local

Helen Velu - a family friend, she sang Kereta Lembu
Adnan something - a singer, Helen's husband
Maria Arshad - in KL back in the 70s when I was in secondary school, very the gebu
Jins Samsudin - at my workplace, very slim
Kuswadinata - he was waiting from someone under a tree in KL
Jamali Shadat - he was my primary school landscape engineer
Hamid Gurkha - perform during a concert and at a mosque, he said something to me I can't remember
Faizal Hussein - at a crowded club in KL back in the late 80s, zaman masih jahiliah
M. Nasir - at my cousin's wedding
Maria Tunku Sabri - attended her wedding
Suhaimi Sulaiman - at a club in KL years ago
Ziana Zain - saw her several times in a flight at a few places in city I'm residing . TV does make you look bigger
Anuar Zain - several times, slim mamat ni
Wan Maimunah - at the night market
Sheila Majid - at a wedding, Lot 10, at a club, very petite
Ella - at a club where Sheila Majid was performing, real pretty
Wan Zaleha Radzi - same place I saw Ella
Zainal Abidin - outside of the club Sheila was performing
Adflin Shauki - when he was a student and not popular yet. Saw him a Ramadan bazaar last year, dah besar mamat ni
Harith Iskandar - at a small mall, can't remember the name in KL
Zizie Ezzete (wrong spelling maybe) - in a flight to Langkawi, very very fair
Nash - several times since he staying not too far from my house
Amy Search - at a recording of HMI, he was in what I thought was a very very tight pants, tak senak ke
Farah Fauzana - at a supermarket
Adibah Noor - before and after she became a celebrity
Awal Ashaari - at a wedding
Fahrin Ahmad - at an interview where I was one of the panels and at a mall.
Hattan - at a restaurant and one other place
Awie - saw him on his motorbike at a traffic light in Wangsa Maju. I 'd say the man is 'gebu'
Erra Fariza and Rem - saw the both of them at KLCC years ago too
Hans Isaac and Camellia - at IKEA
Noor Kumalasari - very slim, at a recording of a berbalas pantun
R.Jaafar - he was in a taxi
Aznil Nawawi - at a restaraunt
Ahmad Busu (can't remember his real name)
The late Noraini Hashim - very pretty
Jalaluddin Hassan - somewhere near Ampang Point
Shukri Hashim - at a mosque
Sofea Jane - at an open house
Kaer - at a Japanese eatery with a reporter
Norman Hakim - at a furniture store

Hisham Ahmad Tajuddin - at a night market

Aziz Satar - at an eatery

Jaafar Onn - at PWTC and the now non-existent Macro, a very tall and big man

13th May 1969

13th May 1969 was a very significant day in the history of Malaysia especially in politics and in race relation. A major race riot happened between the Chinese and the Malays after the general election. People living outside of the Klang Valley and perhaps Penang and Perak, may not remember the incident well since the riot took place only in certain states. For my family and I this date is a significant date for us. I was 6 years old that year and attending kindergarten. Going to kindergarten was not common among children of that time like it is today. Perhaps parents were not aware of the function of kindergartens.
Anyways, what I remember that day was my mom returning from work in the late afternoon looking a bit anxious. My father had already returned back from work and was ready to go to Kuala Lumpur with a cousin and two of his friends to either pick up or to sent someone to the railway station. My mom told us that the Chinese and the Malays were killing each other in Kuala Lumpur and she asked my father not to go. My father who was always willing to do things for his friends did not heed to my mom's request and went to Kuala Lumpur anyway. I don't remember how my mother reacted after that but I assumed she was upset and worried. We did not see my father for about 10 days after that. Yes, he was stucked in Kuala Lumpur and could not returned as there was a curfew imposed by the government.

So my mother was left alone to look after my brother and I in a state of utter anxiousness afraid that the Chinese might come to our neighborhood and kill us all. Luckily we had our neighbors who were students of a well-known Islamic School who came to check on us regularly and to update us on the latest happening. Afraid of what will happen to all of us our neighbours started to cut down bamboos and turning them into spears. I remember there were a lot bamboo spears and 'parangs' laid under a cupboard ready to be used if anything were to happen. Luckily nothing happened. We did not know what had happened to my father since we did not have a telephone. It was considered a luxury item back then.

After everything was over one morning my father returned and came in through our kitchen door. My brother and I was in the kitchen having breakfast that time. I can't remember where my mother was, probably she was back at work. My dad came to us and kissed us on the cheek. That was the one of the two times that I can remember he had ever kissed me on the cheek. The other time when I was about to return to the States after a 3-month summer break here. I remember I wasn't jumping up and down when I saw him since I was not closed to my father and frankly I didn't really like him. He looked unkempt and had not had a shave. He told us that he saw dead bodies on the streets and also in the Klang river and cars being burnt. On the way to KL he saw many cars going on the opposite direction meaning that they were anxiously leaving KL. During that time he and the other three had gone to one of my aunties' house.

After that I remember the Muhibbah advert and song were shown and played many times over the telly and the radio. Only one person that we knew became of victim of the riot. He was a nice chubby Chinese man we call 'gemuk' we called for our electrical and appliances problem.

Mother's Day

Mother's day was yesterday. I think I need to ask forgiveness from my mother because lately I've been a very very bad son. Whatever reasons I have for behaving badly to my mom they cannot be made as excuses. If any bad luck or unpleasant incidents were to befall on me I know it's because of my sin to my mom.

I miss my grandma.

American Idol

Hooray! The pale Rastafarian wannabee is out of the competition after singing an etxremely boring version of Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff" and forgotting the lyrics in the second song. Anyways, David Archuleta seems to be putting on some weight. "Come sit on Papa's lap, baby"

Kitten and Birthday Dinner

Last night, my mom, brother, nephew and I had dinner at an Italian Restaurant, Pizza Uno, in Taipan Subang Jaya to celebrate my nephew's 12th birthday. The kid is taller than the father and the uncle (the uncle is not tall to begin with, only 5' 5"). The food was good except for the steak which was a bit tough. My nephew ordered the steak but did not want to finish it because the pepper sauce was white, he expected it to be black. They used peppercorn instead of black pepper. Talking about food since the prices of food items have gone up I noticed that the portions they served at some eateries are getting smaller. Two days ago I had char kue teow at a Kopitiam and was shocked at the portion I got because it was really small. Everything was gobbled up in about five pick-ups of the chopstick (bley! or it probably shows that I devour my food instead of eating it slowly). I guess since they can't change the prices on the menu for customers might complain, they instead reduce the portion.

The kitten I thought was gone is actually residing in the backyard of my backdoor neighbour. I just saw it this morning. It is 'debab-ter' and cuter. Now I got to figure out how to catch it can keep it.

Jumaat, Sabtu dan Ahad

Jumaat

Hari Jumaat tak brapa banyak aktiviti aku buat. Pagi macam biasa mop satu rumah. Tengah hari pi sembahyang Jemaat. Lepas tu pegi kedai tiles pilih tiles untuk dapur extension aku. Petang BB datang pastu lepas magrib pegi kedai makan kat Kelana Jaya yang popular itu. Kedai ni aku dapat tahu dari membaca blog-blog. Itu satu keuntungan baca blog2 ni, kita dapat tahu kedai makan mana nak pergi, tempat2 cuti mana nak melawat. Kedai tu stall aje, makanan yang ada kat situ dasyat2 belaka, macam kat restoran western. Orang pun ramai. Harga pun murah, Kalau order makanan yang sama kat Chillie's or TGIF sure dah RM100 lebih. Kat situ tak sampai RM60. Tapi memang patut pun harga macam, makan tepi jalan. Tapi portion memang banyak. BB order mixed grill, lepas makan sikit dah mengah. Selalu dia boleh habis makanan banyak tu kejap je. Aku order spagetti meatballs cabornara. Tak habis, tinggal satu meatball. Sebelum sampai ingat BB order satu dish, aku satu dish dan satu lagi dish kami share, macam kami selalu buat. Nasib baik tak order dish extra.

Ini spagetthi meatballs carbonara. Gambar di ambil dari blog Dr Shah. Harap dia tak marah.

Ini mixed grill BB order. Gambar dari Dr. Shah gak.

Sabtu

Sabtu pagi macam biasa aku basuh bilik2 air aku. Lepas tu bawak mak aku balik tengok2 rumah dia. Lepas balik aku relax2 je. BB sibuk study sebab tengah final exam. Tengah hari sikit pakcik karen datang buat wiring untuk dapur extension. Petang aku dan BB pegi makan kat kedai 'mee sahaja' tu. Lepas makan pi kedai kitchen cabinet nak tengak cabinet dan mintak quotation. Estimate harga untuk cabinet dapur extension tak lah mahal macam aku assume, dengan solid top dan high -gloss cabinet. Kalau guna ABS kurang RM1ooo. Mana plak nak cari duit ni, jual pungkoq dah tak laku. Lepas magrib BB balik kolej dia, kalau dia tak balik dia tak boleh study sebab kat sini banyak distractions, especially Internet. Nanti dia ralit berYouTube. Minggu depan dia balik kampung 7 minggu nun jauh kat sana. Malam aku sibuk switching channels antara Konsert AF dengan AIM. Teruk betul Toi tu nanyi, sampai Aflin Aman Ramli kat performance dia mati banyak kali. Dari mula dulu lagi dia ni aku rasa tak boleh nyanyi. MrManager dalam Diari EXT pun kata dia ni takde bakat menyanyi, tapi main angklung memang amazing. Tapi dia ni tak keluar pun, Alif yg panas tu plak keluar. Hampeh.

Ahad

Pagi Ahad macam biasa lepas solat pada waktu dekat nak syuruk aku basuh kereta. Tengah2 aku cuci kereta kawan, colleague cum jiran aku singgah hantar kuih. Dia ni selalu hantar makanan kat aku, cake lah, egg tart lah, buah lah. Lauk jer dia tak hantar sebab dia ni beragama lain. Dia tahu kut aku tak boleh makan makanan tak tentu. Selalu dia ni ingat kat aku. Lepas mandi aku pi breakfast. Hari ni orang datang pasang wall tiles. Bagus, lagi cepat siap dapur aku ni lagi bagus. Sambil memblog ni sambil tengok Janice Dickinson Modelling Agency. Loud le makcik tu tapi, tapi interesting personality. Sambil tu tengok gak Jom Bersama Eric. Most of the time, design Eric ni boleh tahan, cuma aku tak brapa setuju dengan konsep dia yang mesti ada feature wall yang colour mesti lain, selalu nya yang lebih gelap. Nate Burkus interior designer Oprah tu tak pernah emphasize feature wall warna lain. Dia panggil konsep tu accentuated wall. Wall colour rumah2 yang dia 'makeover' semua guna one tone jer, takde pun feature-feature wall ni.