Pseudo-Review : Tokyo Magic Hour (working version)

TOKYO MAGIC HOUR

Experimental Romance
Language: Malay
Subtitles: English
written & directed by: Amir Muhammad
Duration: 60 mins

Producer: James Lee
Associate Producer: Koji Imaizumi
Camera: Nao Saito, Toshi Fujiwara
Additional Camera: Hiromi Fuji, Jin Otagiri, Mao
Mikami, Yutaka Oyama.
Music & Sound Design: Hardesh Singh
Narrator: Eijat, Namron, Saifullizan Tahir, Fahmi Fadzil

Synopsis:
TOKYO MAGIC HOUR is an experimental romance between two men, narrated against digitally manipulated imagery of that city.

The narration consists of passionate verses that form a heightened, chronological record of a love affair, arranged in distinct sections, which can be termed
Meeting, Loving, Lusting, Parting and Remembering.

One section, Magic, breaks away from the poetry-as-narration to present instead poison charms,exorcism chants and dream interpretations. This section serves as an eruption of the uncanny and comes between the happy poems and the darker ones.

The edgy music/soundscape throughout, comprising original compositions and samplings. is an essential ingredient of this strange brew, this unusual movie exists at the intersection of video art, torch song, and atavistic exploration.

Made with the assistance of The Nippon Foundation's Asian Public Intellectuals Fellowship.

from Tokyo Magic Hour's official page
-----------------------------

Ted, at the screening :
"Whoa. Wha-?. Oh....okay.. Hmmm... Tak habis lagi ke? Zzz.. Eh!! Hehehhe.. Hmmm... Whew!"
-----------------------------

Make sure you know at least roughly what Magic Tokyo Hour is (keywords: experimental, two men -When did you decide on this, Amir?-, digitally manipulated imagery, verses, strange brew) before you step in for that viewing. This is not for the weak-hearted, or for those with really short attention span.

No actors. Just narration of pantun (a form of Malay prose) verses.
Images, colors, not necessarily something lucid.
And a haunting soundscape.

You can go as deeply as you want (preferable), or just skim gingerly on the surface (and in which case you're better off watching something else).

I have to admit, I fell asleep for maybe 5 minutes during the screening of the hot-off-the-stove, working version of Tokyo Magic Hour last October. Classic pantuns and some slow-moving images aside, I blame it on the medication I took before the show. Anyway those who are expecting something along the lines of Amir's previous works such as Lips to Lips (which I've seen) and Big Durian (which I only heard of from other people, wish I'd seen it) may only find it in the originality of the idea and his edgy wit (one shocking bit woke me up from the short slumber).

Going for this one? Pay attention, open your mind. Sink in the images and the narrative. Imagine. Those who learnt Bahasa Melayu in school, those who read Malay pantuns before, remember those lines again. Feel it. Feeellllll it.

And don't go inside expecting to see two men going on dates or whatnots. Or take any sleep-inducing medication ten minutes before the show.

Amir was kind enough to answer the barrage of questions that the audience had that evening, and there were many. We got some pretty bluntly honest answers - No, he didn't really know how it's going to be while making it, yes it's also sort of based on a personal episode in his life, no he wasn't entirely sure yet of the actual meaning of some parts of the movie.

I really think now that the best way to watch movies would be together with the moviemaker him- or her-self, where you get to ask questions later. After all, it's their stories that we're watching, which makes them our storytellers in the greatest sense, and isn't it always more interesting if you get to ask your questions to the source rather than just discussing it with your movie companion (or worse, only with yourself if you went alone!) and concluding the unresolved issues with "Who knows? I didn't make that movie". Maybe now that we have a representative from the film industry in the Dewan Negara, no less, I'll ask him to propose for a ruling where moviemakers must be present at their own works' screenings. Ha. Imagine the questions you'd have for the likes of a certain professor.

Verdict : Surreal. Definitely not for those with zero interest in experimental films. Beautiful, but only if you look deep. Without any imagination this will be largely boring.

You've been warned.

Menyusahkan Orang

*Ringggg!!*

+Hello?

-Cik, you dah susahkan I lah, tau tak.

+Eh, siapa ni?

-Mr. D ni..

+Oh.. Lama tak dengar cerita Mr. D, senyap aje. Apa cerita ni? Sebab yang kat Pahang tu ke? I pun tak tau my guy kat sana nak buat presentation detail tu semua, alih-alih tak sama pulak figure kita.

-Bukan yang itu... yang baru sampai ni. Tiba-tiba kena tambah lagi assignment, padahal I dah nak close report dah. Sekarang kitorang punya claim kena tahan.

+ Oh yang tu... sorrylah Mr. D, I mana tau, bila diorang mintak list yang belum buat lagi, I submitlah semua yang ada, tak sangka dia nak buat macam tu.

-Hmm takpelah. Susah sekarang ni... mau tak bergaji I bulan ni...

+........

- Okaylah. So you ada tak semua dokumen yang I kena ada untuk pegi settlekan the rest? Cuma satulah, I mintak yang last list ni final ya.. jangan karang ada tambah lagi pulak..

+ Nanti I check for you kalau semua dokumen tu ada kat sini.. jangan risau, memang tu dah final, I janji takkan ada tambah lagi.
--------------------------------

Salah aku ke?

Memang serba-salah dibuatnya. Mana tidak, angkat saja telefon dah dengar ayat yang buat aku terperanjat. Ingatkan apa. Melibatkan soal orang tak dapat gaji pulak tu, ishk. Walaupun bukan aku yang buat keputusan tu, tapi...

Aku buat kerja aku, itu saja. Aku pun sekadar menurut arahan. Memang dia patut buat semua tu.

Maaflah, Mr. D. Nanti aku belanja makan, boleh?

1. Writing Again

There she was, in a RM68 worth of a hotel room, National Geographic showing (but not really appreciated) a crocodile / snake feature following one about archeologists digging up bodies of people long dead, murdered, beheaded and buried in the swamps.

And she felt the utmost urge to write. Right after she upchucked a sour mouthful of bile-flavored instant coffee (courtesy of the Green Park Hotel, thankyouverymuch, it tasted pretty fine while going in but not so coming out).

Why was she running away? What from? Or who?

Hardly the questions of the century, but back when she was a sunny squirt of thirteen and found for the first time a journal entry of her protected, contained life is worthy for at least one appreciative audience - her English teacher - then she wrote:

"To a person with a bee sting on her little finger, that pain may be far more real and greater to her than all the hunger and misery in the world"

(to which the teacher replied, "That certainly is true", and corrected her grammar mistakes)

and so, with all the important unanswered riddles that humankind were striving and struggling and poured many a millions to find the answers to, those three questions bore the biggest weight at that particular moment.

In time.

She muddled herself, pondering the possibilities, putting the consequences, good and bad side by side, like little girls with pigtails running hand-in-hand on a balmy day at the park, having just declared on freshly-spit palms to be best friends forever and ever, fingers intertwined that it's hard to distinguish where one ends and the other starts.

She found it hard to believe her own judgement, not anymore, not after the last time. Common sense seemed to had taken an indefinite holiday from her mind and rang only once in a while to let her know that everybody else is just the way it should be, except herself.

She could never understand the exception. Believe in it, she did, accepted it, but never could she successfully try to fathom even faintly how and why was that to be her destiny.

So she waited a little more. Then the urge could be apprehended no longer, she rinsed the bile/coffee taste out of her mouth.

And she began writing again, lining the alphabets neatly as she could, one after another on the stationery with shaky hands and cold fingers.

Ever dreamt you could Google your own PC?

Google makes me want to dance. Jig-a-jig. Jiggy-widdit. Na-na-na-na-na!

Do you love Google? (I reckon there's no need to link to that one, everybody knows Google's URL, no?). If you've always marvelled at the ease of Googling for stuff on the internet, then, get ready for this - Now you can Google your own computer with Google Desktop.

Still in beta version, at the moment it requires either Windows XP or Windows 2000 SP 3+. The search and results page looks exactly like the internet version, with the buttons 'Search Desktop' and 'Search the Web' replacing the usual 'Google Search' and 'I'm Feeling Lucky' buttons.


What it would do is build an index of the files in your computer upon installation. Once the indexing process is complete (the process may take a few hours - you can continue using the PC during indexing - but if you're too excited like me there is no harm in trying out the program while indexing is still in progress) you would then be able to use the program as you normally use Google to search for your Word, Excel, Powerpoint and text files, emails (e.g. in Outlook Express), AOL IM chats and even your Internet Explorer cache! Neat, I must say.


Another bonus is once you have Google Desktop installed on your PC, Google will also include results from your computer in the results list whenever you do a Google search over the internet. An icon (looks like two small multicolored hoops intertwined) will be automatically placed on your desktop for fast reach.

Recommended. Na-na-na-na-na!

'Taraf'

Just finished the book Not Without My Daughter, by Betty Mahmoody. Read the book once years ago, but it was such a good read that I wanted to go for the trip again. Plus the fact that I've already forgotten the whole story apart from the gist of it (an American woman married an Iranian, trapped in Iran with small daughter against their will, went through a bad time before successfully went through a perilous journey out of the country).

And yes, the story is still as good a reading as I remembered it.
-----------------

'Taraf', in Iran, is somewhat like the Malay proverb, 'ajak-ajak ayam', i.e. when you make an invitation that you do not really mean.

I may have made a mistake in thinking a friend's invitation to lunch as the real thing when he, on the other hand might've meant it only as 'taraf'. So what I did was to take him up on the invitation, and of course he had to say please come when I asked whether I could, considering I was in town and already on my way. When I saw how our arrival may have inconvenienced our hosts, the little twinges of that feeling called 'somewhat guilty' played upon my mind.

How do one ascertain whether an invitation is just 'taraf', or a bona fide call by the utterer?

Nonetheless it was certainly a pleasurable visit and all seemed well. Still I feel a need to clear this matter. We Malays have it ingrained to avoid from menyusahkan orang lain (being an inconvenience to others), so when one felt like one has done exactly that, an apology should be the order of the day. Hmm.. but only if and when it feels right to do so.

1 Syawal

Hello! My name is Dania. You can call me Dania-baby. I like to wear my brother's shoes instead of mine coz they're nicer. I don't care if they're big that Mama says make my feet look like Olive Oyl's, coz I know I'm in nowhere near the danger of looking e x a c t l y like Olive Oyl, considering my chubby-wubby cheeks which people so love to pinch. Anyway, Aunty Ted wishes to tell you a Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Maaf Zahir Batin.

P.S: Aunty Ted did not give me any duit raya though. She is so kedekut!

On the low rungs

Doing other people's dirty job.

That's what you get sometimes when you are low down the rungs.
When you're still considered wet behind the ears.

Sheesh. What's so difficult in making that call yourself?

And they get paid at least 4 times what I do. But of course.
When it's something good, they'd pick up the phone faster than a frog flicking its tongue to catch that fly.

Learn, Ted, learn.

Kalaulah aku jadi CEO syarikat ni.

Pending

1. Amir Muhammad's Tokyo Magic Hour pseudo-review
2. Train ads - Nokia up one notch
3. She Palms, now he wants a Palm too

Sigh. Sputter. Gasp.

Buka Puasa Buffet @Tmn Warisan Pertanian

Adults : RM15 nett
Children (below 12-years old) : RM10 nett
For reservations call 03-8889 3829,
or just walk in and pay at the entrance on top of the stairs.
Private air-conditioned room available on request

Modest breaking fast fare with typical Malaysian lauk pauk, ulam, kuihs, pengat (it was delicious bubur pulut hitam on the day we went, did we have bowlfuls of those) and local fruits. Nasi tomato / nasi minyak / nasi jagung will be served everyday alternately. Hj Samuri's famous satay, ABC, kebabs and other usual Taman Warisan grub at the 'Penanggah' are also available for buka puasa daily but not included in the buffet (can be ordered and paid for separately).

Jom makan!

To Hadi or not to Hadi

Latest addition to the (extended) family.

The father wanted to name him Hadi, or Aziz Hadi, or better yet, with an affixed 'Nik'. Boleh?

No prize in guessing what or who inspired the above.

The mummy said she's still undecided, but might name him Norman Hadi instead.

As yet, he's just uncomplicated 'adik boy' to his three sisters.

Welcome to the world, baby!

Dejavu @ Istana Budaya

Fauziah Ahmad Daud, Rozie Rashid, Zuhairi Ibrahim,
Syukor Yon, Safura Yaacob, Serina Redzuawan.

Dibantu Oleh:
Juhara Ayob, Yussak Kassan, Sahronizam Noor, Mohd. Suffi Jikan,
Rosman Ishak, Rosli Wahab, Khairil Johari Mustapha Al Bakri,
Abdul Halil Aziz, Mohd. Zaidi Zaini & Ahmad Faizal Zulkipli.

10 - 19 September 2004 / 8.30 malam / Istana Budaya

Tiket : RM20, RM30, RM50, RM70 & RM100.

Anjuran Persatuan Penulis Wanita Malaysia (PPWM) & CTRA Production

Dengan Kerjasama Istana Budaya

Keterangan lanjut / Untuk tiket hubungi Box Office Istana Budaya 03-4025 5932 / 03-6186 6592 / 019-269 4434

Aku masih terkenang pengalamanku menonton pementasan Dejavu awal tahun ini di Pusat Pelancongan Malaysia, dan bagaimana hampanya rasa apabila waktu pertama ke sana, tiket habis!

Seterusnya aku dimaklumkan untuk pementasan tersebut, memang sold out tiap-tiap malam. Dan hingga sekarang aku masih memikirkan, inikah petanda era kebangkitan semula teater berbahasa Melayu. Dejavu sahajakah begini, atau untuk yang lain-lain juga?

Apa-apa pun, bagiku nama-nama berikut - Fauziah Ahmad Daud, Syukor Yon dan Juhara Ayob, sudah memadai untuk seharusnya memanggil penggemar teater berbahasa Melayu (dan sepatutnya sesiapa sahaja yang menggemari pementasan teater) agar tidak melepaskan peluang menonton karya hebat Pak Ismail Kassan ini bernafas di ruang Istana Budaya.

Dah Dejavu?

Rants

[New source of joy in town]

Allow me to say....

I love you for reading this blog. All three of you.

Then there are also the things that I love at this job. And I can feel it loving me back.

At this point, I need to prioritize the things that I have in this life of mine, and I'm sorry that I can't satisfy everyone, really. I do wish I could.

Just got embroiled in my first ever office gossip. Office politics. Taken care of. Whew!

People may surprise you if you take the straight to the point approach rather than go around the bush. Suits me. Never was much good at beating bushes anyway.

Mixing professional assertion with social gestures can be kind to your blood pressure. Things get settled faster. How's the wife and kid, and have you finished the project costing due on 31st?

Some of the Kementerian chaps are rather cute. And the State company guys are not half bad either. Hahahaha.

The Village : As Lucius Hunt was lying there with the possibility of losing his life, I was thinking Erm. Joaquin Phoenix. Under that covers. What is he wearing.

And last but certainly not least,

Selamat Menyambut Ulangtahun Kemerdekaan Negara
Keranamu Malaysia!

Yours sincerely,
Ted

Hi. I am Ted, and I may be...

..a control freak case. At certain times.

I can function throughout the day on coffee alone if going out for lunch means leaving the desk and missing that call. No, I prefer to buy my own lunch, I have to know what I'm getting. Yes, even the toilet trip can wait. I want to take that call. I NEED to. It's important. Yes, someone else could do it, but... it's always better if i do it (or so I usually think).

I have trouble delegating tasks to others. I prefer to be the one doing it. Unless I am sure you can get all the instructions right, which halfway through I may decide that changes are needed so the results are better and I'll do it myself when you're done with it. I hate wasting time giving instructions if I can just do it myself. Unless I can be sure that it could be done by someone else just the way I want it.

I mull over my choice of words, worrying whether it will sound right, taking 5 minutes for that three-sentence email - though it's supposed to be semi-formal. Which addressing should I use? How friendly should it be? Would that be 'thanks', 'thank you', or a simple 'tq'? Should it be completely in Bahasa Malaysia, completely in English, or a rojak of both?

Up to this point, it has already taken me 10 minutes, 6 complete re-reads and 27 changes in choice of words to type out this post.

But I still think I am actually normal, really. Really.

It's now 13 minutes, 7 complete re-reads and 32 changes in choice of words. No, 33.

----------------
15 minutes later : 8 complete re-reads. 35 changes. I can be like that.

/quote
Note to self: take stick out of my *toot*
/unquote

Do you have a spare notebook to sell?

Am thinking of getting a whole 'new' notebook for myself (yeah I know second hand is not really new but haha beggars shouldn't complain) so if you happen to have a working piece lying around and want to get rid of it, do email me at teddisini(at)gmail.com, and then we can become good friends aha ahah.

*I do so wish I have RM10,000, but I don't.*

How to make a Ted

Ingredients: 5 parts intelligence 5 parts silliness 1 part joy

Method: Add to a cocktail shaker and mix vigorously. Add a little lovability if desired!

Username:

Personality cocktail
From Go-Quiz.com

Absentia

been doing some of this....


..and this...

"A butterfly flies beside us like a sunbeam,
and for a brief moment its glory and beauty belongs to our world.
But then it flies on again, and though we wish it could have stayed,
we feel so lucky to have seen it."

------------
Teehehehe.. I'm bad.

But that's only half of the story, just to make you guys jeles. The other half? Urgh. There's always more to it than it appears to be. So keep your pointed sticks away.

[Pic by Fuzzy. Nerr, I confess, copied from here]

Hello

Hi, how are you?

I am fine, thank you.

You, yes, I'm talking to you. Really. It's you that I'm talking to. Or rather, blogging to - if there is such an expression.

Thanks for visiting. *smile*

And have a nice day - today, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow.

No lah, I'm not referring to the film.

Of course I've seen it, have you?

Oh okay, anyway.

You have a nice day now, okay.

Be good!

Who's there?

Somebody out there, somebody, I think, is scouring through this blog, methodically from the old ones up to the more recent posts. Since about three days earlier. I'm a wee bit suspicious.

Who are you?

Do I know you?

So what are you looking for, and what did you find out?

Would you like to say something to me?

Hmm...
----------

On the other hand, another interesting visitor paid me a visit (or two) recently:


Last week a famous Bahasa Malaysia-blogger Mat Jan also blogged about a visit from this interesting address, which sparked some funny comments from his readers.

Curiosity, in these cases, I'd say, may just feed the big, fat, cat.

Newsflash

Tan Sri Azizan Zainul Abidin, Petronas chairman and president of Putrajaya Corporation passed away early this morning in Putrajaya.

Al-fatihah.

More Malaysian Reality Show Competitions

[from the inbox]
----------------

1. Who will become an Ustaz (Who Will Win)
Reality show yang menampilkan peserta 12 lelaki yang akan bersaing untuk menjadi seorang Ustaz. Mereka akan ditempatkan di sebuah madrasah dan akan diuji ketahanan dari segi membaca al-Quran, menunaikan sembahyang wajib, menunaikan sembahyang sunat, azan dan lain-lain... Setiap minggu akan diadakan pertandingan memberi tazkirah di hadapan penonton yang juga akan disiarkan live di kaca TV.. Peserta akan dinilai oleh juri profesional (30%) dan sms penonton (70%) pemenang akan mendapat pakej haji percuma.

2. Akademi Islamiah (Akademi Fantasia)
Reality show yang mengambil 12 budak budak yang telah sesat dan rosak akhlaknya.. Mereka akan ditempatkan di sebuah banglo, dan akan diajar cara hidup islam. Setiap minggu mereka harus menunjukkan apakah kepakaran dalam islam yang telah mereka pelajari secara live. SMS penonton akan menentukan peserta yang layak untuk menang (pilih berdasarkan taraf keinsafan mereka). Mereka menangis kerana menginsafi dosa lalu mereka. Mereka akan 'dikurung' dan dipacakkan dengan 13 kamera CCTV.

3. Muslim Idol (Malaysian Idol)
Reality show untuk mencari penceramah Islam terbaik di malaysia. Peserta yang dapat memberi ceramah yang mengusik jiwa penonton akan mara ke peringkat seterusnya hingga ke akhir. Peserta diadili oleh penonton melalui sms. Pemenang akan mendapat peluang merakamkan lagu nasyid dan juga CD ceramahnya.

4. Bintang RTM (Remaja Tahu Mengaji)
Sebuah lagi program dari stesen kerajaan Islam Hadhari kita iaitu berbentuk program tahu mengaji. Peserta diajar cara membaca secara tartil, bertajwid dengan betul, menghafaz Quran dan berlagu. Peserta yang berjaya akan mendapat cahaya nur Quran.

5. Audition
Rancangan ini berbentuk audition untuk meneruskan pengajian dalam bidang agama samada IPT dalam negeri atau pun luar negeri. Tajaan akan diberikan kepada yang berjaya. Syarat layak masuk kepada semua yang cintakan Islam dan para pendokong Islam

----------------

Ted: Fikir-fikirkanlah.

Belatedly spreading the love

Three Gmail invites up for grabs.

No photos, fansigns, knitted sweaters or any sort of extracurricular services required.

Just shoot me an email at teddisini@gmail.com, on a 'siapa cepat dia dapat' (first come, first served) basis.

Why? Just because.

P.S - phone still not ringing. Vibrato only. Brrbbtt!!!
------------------
P.P.S - *Gmail invites given to Razali, Marky Mark and James*

Wet inside? - The 'masuk air' story

Last weekend like the good domesticated little girl that I am, I took an armful of my delicate clothing items *ahem* downstairs and loaded them into the washing machine.

Hook whatever that needs to be hooked lest they'll ruin something else.

Pour in detergent. And softener liquid. Of course.

Set the button to 'Suit' (this is what the manual told me to use for such items).

Press 'Start'.

All went well, and 36 minutes later, the machine beeped. One loadful, done.

I open the top and reach inside. Out come the clean things. Clean and all flowery-smelling too. Hmmmm. One piece... two piece... three... four...

But wait... there's something else inside there.. something that doesn't belong...

My cellphone!

Dang. Now I remember putting the phone on top of the load while carrying them downstairs. It must’ve gotten itself inside the washing machine while I was hooking them hooks. There goes that outstation claim which I just banked in last week. Auw….I really love the phone although it had none of those 65,000-color screen / camera / MMS-capabiligity / WiFi and whatnots. It’s a pretty basic phone, heck, it’s not even polyphonic, the only thing that’s a wee bit unique about it would probably the ‘Thermometer’ function. Yep, it can tell you the number of Celciuses of its surrounding. Plus it also has a rubber-coated exterior that’s so suitable for a klutz like me. I must’ve dropped it at least twice a week so far and not once did it conked out after a fall, unlike my previous phone made of flimsier material where sometimes the whole phone would be all over the place (e.g. battery here, top casing there, bottom casing further there) after an accident (and there were many, I tell you).

Sis told me to try dry the thing outside. After one whole day basking in the warmth of a Saturday sun, I took it in and tried to switch it on. No such luck.

I went through Sunday by borrowing Mom’s cellphone.

I love the blue-and-black-rubber-coated-piece-of-thing so much that I went through Monday with the thing heavy in my bag. I took it out a few times remembering the good times we had. Tried charging it in case it may suddenly come back to life, but nothing changes. Nada.

Tuesday came. I decided that it’s probably a good time as any to move on. I can’t keep on living in the past, and with no cellphone to boot either (what if the bank wanted to call to tell me my account’s been approved? what if Boss tried to get hold of me regarding a detail in the presentation that I prepared? what if Tom suddenly felt like calling me up for a drink? what if I win a million RM in some contest and the winner will only be notified by phone?). I made plans with Sis to go shopping for a new one after work. At 5 p.m., I was ready. I held the dead phone in my palm, cradling it like a baby, saying my final goodbye before I take out the SIM card that’s been it’s ticker for more than a year now.

Ah.. goodbye dear old cellphone. It’s been great working with you.

Being one so sentimental, I can’t help but hook it up to the charger for one final time.

And wonder of wonders...



It's alive!
(yeah I set the language option to 'Bahasa Melayu' on my phone, and proud of it)

Upon further inspection, however, I discovered that it trills no more. I reckon that call from a friend last Friday nite was its final tune. No more George Michael’s Careless Whisper when a friend calls or Sheila On 7’s Dan when Mom or Dad rings. The best it could manage is a single, pathetic ‘beep’. So I had to put in on vibrate mode all the time and ensure it’s either in my purse where I’d feel it vibrating or on a hard surface where it would vibrate noisily.

A replacement seems to be unavoidable after all. Ah well.

For the moment though, you’d still do, you little blue-and-black-rubber-coated-piece-of-thing.

Dah Semput? : Kesiannn Anding

[Anding, during a stress-free moment]

[At times of an attack you'd be grateful to have friends hold you on]

A tear-jerking movie, a fight with your spouse, or even a joyous reunion -- for some people with asthma, these are emotional triggers that can leave them gasping for air. On many occasions asthma gets worse for no apparent reason, but some things will often cause a deterioration. Emotion - anger, anxiety or happiness - can bring on an attack of wheezing in some asthmatics.

Reactions from emotional anxiety and stress are however considered to be more of an effect than a cause. They can cause fatigue, which may affect the immune system and, in turn, increase either asthma symptoms or bring on an attack. Persons with asthma have acute episodes when the air passages in their lungs become narrower, and breathing becomes more difficult. These problems are caused by an over-sensitivity of the lungs and airways.

During an attach, the lungs and airways overreact to certain triggers causing:

 the lining of the airways to become inflamed and swollen.
 tightening of the muscles that surround the airways.
 an increased production of mucus.

Breathing becomes harder and may hurt.

The following are quotes from a few of the 10,000 children who responded to Asthma UK Blue Peter Asthma Survey conducted in 1995.
 'It feels like someone is standing on my lungs.'
 'It feels like I am being squashed.'
 'When I'm having an attack it feels like a rope is being slowly tightened around my chest.'

(Error: Apparently it was a near-attack, not an actual attack. But still. That hurts too.)

I’m not really one of his fans, but I know what it would feel like to have a sudden (near) attack like the one he had during the end of the 3rd Akademi Fantasia concert (yep I’m in the bandwagon miahahahaha can't resist it). Only those who had experienced one would.

An asthma attack is no laughing matter. Imagine when all of a sudden your can't really breathe in air, only a little bit than nothingness. Your ribcage muscles try to constrict and expand in spasms, mimicking the usual breathing rythm, and yet at best all you'd have are the short huffs where the oxygen feels like it comes in periodic 'trickles'. If there are wheezes, fine, 'cause it means you're taking in air.

And to have one onstage during a live telecast, even a near-attack, (when you’re supposed to look and feel oh-so-glamorous yaddyayadda), would be so embarrassing. Not to mention it looks pathetic as well.

Kesiannn dia. Oh but don't worry, I'm still reluctant to go for the A F U N D I buttons on my cellphone. Not that I have one (either buttons or cellphone) at the moment anyway. And that, ah.... is another story.

-------------------

Links:
The Anxiety of Asthma: Emotions Can Trigger Attack
All About Asthma
What is Asthma
Asthma Attacks

All photos taken from Akademi Fantasia official website

o Ophelia! How thee gallivants!

... 9 (out of many) reasons why you should go see ...


1. 90% of the time, there would be a bevy of gorgeous girls who then became women onstage with all sorts of body movement
2. the above will also go through a total of five wardrobe changes
3. the haunting music
4. the moving and thought provoking lines, minimal but profound, and some parts are pretty funny too! *ever took a flight with trollydolly airlines before?*
5. free notes with the song lyrics and script - how many theatre productions give you this?
6. the video sequence yg menaikkan bulu roma
7. the runway-style stage
8. the fashion show at the end, so glamourous
9. the founding s*x dance sequence with, ah, belled red ribbons

[rolling Ophelia posters to earn my keep]

More things NOT to do on a Komuter / LRT train ride

I definitely am not the only blogger who takes the train on a daily basis. In response to the helpful comments from 'What's the matter?'s readers in the previous post, here are additional points for your Train Ethics 101 notes, Chapter 2: 'Things NOT to do on a Komuter / LRT train ride.

15. Staring down people's tops [point by Sarah]

16. Scratching one's private part and "reparking" them! - this will also be filed under the 'Come on!' category [point by mdmafia]

17. Toting rotiboys - it's pure suffering for the rest [point by ryuu]

18. Snogging - falls under 'Come on! category

19. Farting

20. Being smelly by not bathing in the morning

21. Bringing prams the size of kancils and filled with noisy kids some more, regardless of their cuteness level - may still make some people feel like strangling them
[points #18-21 by anuar]

Got more to add? Just put up your matter in Comments or shoot me an email if you wanna be mysterious. Be creative!

14 things NOT to do on a Komuter / LRT train ride

1.
[Jatuh nanti! (You might fall!)]

2, 3, and 4.
[No smoking, No eating or drinking and No littering]
View a possible result of No. 2. Not pretty.

5. Yakking loudly on the phone to your best friend so the whole train could hear all the lurid, colorful details regarding your ever-unhealing kurap / outstanding bedroom frolic last night / others. No, we really don't want to know.

6. Falling asleep on the next guy's shoulder, accompanied by sound effect with decibel levels that would make a jackhammer cower in shame and completed by some 'free-flowing liquid' with enough DNA matter to get one acquitted at a crime scene investigation.

7.
[These Seats Are Reserved For Senior Citizens, Pregnant Ladies & Disabled.
AREN'T WE COURTEOUS?]
Pretending sleep when a pregnant lady/ old quivering aunty/ other named persons as above stand right in front of your comfy seat. Be courteous-lah.

8.
[Tiang-hoggers]
Hogging the whole tiang (pole) in the middle of the train by leaning on it when everyone else is groping around for something to hold on for balance.

9. Groping around and hanging on someone else's body parts (ANY part), pretending it's for balance.

10. Finding yourself a seat furthest from the door and proceed to get up only when the train has stopped at your destination and the doors have already opened, going 'Oops, sorry, my stop here, *shove* sorry, *push* excuse me, *elbow* *nudge* whoops, sorry'.

11. Taking off your shoes, exposing those socks with exotic olfactory-invasion attribute and 'airing' them around to dry the dampness out.

12. 'Parking' your bagpack/grocery/one-week's laundry hamper on the next seat.

13. NOT covering your mouth when you sneeze / cough, especially the ones that contribute extra moisture (and certainly germs) to everybody else’s breathing space.

14.
Public display of affection e.g. above. I mean, come on...
-------------

On a brighter side:
Top 10 Things To Do On A Komuter / LRT Train Journey

Also read Nerr's take :
Rules for being on the LRT : How to make it a pleasant ride for everyone

Zooming in, zooming out

[ Treasure island map....?]

.
.
.
.
.
.
.

[ or NOT! ]

.. this is why they forbid you from having that chicken curry meal while on the train.

Coming up next: 10 14 things NOT to do on a Komuter / LRT ride

A cup of coffee

Preface: I've came across emails with a similar article a few times before, but today was the first time for me to get the one with the coffee ending. Nice.

----------

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle,when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar...and the coffee...

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students if the jar was full.

They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, " I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things - your God, family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions-things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car. The sand is everything else-the small stuff."

"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.

Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.

Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."
--------

Now, anyone up for a cup of coffee?

Online or not?

[The yellow little fellow aint telling you the truth]

If the Yahoo! Messenger indicator icon here is to be believed, it would mean that I'm perpetually online. I have no idea why it shows so, though. Why, eh? Me, online all the time? Yeah, right. Which could not be much more further than the truth since I rarely have it on these days as there's a problem re: the cookies configuration at the office PC (not that I can afford to have on it anyway, teehee, bisa mengganggu konsentrasi) and I seldom surf the Internet at home except on the weekends that I'm home all day - what with the weddings to attend and other plans, ahem, that sort of days this month can be counted on one hand.

So anyways, don't say I'm sombong or anything lah, okay, if I don't reply your YM messages right away. Will do, just later :)

You certainly can't believe everything that you see online.

Btw, it's International Webloggers' Day! Here's one to bloggers all over!

Happy thoughts

for the day:
1. am dressed in purple
2. Komuter not packed with people today (semua orang cuti ke apa?)
3. sushi lunch with the girls and discussion on our upcoming Tioman excursion

for the weekend:
1. a friend's wedding
2. free tickets from kakiseni to Otak Tak Center (yay!)
3. a 3-day weekend - taking a leave next Monday (another yay!)

last month:
1. launch of PentasSeni KL
2. PFS surprise birthday dinner (not for me-lah, for those born in May and June) at Juara Tom-nyum

this month:
1. OPs OPHELIA: a FaShioN opeRa
2. Flies and Foreigners

ahead this year:
1. New Komuter halt at Midvalley in August
2. PentasSeni KL opening in December (where is Sentul West actually, eh? - another sesat possibility)

Okay, enough happpy thoughts at the moment. Ahem.

Twitch

A post to dispel the weekend-blogger title.

When I'm under work-related stress, a muscle in my right eye twitches occasionally.

Twitch, twitch. There, it just did. Did you see it?

It's 7.27 p.m. and I've just finished my work. For the day.

Deadlines are so not cool. They pump me with adrenaline so I usually feel very much 'alive' when I have a deadline to beat. On another thought, it's not such a bad thing then, eh.

Twitch.

Saturday rambling

Eek.. I just realized that I may well turn into one of those two-post-per-week bloggers, or perhaps even a weekender (gasp!). Dang. Work has been increasing (both in load and complexity) that I found meself bringing some back home, and yes, actually did it! It's not that I can't do them at work, it's just that I do so want to finish them off as fast as I can so I can breathe better. Plus I often find myself being sidetracked with litte things that need to be tackled urgently now and then, which can in the end accumulate to almost half the day. Hmmm sounds like my time management skills ain't that sharp. Or maybe the way I find it hard to say NO, heck, I've only just realized you can actualy say No even to something that the Boss wants (the immediate Boss, that is, not da Big Honcho though, seen nobody saying No to him yet).

I use a lot of brackets, don't I?

I love blogging. Lets me be so self-indulgent (refer previous posts). It's always I, I, me, I, I, me, me, more me, and I. Well, okay, the occasional we and you. And they. Teehee.

The coming 9th of June is the International Webloggers' Day. Personally I'd (see, always I) prefer the term 'blogger' (sounds catchier)instead of 'weblogger', but the idea wasn't mine, so I'll go with that.

Have a happy weekend, everyone!

Cheap trills 2 : He

always had a smile on his face ate his chicken and pushed away his vege sometimes has this funny way of saying his Rs taught her how to reverse the car out of the ditch held the umbrella for her in the rain seldom had anything bad to say about other people got her to her first live F1 race would go out with her even though he was up all night studying coz he already promised always had on (and most probably still do) Polo Sport perfume was the one she rang when her house was broken into at 4 a.m. (but when he called right back the phone was already taken) took her to the places for the plays she loves so much even the ones he didn't really like always got a funny story to tell and a joke to share said she was one of the nicest girl he ever went out with could talk to her all night and she'd never tire of it broke her heart when he told her he found a girlfriend asked for her advice when should he meet the girl's family pleaded her to call the house for him when there were talk about a suicide attempt after their breakup (it was a lie) continued the friendship when work took him afar didn't push her away when she told him how she really felt would always pick up the phone or return the call if he wasn't there knew he made a mistake when he said he missed her voice told her he might come but she's forgotten when

Cheap trills

Once he was told,
She liked him, more than just a friend.

He said he never felt that way, would never even think about it.
Told her she was a great friend.
Told her please, let it remain.

She said it's okay, and
told him 'bout the stupid things she did.

They laughed it off in the night.
(But she cried a little inside)

They vowed that things should never change.

They still talk, sometimes.

Then she started calling less and less.

He called one day, but the ring went on.
(She saw his name, and decided he could wait)

She returned his call later that night.

He said it's been a long time, and how do you do.
They went on as usual, had a laugh or two.

He said he missed her voice.

She said really, well she did too,
But a long time it has been,
She'd almost forgotten.
(She lied)

He said he's coming, and will she be there?

I will go again

I thought I was supposed to go to work today, forgetting altogether about the third-Saturday-off policy. I really did. Thankfully Fuzzy mentioned something along the lines of sleeping the Saturday off before having our fast-food dinner on Friday, or else! And what did I do on such a fabulous, office-free day at home?

I discovered Microsoft Picture It!

The program has actually been in the PC all this while but I've never clicked on it before. Man, I love all these programs.... I could spend all day tinkering those pixels.

Anyway, below, is my first collage. Ta-da!



Bucket And Spade

My bucket and spade is always to me,
The best thing ever to take to the sea,
I love to play making a sand castles,
Far away from this rush and hassle,
But leaving it on the deserted beach,
The tide comes in taking it out of reach
I always take them on holiday with me,
Looking forward to hours of glee,
They are a wonderful toy,
Suitable for a girl or boy,
Roll on to the warm summer time,
When I can get away from the city grime.

- Dorothy Snow -

Change doing you good?

Only a few-odd days without logging in to the Blogger homepage, and suddenly there's a new look, which I feel seems a little bit loud compared to the old version. Ah, now I know what was it that Ash meant when he mentions the 'dashboard' in his post.

Naturally I'm all game for change, especially those that seem to be for the better. Have yet to explore what those new links are about though.

Speaking of change, there's one that I'm becoming more aware of - age. Urm, you heard right. My metabolism ain't what it used to be these days (read: I'm slowly gaining weight) and the lack of exercise of course doesn't help any, plus I notice that I'm beginning to look at things and react a little more differently over time. Due to age, I suppose. And the package that came along with it.

Anyway, no matter what the numbers are for my age, these two never fail to make the little girl in me squeal with happiness!

[A chocolate birthday cake, and....]

[Prezzies!]

A big bunch of thanks to the group of people whom call themselves MyPFS. Smooooch.

Budgettime

[Big Boss: Why did you ask for so much last year when you only use so little?
Nafsu besar ni, guna tak habis pun.]

Yes, it's that time of the year again, when figures fly more than usual all over the place, and phones in the Finance Department are ringing off the hook. Me? I thought going down the two flights of stairs and meet a particular finance officer in person would be a better option, but haha was I ever wrong! Ended up spending almost 20 minutes waiting as she entertained the many desperate, last-minute phone queries ("Yes that budget needs to be keyed in by 5 pm, no the system do not allow for automatic carry forwards, yes the allocation should be itemized in the attachments, no your children’s school fees do not fall under the department’s general expenses") before she could entertain me and my eleventh-hour query (The procedure to carry forward unused budget from this year’s projects how?). Hey, I’m still new to this, okay, and the matter was only brought to my attention at 4 p.m. when tomorrow is the day to table the whole thing to the head honcho. So sue me.

Aiyoh, redoing a whole year's projects budget with the deadline a few hours away is NOT a fun thing to do.

Thank God (and the management as well) for half-year reviews.

Good golly, it's came back to life!

PPS is back online! With improvements, too. Woo hoo!

The previous days without PPS made me realize how much I relied on it for my almost-daily dose of Malaysian blogs, direct to my screen via the precious list of pings. Well, I do have my Blogroll, but that is only a very short list of what PPS has to offer - because while I do list currypuffs, char kuay teow, nasi lemak lauk kerang, tuna sandwiches and bread-and-butter as my all-time favorite things to eat (I have them frequently too), I'd also like to have other items available off the menu. Ditto for blogs.

So to the ever so brilliant Aizuddin and the rest of the gang who brought us Project Petaling Street, a big long-due Thank You and a round of applause to all of you! Bravo!

Off you go!

Have a good longggggg weekend, folks! Any long-shelved holiday plans finally to be realized during the next four blissully work-free days?

I have a wedding do (or two) to attend. And a friend's birthday outing. Enough for tired old Ted. Going to rest and hibernate at home the rest of the weekend.

------------------------

Decided to do away with the 'animated wand' thingy.

At several other sites with similar 'things-that-follow-round-the-pointer' stuff, I found them annoying. Weirdly though, when it was here at this site, I thought it was, erm, nice, heheh. Most probably a biased case of opinion, then.

So off you go! Thank you for your services. What we had was good, but now I need to move on.

A little bunny or a kitty that will chase your cursor if clicked, perhaps?

I sometimes click the one here.

Neko is so darned slow though, Nerr ;)

A Man For All Seasons - a play for all seasons, indeed

Written by playwright Robert Bolt (1924-1995), A Man for All Seasons shows a man sacrificing high office, his position in society, and ultimately his life, for religious principle. Dramatising the conflict between Henry VIII and Moore, the play depicts the confrontation between church and state, theology and politics, absolute power and individual freedom. Throughout the play, Sir Thomas Moore’s eloquence and endurance, his purity, saintliness and tenacity in the face of ever growing threats to his beliefs and family, earn him the status as one of modern drama’s greatest tragic heroes.

The play was first produced here by The Actors Studio in 1991, at the Old Town Hall, with Leslie Dawson as Sir Thomas More and Mano Maniam as the King. Patrick Teoh played Cardinal Wolsey (a maiden outing for Patrick as an actor), Eric Roslee as the Common Man, Kee Thuan Chye as Cromwell, Gail Lyons as Alice More, Tiara Jaquelina as Meg, the daughter and Ramli Hassan as Signor Chapuys. Faridah & Joe often remember that this was the first TAS production that broke even!

Starring Ari Ratos (Thomas More), Zahim Albakri (Cromwell), Susan Lankester (Alice More), Kurt Crocker (Norfolk), Kubhaer Jethwani (the Common Man), Fahmi Fadzil (Richard Rich), Ben Tan (Wolsey), Reza Zainal Abidin (Signor Chapuys), Kennedy John Michael (Cranmer), Sharifah Aleya Al-Yahya (Margaret More), Malik Taufik (William Roper), Keith Chin (Chapuy’s attendant) and Bregitta Wong (the Woman). Directed by Joe Hasham & produced by Faridah Merican.

-------------------------------------------------------

Read Kathy Rowland's review at Kakiseni here.

-------------------------------------------------------------
Would you be strong and willful enough to stand by what you believe in, to remain upholding your conscience and to refuse the temptation to give in no matter in what form does temptation take; if in doing so would take you away from all your daily comforts, separate you from the family that you so dearly love, rip off the normalcy of your everyday being and ultimately, be the cause of your very own death? Will you ever submit?

Not William Wallace in Braveheart nor Maximus Decimus Meridius in Gladiator, and not Thomas More in A Man For All Seasons. And just like Sir William, Sir Thomas’ story is for real, based on the great man who brought us Utopia (1516) , the former Lord Chancellor (1529-1532) of England who simply refused to sell his soul even if it means all of the above.

The play became the second to put me to tears (the first was The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde), and the first to do it more than once! (I'm positive that I wasn't the only one sniffling during the scene in the prison though). It was also at times like a mini history lesson in itself, bringing substance and life to the likes of Moore, Cromwell and King Henry VIII (Old joke: You mean they tried seven times before and still couldn’t get him right?) that were previously just some names I’ve heard about or read somewhere.

I've seen Ari Ratos in a couple of other performances, and his acting skills have been lauded here and there – Seasons is his strongest performance I’ve seen so far. He cut a very credible More - steadfast in his righteousness, ever so humble in the face of praise, and strongly resolute in the despondency of his imprisonment. The great Jit came onstage for a measly twenty minutes or so, but enough to illustrate how un’king’ly self-serving and rudely, appallingly debauched the King was. The part may have required him to appear in just a single scene, but boy did he capture the audience right from the first shrill blow of his whistle to the last glimpse of his back before he slams the door, hard, during his exit. And so successful Zahim Albakri was at playing the vile, contempt-spewing Cromwell (urgh) that I almost stood up and cheered when it was recited that he (Cromwell, not Zahim) also died under less-than-pretty circumstances some years later.

For a maiden theatre outing (correct me if I’m wrong), the ever cute and perky Sharifah Aleya was convincing enough as the dutiful, educated daughter, but I feel that there's room for more depth in the emotions that she could have portrayed as Margaret . Susan Lankaster however paraded an excellent performance as the dutiful wife, befitting her experience as a seasoned actress. I also adored Kubhaer Jethwani as the Common Man who transformed flawlessly from one character into another at the shrug of a shoulder or the drop of a prop. Fahmi Fadzil seemed to take some time before being completely at ease with playing the gullible and spineless young Richard Rich, all-eager to please others as long as it benefits him, seemingly devoid of any form of conscience.

The opening minutes went at a rather ‘leisurely’ pace, with some ‘introductions’ and chatter establishing who’s who where what and so on. Even so, being one not all that accustomed to a detailed history of the British, it still took awhile for the basics of it to sink in properly with yours truly (I was just being plain easily-muddled me). The choice of costumes didn’t really help in that sense either. Expecting them to be garbed in quaint and (perhaps?) superfluous period-styled outfits (circa 16th century of course) with all the frills and bows and robes (how could the ruler of England be without the customary fur-adorned royal robe?), the use of normal everyday clothes (along the likes one would be apt to see people wear on the streets of Bangsar or chilling the night out in uptown KL) was kind of surprising during the initial moments. Then I realized that in such a way, the play was actually bringing its points closer to home for despite being written based on something that happened hundreds of years ago, the portrayals of faith, belief, ego, pride, deceit, slyness, family love, pity, enticement, self-righteousness et. al. apply to the present just as well.

In short, A Man For All Seasons exuded its charm so well over me with the combination of a great piece of writing, an excellently-experienced director and a team of cast with superb acting. Throw into the mixture a set that's beautiful and cleverly functional without being complicated, with some haunting hymn-like tunes (made me feel as if I was in a church at times) and the sombrely effectual lighting- this is a show that I definitely wouldn't mind seeing again. Kudos to everyone involved!

My only grouse would be the sickening attitude of several members of the audience who despite their better judgement neglected to switch off (or at least put to vibrate lah, kan) their various polyphonic cellphones, resulting in a multitude of irritatingly distracting tunes throughout the show - a couple even came from the same phone, for God's sake! Oh, and also the fact that Jit was onstage for a mere twenty minutes.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Trivia:

1) Sir Thomas More was one of the first famous prisoners at the Tower of London, executed in 1535 for refusing to acknowledge Henry VIII as head of the English Church.

2) He was soon followed by a still more famous prisoner and victim, the King's second wife Anne Boleyn, executed a little under a year later.

3) July 1540 saw the execution of Thomas Cromwell - in which capacity as the Earl of Essex and chief minister of England had modernized the Tower's defenses and, ironically enough, sent many others to their deaths on the same spot.

4) King Henry VIII had six wives altogether during his lifetime.

Also read: The Life of Sir Thomas More

Think you're really smart?

(From my inbox - TQ Ciken)



Einstein said 98% of the world could not solve this riddle. It's not really hard, you just need to pay attention and be patient.
----------------------
There are 5 houses in 5 different colours, all in a row. In each house lives a person with a different nationality. The 5 owners drink a certain type of beverage, smoke a certain brand of cigar, and keep a certain pet. No owners have the same pet, smoke the same brand of cigar, or drink the same beverage. The question is:

'Who owns the fish?'

Hints:

The Brit lives in the red house.

The Swede keeps dogs as pets.

The Dane drinks tea.

The green house is on the immediate left of the white house.

The green homeowner drinks coffee.

The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds.

The owner of the yellow house smokes Dunhill.

The man living in the center house drinksmilk.

The Norwegian lives in the first house.

The man who smokes Blend lives next to the one who keeps cats.

The man who keeps the horse lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill.

The owner who smokes Bluemaster drinks beer.

The German smokes Prince.

The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.

The man who smokes Blend has a neighbour who drinks water.

The weekend

Saturday



Made the 'wise' decision to drive to KL. Trapped in bad traffic on the way to the lunch meet @ Saisaki. Met new blogger-faces in addition to the usual book swap faces although didn't really got to have a chat with everyone -nice meeting every one of you! Poked and stabbed three platefuls of Japanese grub before munching on them (not all items were identifiable), went through two bowls of colorful ice cream and downed countless minute-cups of green tea. Burp. Afterwards drove almost half-an-hour in circles before finally getting further than the 5km radius around KLCC due to a single missed turn (I'm directionally-challenged, remember?). Visited sister-in-law at the hospital. Cooed to babies in the nursery (regardless to the fact that I knew they couldn't actually hear me). One looked especially cute with his little shades under the blue lamp.

Sunday
Lazed around the house till 5 pm then decided to brave the last day of the PC Fair (a.k.a Pasarmalam Computer Fair). Took the 6 pm train (missed the 5.30 one). Made a couple of purchases and bookings. Last item bought - a Canon printer (during the last half-hour frenzy). Escaped in one piece. Had to lug the big and heavy printer box all the way to the Komuter station, alone. Didn't realize it would be THAT big. And THAT heavy. Exerted enough sweat for the rest of the week.

Monday



What?? The weekend's over already????

Loss

Sister-in-law lost her baby - she wasn't even sure she was pregnant until she went to the clinic after feeling some pain and discomfort at the area. Apparently the little guy was already around 9- to 10-weeks old. It was a very sad fact, but we accepted the miscarriage as God's will. Tak ada rezeki.

She underwent the D & C procedure (sounds painful, ouch) this afternoon. She looked really out of place in the room, where the other three patients there were either in labor or had just given birth. During the visit, saw Bro taking care of the poor thing- helping her walk to the bathroom, putting on her clothes and all the other stuff that healthy people do for sick people in the hospital. Holding her hand, putting a cool towel on her head. Adjusting the bed. Making sure the slits at the back of her robe does not show. And I heard her crying in the bathroom. And I heard Bro doing his best to comfort her.

That's when I truly realize how much he loves the woman.

PC Fair 2004 (I) - 16-18 April

Have some extra moolah to spend and been looking around for a new piece of toy / gadget / equipment / whatchamacallit?

There might be one waiting for you at the first PC Fair for 2004, which starts today at PWTC.

This discussion thread at the Klang Valley Palm User Group forum offers an interesting read on how to get the best bargains, suggestions of economic gadgets etc.

See you there!

Choczlatey moments

[Kit-Kat chocolate bar. Not available at Chocz.]

Contrary to popular belief and several other ‘published’ opinions (read: blog posts, heheh), my first encounter with the famous Aztec, an unusual drink from Chocz @ RM8.50/cup (excluding service charges) did not:

Sedate me to a state of extreme calmness any more than the usual cup of hot chocolate usually does

Render the world to seemingly revolve at a slower pace on its axis and earth time to pass at a fraction of its usual rate of 60 seconds per minute

Bestow (fancy word for give) upon me a heightened level of perception; or

Make me feel horny, either hormonally-induced desires or in relation to the pointy things that bulls usually have on their heads

The hot drink did, however, possess a certain shock factor from the mixture of the piquant chilli with the dark richness of cocoa; leaving a weird but not unpleasant aftertaste where the shock factor gradually diminishes with each hot sip as the concoction swirled in my mouth and played with my taste buds which kept on shooting messages through the nerve-highway to the taste central in my brain, saying, now-this-is-the-taste-of-a-perfectly-good-drink. And the unique cup, oh, I loved it! Looked a bit like a cream jug to me, all white and curved with its cute little ‘spout’.

The others in our little group were milkshake-devotees, they ordered yummy banana and vanilla-flavored blends. I failed to persuade at least one of them to go for a Nectar, where you get to personally melt chocolate pieces (your choice either white, milk or dark) so the drink will be at the consistency of your heart’s desire, as thick as you like. And the way to drink it is straight from the burner! Sounds heavenly, eh? No need to ponder over what to order during the next stop at Chocz, then.

Anyway, all of us did however feel soooo sleepy and full afterwards (we had some cheesecake, onion quiche and chocolate tarts as well); the plush green sofa seats were so comfy that it took us awhile to finally get our butts off them and say our goodbyes. Now on that, we echo our agreement in unison.

P.S – Do try the chocolate tart – like having a perfect, no-frill solid mass of delicious, top-grade chocolate on pastry. Kenyang, I tell you.
---------------------

Read other bloggers' take on Aztec and Chocz (if you haven't already):

My Sweet... My precioussss... (with pictures)
Warning! A Chocz post!
Pheromone Chocolate Aphrosidiac
Nectar from the Cocoa Fruit

Chocful of Chocz!
All About Chocolate

A conversation in the car

"Mama, siapa Timbalan Ketua Pengarah kat (her workplace)?"

"Sekarang, Uncle Shukor."

"Wow, terror kan dia."

"Hmm... one of my best friends, Uncle Shukor tu. I've known him from the time he was a young, unmarried guy and unsure of himself, masa tu nak buat presentation pun takut-takut. Tapi sekarang, tengoklah. I think he's going to be Ketua Pengarah nanti. He's in the right place."

"Mama takde can nak jadi Pengarah ke?"


I try to imagine, see where I might be 25 years from now.

Should I be like Uncle Shukor too? Work hard, be at the right places at the right times, do the right things to climb the rungs up and up over the years? It's already there, one just have to climb it, up up and up when one could.

Or would I ever be brave enough to venture out and blaze a trail of my own, where it's up to me to create the ladder, where I'd have the opportunity to scale the heights as high as I want to, as long and as hard as I am willing to. But I know it won't be easy.

One spells comfort zone, the other a challenge.

I'm not saying it's a breeze, all milk and honey la-la-land where I am now, but there are decisions that I have to make sometime in the future, and I have to start thinking about them now. And it's always one or the other, as choices are wont to be.

All the pros and cons.... I just don't want it to be up to a point where it becomes a Hobson's choice.

Or maybe I do.

Hobson's choice, anyone?

I had a conversation in which the particular phrase turned up (with context to a certain constituency's candidates in a certain recent election - no prizes in guessing which one).
Out of boredom I looked it up.

Hobson's choice \HOB-sunz-chois\, noun:
A choice without an alternative; take the thing offered or have nothing.

E.g.:
1) Fagan's defense revolves around his insistence that he faced a Hobson's choice and had to act.
--Laura Parker, "Discovery of daughters never followed by reunion," USA Today, May 11, 1999

2) The stakes are just as high for the deep-pocketed traditional retailers. A recent survey by Jupiter Communications showed that only 6% of e-commerce sales are new spending. The rest come out of the hides of brick-and-mortar retailers. They're faced with a Hobson's choice: Make the plunge online or face a terrifying alternative--gradual extinction. (Ted: Aiyo so panjang la this example)
--Heather Green, "The Great Yuletide Shakeout," Business Week, November 1, 1999
(Source)

"Hobson's choice" is said to have had its origin in the name of one Thomas Hobson (ca. 1544-1631), at Cambridge, England, who kept a livery stable and required every customer to take either the horse nearest the stable door or none at all. Why? Oh, he had a very valid reason.

In 1914 Henry Ford offered customers of the Model T a famous Hobson's choice, making it available in "any color so long as it is black."

There's also a movie (1953) entitled Hobson's Choice starring Charles Laughton, John Mills and Brenda De Banzie, directed by David Lean (based on an original humorous play by Harold Brighouse, 1915); and a hardcore band of the same name.

If you are bored, like me, pay a visit to the Phrase Finder for the origins of your favorite phrases.

Next phrase, please!

I told you it doesn't take much to keep me amused :)

Numb

I've become so numb
I can't feel you there
Become so tired, so much more aware
- excerpt from Numb, sang by Linkin Park (as if u didn't know that)

Felt as if I’m in one of the Twilight Zone series (cue theme song) or something the whole morning. I imagine this could be what it feels like to be given a mild tranquilizer shot (or something to that effect). Everything seemed so calm and peaceful, I feel like I could go do anything and nothing will happen. Nothing good and nothing bad. And I don’t feel like doing anything. Not really. This happens, sometimes. So with an ice cream cone in hand (a Baskin-Robbins double scoop special, Majoca-something on top and plain pecan at the bottom), Ted the Numb wandered aimlessly around the mall at lunch (it’s good to have one so near to the office). She read all the posters in the music shop window. She pondered at the various titles at Pay-Less Books. She watched a promo video showing all sorts of useful home appliances at the DIY Depot, but after the clip on that useful window cleaner which could do a million other things as well the screen changed into a blurry feature of black and white fuzz. Okay, time to get back the office.

Oh, but that was then. Back to normal mode now. Window shopping and additional sugar in the bloodstream can do wonders, I tell you. And the thought of a future date at Chocz for an Aztec (blame all of them bloggers who raved and raved about it like there’s no tomorrow), an upcoming play with Jit Murad in it at Actors Studio and a new book to read. Ah… it doesn’t take much to pick Ted’s spirits up.

Anxiety

Do this, says she
I will, say me

Then I did.

Show me, says she
I will, say me

When?
Tomorrow will be a good day.

That day
Is today

Is it good?
Is it bad?
But she makes me wait. And wait. And wait.

Anxiety makes me feel light-headed.

The Melaka Connection

These are what Melaka town means to us, today. While we were going in circles around the place, trying in vain to locate that ever-elusive way to the beach of Klebang, we found that Melaka is the Malaysian town with:

the most number of petrol stations per km squared. Definitely. With an average of roughly two stations every five minutes’ drive.

the most number of mosques, ditto. Average one mosque every 10 minutes’ drive.

the most number of ’Sehala’ (One-way Street) signs, ditto. Forgot to count for average.

No, we didn’t find our way to Klebang beach. Yes, we did ask for directions from the locals. Defeated, we headed back to the highway and had to drown our sorrow in this:

[The perfect concoction to soothe the frustrated souls. Thank you, Baskin-Robbins!]

Other Melaka pics here.

What, you mean I’ve never told you ’What’s the matter?’ got its own Fotopage already?

Flooded!

I lost the post. That's what usually happens when you get that I-think-it's-okay- to-not-copy-it-to-a-word-document-or-do-it-as-a-draft-first train of thought. Next time, don't tempt fate.

Here's the gist of it though:

Heavy rain in Klang Valley - almost all train services were interrupted
Train stopped just 100m shy of Serdang station, had to head back towards the city
Decided to get off at Bandar Tasik Selatan and take the ERL to Putrajaya. Genius... not!! Yes, even the so-very-canggih ERL service was not spared
In short wasted spent half an hour stuck in a stationary Komuter train, half an hour at the ERL station, 15 minutes for STAR LRT and finally another hour for someone to pick us up at Bukit Jalil station - a total of two hours and fifteen minutes

And this is what Mom's car looked like when she got home (she parked at the Serdang station):



All these train problems... delays and whatnots makes me wish I could fly.

Like him ------------->

A RM5 post

It's RM5/hr to use the Internet facility at the Senai Airport, but I reckon it's worth it since I have approximately one hour to kill before my flight home. Better to check my personal emails and get my daily dose of the blogs now since tomorrow will be a busy day at the office. I've been without the Internet since Friday! The longest stretch, of course, would be during the 25 back-breaking days spent at OBS Lumut, shudder.

Yep, I decided to go for the site visit.

Yes, it was four islands, and no, it wasn't just old geezers in the group, haha.

Pulau Aur, Pulau Pemanggil, Pulau Sibu and Pulau Babi Besar Besar. Very, very beautiful. Perfect for island-lovers. Too perfect that half of the group prolonged the trip for another night.

Experienced my first ever midnight sea-fishing trip. Wait till you see what I managed to bring up from the great depths.

-------------------
Updated : Found out later that it was actually RM5.25 - there was a 5% tax as well. You need to pay only after using the service, contrary to what the sign says. Not the smartest of business moves, hmm?

Top 10 Things To Do On A Komuter / LRT Train Journey

(in no particular order)

1. Sleep (if you manage to grab a seat)
2. Listen to music (with a walkman / discman / iPod, not a boombox dear)
3. Read a book / magazine / newspaper / get-rich flyer
4. Catch up on office work (you know you won’t really touch it once you get home)
5. Check out other people’s clothes / accessories / kid / boyfriend / girlfriend
6. Do personal monthly budget (darn at this rate I’m never gonna save enough to afford that car / house / trip to the moon)
7. Think of things to blog about (half of the posts on What’s the matter? were thought of during train journeys )
8. Write down blog posts if inspiration struck (half of the posts here ditto)
9. Day-dream about Jude Law / Ewan McGregor / Patrick Teoh / Doraemon
10. Train your kid to be a future Olympic gymnast:


---------------------
Will be heading up north tomorrow, and most probably going down south (Johor, not Australia) on Sunday. Need to make up my mind first whether I really want be go on a site visit program across four islands with a group of ten or so guys all 35 and above.

Oh, and by the way, happy birthday, he]ix! Here's your birthday present :p


Picture credit

Have a great weekend, everyone!

X marks the spot

After reading other bloggers’ account on Election Day, this is how it went for me.

We (Mom, Dad, me and Bro) were out of the gate to exercise our responsibility as a rakyat by 8.15 a.m. Five minutes later we were checking our Saluran Mengundi (voting line) number at the Opposition’s pondok panas which took only a minute and then off to the polling station. Met not a single perayu undi along the way. Rather disappointing as I was really looking forward to see them in action.

Things went just smooth for us. First go check for your Saluran Mengundi number either at the pondok panas or SPR’s desk (pondok panas better, more stations, line at SPR desk very long), then go line up at the designated Saluran Mengundi, show IC, get ballot slips, put that X (and nothing else please) where you think is most appropriate, fold slips twice (printed side inwards please), put in correct ballot box and walk out. Done. Rather uneventful, even. People queued up properly, appropriate signs were all over the place telling where you should go and there were lots of officers around to assist and control the situation.

Nothing at all like Edmund's experience where there were "…no proper lines, room to room, long wait, long walks. Here is Malaysia Boleh! again for all of us. My dad who is close to 80 years old had to wait, queue, my mum who has difficulty walking had to do the same as well, my poor wife had to queue in the sun while other jump the queue as there were no clear instruction and enough officials to keep order." I guess a lot depended on your area’s SPR team, how they plan and manage their respective polling stations. Khalil had it good too, as reflected in his post "I’m happy because the election process at my polling station went smoothly unlike the other places where the Election Commission has f***ed up big time".

I was intrigued by Sharizal's account where he stated that "But the weirdest thing then happened, as she (SPR officer) read out my particulars she also read out my registration number (that same number i had on my slip of paper that i gave to them) and this number is then conviniently written on the stub of my voting slips.". I was thinking about that yesterday, and I watched them closely while I was in line. Only saw them cross out each name in the electoral list while calling the names and numbers out loud to the observers, rip the ballot slips off the books, punch holes on the slips on the left-hand area under the serial number, and it’s all yours. Didn’t see them doing any jotting down or anything on the stubs. Very, very intriguing.

Apparently voters were assigned their Saluran Mengundi numbers according to the new IC numbers, which corresponds with age (I peeked at their list). Hence you can see that as the numbers go higher, the voters in line were a younger lot. And it’s interesting to note that at 8.45 a.m., the lines at Saluran Mengundi 1, 2 and 3 were already quite long (more than 25 voters each) compared to Saluran Mengundi 6 and 7 where there were only a handful. Me and Bro (both part of the statistical 800,000+ first time voters) voted at Saluran Mengundi 7, only four people there when we got in line. What a big difference.

When we were done Mom and Dad were still patiently in the queue. Ah, they weren’t bored, no, they were busy chit-chatting with the uncles and aunties, it’s obvious that half in the line were long-time friends.

After Mom and Dad were done, we all walked out and only then we saw the perayu undi people doing their thang. Since we already did our civic duty (too late to sway us anywhere now, too bad, fellows!) there weren't much they can do but still they were friendly:

PAS: "Dah selesai dah? Hmm…. Alhamdulillah.." (Finished already? Praise to God)
BN : "Assalamualaikum… Dah mengundi ya? Tak apalah ni ada topi ambiklah" (Voted already? Oh okay never mind here’s a cap for you)

Which was so unlike Meesh's experience: "…where some uncles from PAS were walking around my area, quite nice looking in their tongkat and jubah (is that what you call it?) and kopiah, they completely ignored me when I smiled at them, I think they didn't look at me as a prospective voter, I was quite sakit hati after that."

We treated the event like a family outing, took pictures along the way at the various banners and flags and the parties’ campaign stations. Onlookers would definitely have a hard time guessing as to which party we were inclined to.. ahah.. remember, undi adalah rahsia!

Have a thought over James' post where he wrote of feeling like a Sampah Masyarakat:
"Today, I have missed yet another opportunity to exercise my democratic right, making it my third miss in a row. I never get round to voting cos I never got down to even registering myself. While I have successfully put on a defiant, rebellious, anti-establishment front (as we arty-types are so wont to do) over the last few years, this year I actually feel like shit for not voting. I feel irresponsible to myself and the baby in Mae's womb. I am Sampah Masyarakat."

Our forefathers fought with their blood, tears and a whole lot more over 46 years ago so we could do this. In some countries its people are still fighting to have the chance to pick their own government, to have this election thing. I’m glad I went out to vote, and if you haven’t register yourself, please, don’t wait until the last minute. Yes, you already missed this year's, and five years is a long time ahead, but why put it off if you can do it today? Time moves fast, tomorrow may come too soon. Go and get your sorry asses up, those who still haven’t registered, make sure you’ll be voting in 2009!

11 o’clock, off to Sepang for the hottest race on earth, but unlike Kaz, whose "friend managed to source out two free grandstand tickets and we got the best seat... right infront of Team BMW Williams F1 pitstop", I was lying down on the dry grass under a free umbrella at the hillstand area (ho ho ho when it's hot it's really really hot, you could've cooked an egg sunny-side up on my umbrella) courtesy of my favorite bank. Ah, still, it’s free (did I mention I love freebies?). Michael did it again. Yay. Too bad about Kimi. I was rooting for ya, Iceman.

Kertas Undi

The sign at the door only said I could not use the phone *wink*


Parlimen / Parliamentary seat


Dewan Undangan Negeri / State seat

Undi anda adalah rahsia (Your vote is secret).

Full election results