Happy 2008!

Dear friends and family,

Wishing you all a very happy new year. May you celebrate the coming of 2008 with your loved ones in joy and happiness. To all the resolutions (even the recycled ones) being made be realistic and true! Cheers!

So long 2007, you have serve us well and you shall remain in our memories and photos. And like photos that we don't like, may the bad memories be deleted by our aging brain cells.

Be safe and let's celebrate!

Love,

Dayang & Zul

Where oh Where

I'm in a dilemma.

Certain things you value are kept in safe keeping.
The problem with me is, it is kept so safe that i can't find them anymore! Even after searching through all the usual spots. Hmmm

This is a conundrum indeed. How do you look for something that you yourself have hidden and can't remember where?

Tanya pada laci, nampakkah CD-cd ku,
nanti laci jawap, awak letak di meja
tanya sama meja, mana cd ku,
nanti meja jawap, mana aku tahu

Sigh...

Here's the actual lyrics to the song i've been singing ridiculously while looking for my stuff.

"Tanya pada pokok, apa sebab goyang
nanti jawab pokok angin yang goncang
tanya sama langit, apa sebab hujan
nanti jawab langit, tanya lah awan

Awan nanti kata, aku kandung air
sampai tempat sejuk, aku pun cair
tengok dalam air, nampak bayang-bayang
campak satu batu, bayang pun hilang

Tanya sama hati, apa asal sayang
apakah tandanya nampak di pandang
kumbang rayu bunga
bulan dan bintangnya
punya tanda-tanda hubungan mesra

Tanya sama hati
pernahkah merindu
ingat masa lena apa mimpimu
masa berjauhan
apa nan dikenang
bila difahamkan itulah sayang

Jikalau tidak kerana sayang
kuntuman kasih tak mungkin kembang
andainya jemu mengganti rindu
jambangan mesra tentulah layu

Tanya sama hati
pernahkah merindu
ingat masa lena apa mimpimu
masa berjauhan
apa nan dikenang
bila difahamkan itulah sayang
itulah sayang..."

P Ramlee and Normadiah

While searching for the video for this, i finally found my favourite song by P Ramlee that i have been searching for ages, "Tunggu Sekejap" in Sarjan Hassan. This song have been in my favourite lovesong playlist since i don't know when, but it has always been in my mind since i can remember. Only recently i know it was from P Ramlee and the movie Sarjan Hassan. Youtube video doesn't feature the scene that i remembered, heck. i remembered a girl singing it from the windowsill of her wooden house and as she sings, the scene shifted from her being a young girl into a young lady, singing the same song but with a different tune. How am i to know it was from a P Ramlee movie if i only remembered the girl.

If you are well acquainted with me, i am sure there are times when someone is about the leave i would suddenly belt "Jangaaannn pulangggg, jangan tinggalkan daku sorang, tungguuuuu sekejappp" out. I blame the song that won't leave my head, EVER.

If only i could remember the location of my safe keeping spot as well as the Sarjan Hassan scene.

This is your empress speaking

You are The Empress

Beauty, happiness, pleasure, success, luxury, dissipation.

The Empress is associated with Venus, the feminine planet, so it represents,
beauty, charm, pleasure, luxury, and delight. You may be good at home
decorating, art or anything to do with making things beautiful.

The Empress is a creator, be it creation of life, of romance, of art or business. While the Magician is the primal spark, the idea made real, and the High Priestess is the one who gives the idea a form, the Empress is the womb where it gestates and grows till it is ready to be born. This is why her symbol is Venus, goddess of beautiful things as well as love. Even so, the Empress is more Demeter, goddess of abundance, then sensual Venus. She is the giver of Earthly gifts, yet at the same time, she can, in anger withhold, as Demeter did when her daughter, Persephone, was kidnapped. In fury and grief, she kept the Earth barren till her child was returned to her.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Ye keeerr????
From now on, thou shalt call me, Your Majesty!

You may now bow and kiss my shoes. Hail me hail me!

Pfffhhtttt

Benazir Bhutto Assassinated

Breaking news: Benazir Bhutto was assassinated today (27 December 2007). She was pronounce dead at 6.16 pm Pakistan local time (1.16am Malaysian time, 28 December 2007).

She knew it was coming. Attempts were made and finally, they (who opposed her) were successful in assassinating the two time Prime Minister of Pakistan by sending in a suicide bomber who claimed another 22 innocent lives (as reported by CNN.com). I believe (speculating) that it is by the same group that attempted to assassinate her in October. Missing their target then, they killed 136 innocent people instead. However one disagree to another person's view or disagree with the way their lives are being governed, I strongly condemn the use of violence that lead to loss of lives, especially those who were just there because they are taking a stand to what they believe in with no intentions for violence, nor with expectations of violence to come. Act of violence will be automatically reciprocated with other acts of violence, it is a circle that one find hard to stop. For the act of violence that killed her and others that supported her, i am truly saddened and grief for Pakistan.

On another note,

I am sure American media and politicians are having a field day with this as any act of violence in Asian or Middle East countries somehow reaffirm their need to establish the American way of democracy around the world despite the idiosyncrasies of cultures and customs in different countries, and more so will they maintain their stand against terrorism (especially Middle Eastern terrorists because its the in thing.) and the need to strengthen their foreign policies. I bet my durians that all American's Presidental candidates will talk about this tragic news as an issue in THEIR political campaign to sway American voters their way, somehow or rather. It is not to grief on the loss of one of the world current memorable politician and worry about Pakistan's future. But that is only my two cents worth.

There goes my stand against writing anything political. Oh well, back to bimbonic report.

Durian is the common people's caviar.

Either you like durian and/or caviar or you don't. If you don't like it, don't eat it and eat what you like instead. And if you find other's who don't like durian too and like what you eat, be friends, talk about it, petition to get it banned in areas frequent by you and the majority are like you ie banned in your house yet accept that your next door neighbour likes durian and there is nothing you can do to stop your neighbour from eating durians!

Oh! Happy time

I got my sweet tender succulent kisses.
Oh! i am so high on durian right now! i can't stop smiling. Contented i am.

I am soooo easily pleased sometimes.

Signs of Love #155

He called me, "b*tch!"

And i replied, "assh*le!"

And then we laughed

And then we hugged

And then he said "i love you. we are so weird"

And then i said "i love you too"

And then he said while laughing "if there are people who are looking at us now, they must think we're crazy."

It is not what was said, its the way you say it.

That is amongst the reason how i know he is the one for me.

Although i don't really recommend you start calling your partner "yo b*tch!" or "hei arse!" even to test the water. We are weird, you dont have to try to be like us because you might end up as real b*tches and assh*les.

Proclaimer: I am not responsible for any loss/broken/damaged of body organs inc. hearts and bruised skin, limbs and bones; physically, mentally nor mentally. Proceed at your own risk.

Oh my sweet and tender love

*photo by Fong Saunder@ Fongsaunder on DA

How does one describe the smell of durian?

Sweat drenched socks?
Pungent onions?
A dump site on a very warm day?
All of the above?

Most times, you smell it before you see it as its odour can be detected metres away, especially on a hot day. Its smell is definitely unique and cannot be confused with no other. .

I, would describe it as ...

rich, savoury slightly sweet odour that makes my mouth water at the mere sniff of it. I can taste it it my mouth, yummy, creamy, succulent durian. . Yes, classical conditioning at work. I am one of Pavlov's dog, completely Pavlovised, automatically salivate at the mere sight of durian stalls by the roadside or a hint of its oh so strong sweet smell.

Obviously, i LOVE durians.

Due to its smell that can be overpowering to some and the creamy texture of its pulp, durian is a required taste. Its either you love it, or you hate it. If you hate it, too bad, gimme your share. Because to me, the flavour of its creamy, tender, pale to rich yellow coloured pulp is divine!

It is like heaven! To enter heaven, one must go through many obstacles in life, mostly difficult and require patience and acts of faith. But once you're in, you never want to leave, you never know true joy and happiness before it, it is the ultimate reward. Very very much like durians. Durian, with its sharp thorns and thick husk, is difficult to open and require a well oiled technique to open it but the taste of its pulp is worth every marks on your hands, left by the thorns and the offensive smell turns to delight and sweetness you cannot describe.

A 17th century British naturalist (geographer, anthropologist, biologist and explorer) described it best;

"The five cells are silky-white within, and are filled with a mass of firm, cream-coloured pulp, containing about three seeds each. This pulp is the eatable part, and its consistence and flavour are indescribable. A rich custard highly flavoured with almonds gives the best general idea of it, but there are occasional wafts of flavour that call to mind cream-cheese, onion-sauce, sherry-wine, and other incongruous dishes. Then there is a rich glutinous smoothness in the pulp which nothing else possesses, but which adds to its delicacy. It is neither acid nor sweet nor juicy; yet it wants neither of these qualities, for it is in itself perfect. It produces no nausea or other bad effect, and the more you eat of it the less you feel inclined to stop. In fact, to eat Durians is a new sensation worth a voyage to the East to experience. ... as producing a food of the most exquisite flavour it is unsurpassed.^"

-Alfred Russel Wallace, On the Bamboo and Durian of Borneo , 1856

Why am i writing all this?

because i just saw a durian stall by the roadside at Hartamas Square but i had no money to buy any, even one fruit or a pulp. So i shall salivate and wait till tomorrow until i can drag my father to buy a dozen or more to satisfy my craving of sweet, tender durian.

But until then, i can only imagine the taste of it wrapped on my tongue, lingers in my mouth and breathe the smell on to others!

OH, I CANT WAIT! yummyummyyummy!

*drool*
*slurp*
*drool*

I'm in denial

*click*



"what the ...?"

*click*


"iskh"

*click*



*click*
*click**click**click**click*
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*click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click*
*click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click*



"NO! IT. IS. NOT. DONE!!!!!"

*click**click*

*click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click*
*click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click*
*click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click*


"APSAL NGAN KAU NI?! BODOH! SETAN! JUST FREAKING BLARDY OPEN THE PAGE LAH! KETEGAK!"

*click**click**click*

*click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click*
*click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click*
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*click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click**click*
.
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*click*

Sigh.

Still can't view my own Facebook's profile page. Just my own.

Effects of Zombies

The effect of watching too many zombie movies will not strike you right after watching it. That's just paranoia. Well that is one of the effect but its not the worse.

The worse, for me, is when you haven't been watching the latest (or the first of sequels) zombie movies for awhile (that means a few weeks coz lets face it, zombie movies are everywhere lately).

When your paranoia has gone and you think the world is all soft and cuddly and kittens and puppies roll around in Hallmark cuteness, and maybe contributed by the feeling of oh-so-lovely-optimistic-world-is-happy-happy-place-there-is-no-wrong due to watching Enchanted and with LingLing making "i cant believe im watching this" face and "She's singing!" "Dont you DARE sing like that!" and "YOU made me watch cartoon! DISNEY cartoon!" remarks throughout the movie, THEN that is when the effect of watching zombie movies hit you. in your sleep. in your nightmare.

At least Enchanted helped a bit due to the Disney connection.

My nightmare had a themepark. It was a very scary blood sucking flesh eating zombie themepark. Yet it was a themepark nontheless. Enter at your own risk, and you must be this height to enter.

I dont know what is scarier, the nightmare or my very vivid imagination.

and oh. the very next day, i was scheduled to do my engagement dress. Could there be a relation?

ps: i am now on DeviantArt@ dayangjuita.deviantart.com where selected photos are chosen to be on display for artist everywhere. This is not where fotopages freaks and fans go. and i am glad.

Old Spinner

*as i was browsing for my daily laughs @[xkcd.com]

I always do this and get asked the same question, when the answer is very much obvious ie: Spinning. Next time Lingling ask me "what are you doing?" as he watch me going round and round and round, i'll answer this, i promise.

.
..
...

providing i remember my own name first and foremost as my brain mucus and other eww inspiring stuff stir and spin around like drained cabbages in that empty space up there.

1 out of 3 to pure happiness

I.am.officially.not.single.seriously? seriously!?!
oh!my!God!

I've been a busy bee last week but the highlight of the week have a lot to do with this ring.
The merisik is done, two more steps to go before I am 100% his! I am pre-booked! yay!!

but as my mom said to me after his parents left, "dah, jangan cari boyfriend lain dah". dangit!

Ever since Lingling asked my dad if it would be okay for his parents to come over my house to meet my parents, my parents have been on the edge.

I was watching Fred Claus on friday, after i came back from Langkawi. While i was watching the movie, "dingdong!" softly came the sound of a doorbell, and promptly after, my mother's head poked out of her room,

"what was that?" she asked and she paused, looked at our blank faces for answers. Then her body followed her head out,

"i heard doorbell. was that the doorbell? sapa datang?", pause again, like a predator sniffing the air to pinpoint their prey, then she shuffled her way downstairs, all the while looking confused and asking "sapa tuuuu, sapa tuuuu".

She came back up and shuffled her way back into her bedroom, all the while muttering "i thought i heard doorbell...hmmm".

My sister and i shrug it off and continued watching the movie.

"Dingdong!" slightly louder then before.

This time i know where it came from. and i waited. and i waited. "hmm maybe she didnt hear it this time"

10 seconds passed.

OUT came the head poking out from her bedroom door!

"Ha! there it is again!", she said while looking at us excitedly.

"Dengar tak?" she asked while she shuffled her body out and stood in the family hall with her right ear turned upward, waiting for Godknowswhat but i think for a sound, any sound. She stood there listening for a few seconds before she move to stand near the stairs, looking down at the main entrance, "takda apa pun. iskh".

My sister and I were trying not to laugh. She saw our faces, and she smiled, "takda eh? no doorbell eh?" and she walked back into her room. We didn't have the heart to tell her that the sound came from the movie. it was a movie doorbells.

Ah well...parents anxiety and all is over. FOR NOW!



Two more steps baby, two more momentous steps, and lots and lots more panic, anxiety and jumpingjumping of excitement and nervousness to come.

ROFL!

This...is...a...jewel! gasp...for...air...laugh!
I couldn't stop laughing!! especially at the big-digger-truck-whateveryoucallit.

خيانة زوجية امراءة قحبة

Was surfing YouTube a couple of minutes ago and when i'm bored i usually check the "Videos being watched right now" section. Its the acceptable version of watching behind other people's shoulder kinda thing when i saw this Arabic titled video and a screen capture that looked like a hotel room. Now the 'jaga tepi kain orang" attitude comes out. Manalah tau videoklip tangkap basah ke apa in Saudi Arabia. Nak tau la jugak la kan. Sibuk. Turns out it was a couple of risque mat saleh television ads. Hmmm .... are Arabs that desperate to be turned on that they have to watch tv ads on Youtube? I need a translation for this.

Grey area

"Communication. It's the first thing we really learn in life. Funny thing is, once we grow up, learn our words and really start talking the harder it becomes to know what to say. Or how to ask for what we really need."

Meredith Grey

For someone who have a degree, A DEGREE for God's sake, not just ample knowledge based on observations, empty talks, daily consumptions and actual applications of it, but actual theoretical thoughts, experimentations, thousands of words essays and thesis, and gazillion worth of papers, journal articles and readings on the topic of communications, i seem to be at loss to express my own thoughts at times, especially at a certain someone. Meredith Grey, you are spot on.

Speaking of Grey, come on Writer's Guild of America! end your strike so we know what happen to our shows! don't cut it short! i'm already trying to quit 1 addiction, don't make me endure another withdrawal fix!

If the strike continues and all kind of shows gets repeated and movies get canceled, i'm gonna do a Cristina. Seriously? Seriously.

"I am painting Burke's apartment so I can stop calling it Burke's apartment. A happy color. Red. Like blood."

Cristina Yang

The Girl in the Frame

The Girl in the Frame

We were at Banteay Srei, roughly translated as Citadel of Women or Beauty.

I was taking photos of the carvings near the entrance of Bantaey Srei. Suddenly, i turned to face the red coloured sandstone frame entrance and i saw this girl in this beautiful buttercup yellow dress running up the path towards the temple. I didn't know whether she was going to take a path left of the entrance or run into the temple compound but i know if she were to run into the compound, i have to be fast to get her in the frame. And in matter of seconds, i got my shots. Its perfect, her dress, her expression, her eyes. I was already in love with Banteay Srei, and the girl in the frame added to its appeal even more.

Psychotic request

can someone kill me now for being incredibly lazy to post my photographs online? My cambodia photos, my fireworks photos, my raya photos (oh yeah, cant do anything about my raya photos, someone DELETED them, permanently), dan lain lain photos.
kill me.
please.

while you're thinking of killing me, kill him too for deleting my raya photos. You might as well kill two bad birdies with a batu.

The traveling phone

My phone traveled more than me today.
was wondering why today was so sunyi dan sepi.
it was left behind in the car last night and this morning, the car was taken away to a workshop for some windscreen siliconisation. No, its not a valid word, its my word.

Dayang's definition of siliconisation:// Pronunciation si.li.cone.ni.sa.ti.on

The use of silicone for a wide range of industrial applications, such as the application of silicone rubber to seal chipped windscreens, and for enhancing or replacing certain body parts, such as boobies.

Phone is home. Me miss phone. welcome home phone. Lets go out phone.

The big fight

"TOYOL!"
"Awat hang ni bodoh sangat?!!"
"Oi! orang tak duduk kat amsterdam!"
"Ha!...HAAAA!!! Daaahh dia dah tukaq bahasa Arab dah!!!! OI ORANG TAK CAKAP BAHASA ARAB!"
"Ya Allah Ya Rabi Ya Maulana!"
"ORANG TAK SURUH LAGI! AWAT DAH KE SITU!!"
"Hang ni dah kena masuk setan ka??!"
"BAHLOL! TOYOL!"
"Gila! Gila!"

I swear, those were among the words* my mom, my MOM was uttering, shouting and screaming at this little azan radio that was not listening to a word she was saying, nor responding to the way she intended it to.

Apparently, something was very wrong with the little azan radio. It would not be set properly. Maybe because my mom was shouting at it every 5 seconds while she twiddled with it for an hour. would have made a rather funny photo with my mom sitting on the floor poking, twisting and shouting at this small little inanimate object. but i didnt want to be shouted at, not when shes in that mood.

and the little azan radio will not sing its little azan songs 5 times a day.

i had nothing to do with it, even though its Subuh Azan freaks me out, ALWAYS because out of the blue, when its really really quiet in the house, you are lost in time and space, mind focused doing whatever you do when you're awake at 5-6am and then suddenly, SUDDENLY! "ALLAHHU AKHBAR ALLAHHU AKHBAR" blared out ever so loudly from its little speaker! like it was trying to be the little azan radio that could, so it tried its hardest and LOUDEST to let people in the house know its prayer time. Those were the times when words not supposed to be uttered during azan were uttered, accidentally, of course. Astaghfirrullahhaazim.

Subuh Azan should never ever gives someone a near heart attack! hence, i was a bit apprehensive that my mom wanted to use the little azan radio again. Don't they have an azan radio that starts with "Assalammualaikum. Bismillahhirrohmanirrohim. Sekarang tibanya azan menandakan waktu solat Subuh/Zuhur/Asar/Maghrib/Isyak" macam rtm nyer lah. At LEAST i stop getting near heart attacks every morning when im awake and alone in the house when its all quiet. So for now, my mom's one-way words-poke-poke fight has ended. And i can blog without the anxiety attacks.

*(more or less, had to paraphrase the longer sentences coz i was busy laughing to remember the exact words. but she really did shouted out the Bahlol and Toyol)

Colour me blind

A conversation about colours between a man and a woman might go like this

Woman:

" Yang, do you think i look good in lavender pink, hot pink, rose pink or cherry blossom pink? i don't think my skin can go with shocking pink. So not me. So how yang? lavender pink , hot pink or cherry blossom pink?"

Man:

" ...i think you look best in pink"

Of course then kenalah penampar satu, or muka merajuk satu (depending on the male luck) followed with the line

"you ni, you never care what i wear anymore, not like you notice pun! kalau i pakai sarung guni pun you takkan perasan!"

Then kena lah you memujuk and probably make yourself fell guilty enough to buy lavender pink, hot pink, rose pink or cherry blossom pink item for your beloved...because...you care.

So to avoid the above situation and to not buy shocking pink items, know your colours by referring to the colour chart below. Have fun!

(From Wikipedia.org list of colours)

Mataku sudah sparrow.

Actually, I just needed to share my torture in this quest for the perfect colour palette.

... Who would have thought that looking at all those colours makes me love white so much more, since that is all the colour that i can see now, even with the mishmash of colours in front of me, i see white. just white. white spots. everywhere.

You're engaged fiza!

So another one is engaged. Congrats congrats.

Lingling took photos at Fiza's engagement the other day. So now he's busy editing and whatnots. Only problem is, we're having some comparison issues. Too complicated to explain but i thought if i were to post it here, some light might be shed. Hence, the two photos.

One is too highly saturated for my taste and another is the original photo and which i think is perfect as it is. Only problem, not everyone seeing the same colour saturation. is it my monitor or is it yours?

It's you sayang, sayang and sayang

Lingling said "Yang, look here"

I did and i looked towards my three loved ones. They made me smile, like so.
Sayang, my Canon 30D was being held by Lingling who was given the task to be the photographer at Fiza's engagement two days ago. Those are two of my babies, but most importantly, i was smiling at my Babylove, my latest purchase that left me will no money, a Canon Speedlite 580EX II. Top of the range baby, top of the range.

As i was looking at this photo, i immediate thought about another b&w photo of myself taken by Lingling a few months before.

It's amazing how different i looked. The mood i was expressing. The spontaneous smile in the recent one and the melancholic sadness in the other. How amazing someone can make you feel.


Sing a song of sorrow

Moments,
thats what i remember,
Seconds,
short snippets from countless hours,
A Smile,
of what words couldn't say,
Songs,
sweet songs of sorrow i would quietly sing,
Kisses,
that were lies,
Heart,
no longer whole,
Continuous Hope,
i don't know why,
Waiting,
to forget, and be left behind

Alhamdullilah that has passed. It has been left behind.

A song worth singing

Moments,
when you stumbled over your words,
Seconds,
to cast the friendship away,
A Smile,
slowly in my heart begins to form,
Songs,
no longer of sorrows but as bright as day,
Kisses,
we’ve tried without laughing,
Heart,
that dances to the sound of joy,
Continuous Hope,
that I now know why,
Waiting,
when we shall both fly.

goodbye faithful nikon

It's official...


Opie and Imran are husband and wife. Wowie!


Congratulations and may you stay on the path of happiness and love always.

It's also official...

I am not satisfied with my old Nikon D70 anymore. i tried using it as a secondary camera while Lingling used my Sayang aka Canon 30D. He was the primary photographer at the shoot because i wanted to sibuk buat bende lain, in other words, i wanted to sibuk-sibuk be in the photos jugak la. So since i knew i would not concentrate too much on photos, i decided to take the ol Nikon out for a shoot. ...

Hampeh, i was dissatisfied with the LCD screen - too small!
i was dissatisfied with the colours - not getting what i want. probably because my dad set it to HIS preferred setting and no longer to my previous one. and i forgot how to preset it again for Nikon.
i was no longer familiar with the focus, lense zoom and settings.
i was even dissatisfied with the sound it makes - ...so lembik.

"Baby Nikon, you taught me a lot but i must move on. Thank you for the great photos and memories. Ye shall not be forgotten, as ye photos are never erased (until my hard drive buat hal, touch wood!) "

So i put it aside.

i settled with observing Lingling takes his photos and when i notice he missed something, i not-so-quietly directed him to shoot the shot.

"Yang, mai sini"
"Yang, amik gambar tu"
"Yang, tengah posing ni"

We are a noisy team, but we are a team, a good one :P

Dah la he's extra blur today. Usually he have the same eye as i do, we tend to compete to take the same shoots. Today, it seems he was out of his element, maybe because he was surrounded by excited girls that were all talking about engagements, marriages and weddings, including his own. Hence, i had to direct him a bit more than i usually do whenever he holds the camera and i am without.

Shock of marriage tends to do that to any guy right? either they become entirely blur, unfocused at the task at hand or they just act like they are 15 years old again, all giddy and mengada-gada buat lawak-lawak bodoh yang tak lawak langsung.

Today, he's the blur 25 years old cameraman and i'm the director. took a couple of photos of Fiza then i wanted to sibuk be in the photos again. Coz i wanted to be giddy and mengada-gada. (which is perfectly acceptable for girls at their close friend's engagements and weddings!)

Facebook applications and me

I'm on "adding-whatever-Facebook-applications-people-request-me-to-join" mood.

So far i've added Pink Ribbon cause, Petrolhead, Sketch Me, Love Ice Cream dan macam-macam lagi. Ah Facebook applications, "cornucopia of uselessness" as quoted in Valleywag, a tech blog i do not read but so happened it was quoted on wikipidea :P

Usually i just let the applications invites pile up and one boring day pick the one i think interesting and ignore the rest. MOST of the time, Lingling would just click "ignore.ignore.ignore.ignore.ignore.ignore" for me because he just cant stand to see all the applications request on my Facebook page.

and of course there is me trying to get hold of the mouse and stop his "ignore.ignore.ignore" clicking to MY invites and with me constantly telling him

"i wanted to check that out later!" and "but the same invites will pile up again anyway! might as well keep them there so i won't have to keep ignoring them" and then of course he would say

"then ignore la before they pile up" ,

"but i dont want to add them now but i might want to check them out on a later date"

which he will retort,
"you will get the same invite back later WHEN you actually want to check them out"

"but i might not get the invites back"

And he will keep on clicking "ignore.ignore.ignore.ignore"
...

he's right by the way. you are 99% more likely to get the same applications invites over and over again until you have added the application (not statistically proven, no quantifiable research were done whatsoever). And the invites will never stop. Not when there are more than 6 500 Facebook applications as of 24 October 2007. (thanks wiki for that ever useful and positive information!)

Itsh Combining Indeed

[Warning! the following post might render you mindless and possible multiple murder attempts on writer... if not on innocent public]

My inggerish, is not perfect. it can at times, much turvy-topsy-tipsy. but strangely enough, one of my petpeevish are wrong grammar usage and my top obsesion when i am not sure of sumthing, like spelling, i imediately check the dictionary and thicksaurus weather online or my ever relyable oxford 'ever-present-pyhsical' edition.

On the last friday, i was surfing the internet while Lingling chat-chat to me on msn.

I than spooted this phrase:

Web resolution has been compress to accomodate the loading speed at average users. Excuse for the low-quality preview.

Can you spooted the mistakens?

Lingling was saying something else but all i can think about were that phrase. So i ended up giving lecture to Lingling about the mistakens make (even when it not his fault at all!), did corrections to the phrase and ask Lingling to tell the owner of the site to correct that glaring mistakens of his! needless to said, my confident in his business went down. And that was for mat saleh client lagi. Where to put face?

And then, i were surfing summore, found this:

This gallery pictures has been compressed for faster downloading. Please excuse the lower quality preview

Aiyoh, confirm cut plus paste, edit edit a bit but STILL edit wrongly.

Among the mistakens was, the use of "Excuse". Hokey, what with Malaysian with this word?
At least the second one had "Please" before they excuse, and their compress has "ed". But i have major problem with that "Excuse". Please excuse my sudden lapse to proper English but i can't stand it much longer! why couldn't they just use "We apologize" instead? is it not more suitable for formal usage? Excuse me for pointing this out and i do apologize for this in advance, but to those that uses "Excuse, excuse" whenever they need to make way for themselves instead of the proper "Excuse me", why is it so hard to add the ME! Ignorance or doing monkey hear, monkey repeat is not an excuse. Laziness to say "me" after "excuse", is inexcusable.

But most importantly, furthermore, henceforth and so on, if you want to cut plus paste then edit, please make sure to edit it correctly.

Hokey, brain go kaput! after anger-anger.

I think the sama day or day before, we read a very failed form 2 inggerish compostion. she wrote inggerish-melayu-inggerish-melayu. actually like is how i wrote here, but betul, tak tipu and morest worsen. her teacher commented was simple, "English Please!". Our commented was even simplest "Lawak HAHAHA". We means because we thinks our inggerish top-top! We ahso perasan we pandai.

(We obviously nope. Ps: smile always! bye!)

By the jalan ah LingLing, its "Sapphire", not "Saphire". I said i KNEW it "Sapphire" coz "Saphire" looks weird once writen, and i know it had sillent 'P'. You iPhone dictionary takleh harap! nyeeett. Mahal = no guranminumtea jalan.

[Trust me, i was trying very hard not to knock myself on the head while attempting to be grammaticality incorrect as much as possible and intentionally misspelling anything i can while making things readable. And if i happened to misspelled something UNintentionally, even the better for this posting *GRIN* Hope it annoyed you guys as much as i annoyed myself]


To go crazy and anal retentive like me, visit:
Merriam-Webster
Dictionary.com
but to go even crazier and maximise the possibilities of you driving all your friends crazy once you start analysing every single thing said and/or written by them, just type
english grammar rules on Google.com


Pps: Combining in post title refers to a previous real life conversation when someone (not writer) was looking for a word that started with a C "that C word lah!" and settled with "Very combining wan!" that was discovered later to be "Very Confusing indeed".

...katak what?

Today, at my brother's bbq in the backyard, i ate Katak Puru.

That day was Rat's Poo, today its Katak Puru.

It wasn't your typical garden variety katak, but it hopped all the way from Ketereh, Kelantan. Zul's favourite for some strange reason and he bought some for me to try and try i did.

Needless to say, it didn't taste that good to me. Lots of yucky faces when the girls tried it but when my brother and his (male) friend, they liked it. Must be a guy's thing.

Guy's will eat the weirdest stuff. and they say girls have cooties. Apalah!

but it's rat's poo!

"Why are you eating rat's poos?!"

would be the question posed to myself ...if i didn't know what the hell i was goobling up.

i'm talking about 'Pil 'Chi-Kit' Teck Aun' that my uncle (the provider of the 3G Broadband device i am using) bought by the dozens. It is not funny when you're in a house with the current occupancy rate of more and less 30 people, and majority of them have severe stomachache and theres only one, uno, single toilet. saying "emergency!" does not guarantee a privileged spot in the queue because nearly everyone is having their 'emergencies'. So comes the Rat's Poo pills.

i don't know why they make it look like rat's poos and expect people not to have reservations in swallowing them. i have no problems swallowing pills ( i have problems with the syrupy types medicines), but for this, suffice to say it was in my mouth moving around a bit longer than usual before i could make every single 2 mm in diameters of the 20-30 pills go down my throat. Not only they look like rat poos, there were many many rat poos.

why can't they make them look much more attractive? buat la bentuk bunga ke, bentuk cam binatang-binatang ke? remember those animal shaped vitamins we used or maybe some of us still take?

"today i want to eat tiger!"
"today i want to be a giraffe, so let me eat a giraffe!"

but no, they made it look like rat's poos.

However, every cloud has its silver lining.

I am left alone at the house while everyone, EVERYONE else is at my uncle's house farfar away beraya-ing. I had the option not to go because i don't want to cry "emergency!" every 30mins or so during the journey and the possibilities of 'doing the big one' at a stranger's toilet is not attractive to the bowels. Not that my uncle is a stranger, but his toilet is. I'm not acquainted with his toilet, so that just won't do.

Not complaining.

I am left alone with the Astro's remote and a laptop with 3G Broadband access. :)

As I type this, I am quietly sitting at the outside dining/lounge area, enjoying the view of the river a mere 3 meters away, the soft breeze passing by signalling the coming of rain and cup of hot tea by my side.

Bliss.

The only thing missing is shisha. haha

This has been one of the most significant and meaningful Raya celebrated. Next year will be a different one for sure.

To my friends during the bad times, thank you for being there for me, if not physically, certainly within your thoughts and good wishes. Maaf Zahir dan Batin for the times i have hurt you with my ways and words that were unintentionally said and done. Forgive me for my selfish behaviours that i have shown, especially when i needed attention during that certain period in my life.

InsyaAllah there will be no more of that.

InsyaAllah there will be no more rat's poo to eat too. but i rather doubt that last one.

Selamat Hari Raya

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri from Bakar Bata, Alor Setar Kedah.

My uncle the ever useful reporter have a 3G Broadband connector by vodafone-celcom sponsored by Bernama. It has so far become public property to Mak Bashah family with a queue to use the ever-so-canggih! device to access the broadband.

Not like we here can't live without the internet for several short days at kampung (theres astro to the rescue!!! totally a different story without astro) but with this new technology, why not we not live with it.

Anyway, due to the time limit imposed on the users of the singular laptop that have this device thingymajig connected to it, i have to make this entry short. and i really can't think much with everyone passing by (public) laptop having a read past my shoulder of what im typing. Despite that, i just needed to type something in...coz i have broadband...why not eh?

So toodles and selamat hari raya.

Happy Eid

Selamat Hari Raya guys.
To those driving to their respective kampungs, drive safely and drink coffee!

To those celebrating in KL, stay safe and don't lie in the middle of KL roads.

Beach lizard!

I'm bored.
I just want to post pictures.
Pictures i didn't want to even go through before because the folder they were in and the time they were taken.
But yesterday i was going through facebook's photo contest of the day, and the theme for that day was "romance" and i remembered a photo i took which i like. So here it is. tadaaah
and oh the lizard. tadaaah!

@Tioman Island, June 2007

Just Dance!

When you think about prison inmates, the words that would first come to mind to describe them are macho, tough, gang members, tattoos bearing hardcore criminals, sexual deviants, drugs, and even Micheal Scofield from Prison Break (yummylicious Scofield...hmmmmmmm).

Yes, they might be any of those if not all of those things describe and more, but you tend to forget that they are still humans with the need to have fun and have the ability to ...DANCE!



(click on arrows to move between videos: Clips included are CPDRC's latest routine Rico Mambo, BEP's Beebo march and Thriller)

Though we tend to laugh while watching these clips, you can't help but wonder the reason why behind it. A new form of torture? as personal entertainment slaves of the prison management, namely Byron Garcia, Cebu Security Adviser, the brain behind the dancing prisoners? Some YouTube's viewers are claiming to be so. I can't claim otherwise, nor likewise. Neither will i state my opinion on something i don't much about.

In my opinion, it encourages discipline and camaraderie for the inmates. I (touch wood) never been IN a prison before but based on the documentaries I've watched on Discovery, movies I've watched, and articles and books I've read, it must be boring and mind numbing with repetitive activities and closed spaces with strong psychological reasonings behind it.

In Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Centre (CPDRC), the dancing are actually part of their physical fitness regime. Not only it made exercise enjoyable, it has other behavioral effects on the inmates as well. It was claimed that since this form of exercise was introduced, violence between inmates and guards have minimised drastically and so have gang cultures. It sure is a way for the inmates to have a little bit of fun (even if they were forced to dance if they are not the elderly or infirm), enjoy themselves once in awhile and make a break away (pardon the pun) from the norm of prison life.

I do hope that is the case. and some inmates really have become dancers once they have rehabilitated and allowed once again to be outside the walls of CPDRC.

Hmm back to the videos!
And finally, the video that made me laugh non-stop while watching it: The Algorithm March.



(Videos included are CPDRC's World Record Breaker Algorithm March and Algorithm March by the original performers Itsumo Kokokara for Pitagora Suitchi)

The Algorithm March was not intended to by funny, it is (believe it or not) just another way to demonstrate one of the basics of mathematics fundamental principle to Japanese children. Trust Japanese shows to come out with hilarious (AND educational) dance moves that would be copied all over the world and danced by hardcore prisoners.

A couple of the simplest definitions of Algorithm are as followed

al·go·rithm Pronunciation: \ˈal-gə-ˌri-thəm\

Function:noun
Etymology:alteration of Middle English algorisme, from Old French & Medieval Latin; Old French, from Medieval Latin algorismus, from Arabic al-khuwārizmi, from al-Khwārizmī fl a.d. 825 Islamic mathematician
Date:1926

1. "a procedure for solving a mathematical problem (as of finding the greatest common divisor) in a finite number of steps that frequently involves repetition of an operation; broadly : a step-by-step procedure for solving a problem or accomplishing some end especially by a computer (Merriam-Webster)"

2. "No human being can write fast enough, or long enough, or small enough to list all members of an enumerably infinite set by writing out their names, one after another, in some notation. But humans can do something equally useful, in the case of certain enumerably infinite sets: They can give explicit instructions for determining the nth member of the set, for arbitrary finite n. Such instructions are to be given quite explicitly, in a form in which they could be followed by a computing machine, or by a human who is capable of carrying out only very elementary operations on symbols" (Boolos and Jeffrey (1974, 1999), p. 19).

Aha....very simple indeed.

And if you're crazy enough to know more about Algorithm (and its definition) just go here and well, knock yourself out cold

OR

you could take the definition from the Algorithm March and its demonstration by those Japanese to understand what it is all about.

3. "The exercises (id) from Algorithm Exercises are developed. Lines of more than 2 people are formed, and they begin moving canon style one at a time. The movements of the first and last person become connected." (Wikipedia)

The Algorithm March was designed for Pitagora Suitchi (Pythagoras Switch) an educational Japanese children's TV show on NHK Educational Channel and originally performed by Japan's comedic duo Itsumo Koko Kara .

What have been done by Pitagora Suitchi and CPDRC's prison management are examples of serious out of the box thinking to make mathematics interesting to children and adults alike and a way to install discipline, teamwork and to implement a healthy exercise regime, yet fun for prison inmates.

After writing the main essence of this blog, i found the Al-Jazeera's and CNN's reports and BBC's article on the dancing CPDRC's inmates on YouTube.



(Videos included are from Al-Jazeera and CNN)

My guesses were right, Vince Rosales, the choreographer was scared shitless by the thought of teaching hardcore inmates dancing in sync with the music and he was initially thrown slippers by inmates who...well..probably dancing is too gay and would like to retain their macho-ness. Hell, if i were a guy i still wouldn't pick a fight with any of the inmates in there even if they do dance to YMCA.

Excuse me ... i have the strong urge to dance with ninjas and prisoners in Cebu so i must learn this dance.

"take one step forward and reach forward
take one step forward and you're a better person...dududu"

Just what we need, another shopping mall

Ramadhan = fasting
Fasting = Near Syawal
Syawal = need for new clothes
New clothes = shopping
Shopping = shopping malls
Shopping malls = Pavilion

Who haven't read about it?
(Elaine wrote a whatchamacallit just in case you don't know what Pavilion is and been living under a rock for the past couple of months)

Who haven't passed by it while driving on Jalan Bukit Bintang?
(I just did today...reminded me of QV and Federation Square in Melbourne. but somehow, i also saw, juxtaposed on it was our grand old school with its green lawn and lush palm trees)

Who havent been there?
(Me because i'm scared i just might take a chalk and start drawing Office Block and Clinic Block front facades on the grey-polished-uberposh-boring-like-everyotherbuildinginKL-wall/windows facing Jalan Bukit Bintang)

Who is with me?

bah....

Samsons - Dengan Nafasmu

Mrs Aliza, you shattered my eardrums in Ikea.

"EXCUSE ME?!!! DID I JUST HEARD YOU SAID 'YANG'??!!!" screamed Liz in her high pitched
voice through the phone.

Whenever she uses that tone, i know better than to respond with the same tone as her volume would only increases, and thats bad for your eardrums. So i meekly responded "eerrmmm hermmmm ermmmm aah ermm (why the hell didnt i just say i accidentally called the last part of my own name instead!)" but not before long, she continued with what she was saying before i dropped the mini bombshell on her. selamatttt...

Hehe but it was still the quote of the day for us :)

Several hours before my eardrums were shattered by Mrs Aliza, we attended His company's breaking fast event and there was karaoke! Well....there was karaoke without the mike and Samsons's songs were the only one played, much to his dismay because a number of Samsons's songs used to be my sad anthem songs. However, the last song that was played was Dengan Nafasmu.

Jadi dengan suka-suki-hatiku. Ku letak video karaoke Samsons-Dengan Nafasmu disini. why? because i want to and because i can.

HTML for dummies

I think i've been spending hours upon hours trying to figure out which font is the best and what colours i want my blog to be.

it was pink...i went for pink...can you believe i went for pink?!

i couldn't believe I WENT FOR PINK!

hence, you don't see any more pink on this screen. unless...you're colourblind. then i cant help you.

now, i'm trying to remember my self-taught html lesson long time ago. im just showing my age and the fact my memory sucks. this is gonna take more than a couple of hours that i originally thought. i think i need to get (free!) professional help from those that actually do this day and night and day and night and danight.

Help!

This could work better if i actually told people i have a new blog and they can read my plea for help.

Redirection from old blog has yet to be completed. Another case of procrastination perhaps? perhaps.

YETTA! i managed to figure out html! im a genious! now how do i add that previous posting kethingy....hmmmm

A new beginning, same ol ramblings

Oh hei, hi, how you doing?
Found me here haven't you?
Am I familiar? maybe..maybe not...
So, hi for the first time or hei, hi! again.

Reasons why I'm here, again, on Blogger.

1. I got bored of Friendster's template (and i'm not bothered to mess around with the html because knowing me, i will really mess it up good until i can't even read what i wrote)
2. I got bored of Friendster.
3. Time to move on from Friendster.
4. I needed a fresh start...from everything.
5. Blogger let me post Youtube videos! i have to admit, thats the most important reason why I'm here! :)

Not that i never wanted to do it here in the first place, but procrastinating is really evil you know. Plus, I'm the sentimental and loyal type. Hard to let go of a good thing that served me well in the past. However, i must move on, proceed with something new, break the habit and Friendster's blog really was giving me a writer's block.

But if you wonder what i rambled on and on and on before this, please do visit my old blog.

[i really would say dont bother but it might help you fall asleep, become depressed or happy cause your life is much better than mine (you sadists!), laugh at my stupid jokes and life anecdotes or simply laugh at me, or you are just plain bored and needed something to read]

I was thinking on what to write as my first posting here, so i referred back to my first posting on Friendster. Nak cari inspirasi lah konon.

Being the very first posting, i reckon i should explain to why i'm here in the first place?

Truthfully, im not a diary person, neither am i a journal person. But everytime i would login on Friendster, i find myself editing 'about me' to express how i was, how i am, how i possibly will be in the near future. Because that's who i am, constantly changing, constantly thinking, constantly rambling...might as well have a forum to express my feelings rather than talking to myself.

Suprisingly, i'm also a private person. unintentionally private person if such exist. Perhaps the word im searching for is: shy. i am shy, i want to speak but i cant, the words would twist my tongue, i want to make my opinions known but i end up thinking noone will stop and listen to me. At the very least, i know my thoughts are known and expressed. Even if its only to one.

Finally, because someone said, "just get a fcuking blog page!". It's a long time coming... welcome to my experimental ramblings

Yada yada yada...

to express how i was, how i am, how i possibly will be in the near future. Because that's who i am, constantly changing, constantly thinking, constantly rambling...might as well have a forum to express my feelings rather than talking to myself.

That summed it up pretty well.

Well, that still remains the main reason why i blog. somehow talking to myself and the car steering wheel and the random cats that passed by my house and to the ciggy just wont do. You get weird stares coming from them.....and oh yeah from people too, especially when you talk to yourself (or to the steering wheel or the radio or both) in the car, stuck in traffic. i say its better than picking your nose like there are no windows on your car!

So yeah, reason why i blog...feels better than talking to myself out loud (it wont stop me, but it minimises the chances).