I Want! I Want! I Want!

I've been searching for nice casual flats like this Steve Madden's pair and it's a miracle if I could find one like, now! Times like this makes me yearn so much for a quick visit to Myers to grab one of Steve Madden's cosy, comfy, costly flats... Things you've taken for granted *sigh*



never been a big fan of bottega veneta or butterfly motif, for that matter. But i find this clutch utterly irresistible!! Jom... Sapa nak teman me to Hong Kong for a shop trip? hahaha...



I just love the scent and mine is finishing already... It just feels good to smell like flowers even if you're not that sweet :p

I Read Because I Can :p

I've overdosed on Paulo Coelho last week where I finished three of his books (By The River Piedra I Sat Down & Wept, Veronika Decides To Die and The Devil & Miss Prym). As most of you might already know, Coelho is one of the most widely read author of the last and current century. He writes in Portuguese mostly and known for his deeply profound look into life. His notable works include The-owh-so-famous-Alchemist and Brieda but I'm not really a fan of the writing style per se. It's probably a bit too languid (pardon the inapt choice of word but I couldn't find another to describe my feelings) despite the spiritual and philosophical issues or views.

Though, I find the matters discussed deeply moving, even when some of it deals with Christianity concepts and theological dilemmas. These books make up a trilogy about life and its uncertainty with death watching on and love, hatred, evil and good all mixed together to evoke your deepest fears and regrets in life. It makes you think about how much of yourself in ready to change and be changed within a week, how the decisions made will affect your life until its end and bring back parts of yourself from the past that you have decided to discard. All three books taught me that love and God work in miraculous ways.... Ways you cannot imagine. Out of the three, I would have to choose The Devil & Miss Prym for the fact that the theme is entirely universal and we could all get into either The Stranger's or Miss Prym's shoes (if you're wondering why not The Devil, maybe it's time you grab it for a read). Good and Evil will always be in constant fights for our souls and we can or will be the ones to decide who we want to be.

After Coelho's books, I started on reading Karim "Handsome" Raslan's Heroes and Short Stories. Yeah, yeah.. I know. Why so late, Ana?? The book was first published in 1996 and has since been re-printed three times but I can assure you it hasn't lost touch. It is still very much relevant and rather a clear, vivid depiction of Malaysians in angles you've sometimes chose to ignore because it can be ugly. Wake up and smell the rotten roses, people because life isn't always green and comedy isn't always bright (hence the existence of dark comedy, get it?? hahaha.. i know, i'm lame). Anyway, Karim (as usual) never loses his voice in his writings although you can see that all of his characters have souls of their own. You know some writers just can't do that, they either make the stories too much on their characters or on their own selves. So, Karim has succeeded again in making me continue reading despite angry glares from The Mother as I skipped tea to read on :p For Malaysians, this is a must-have!

I've just finished reading Boyhood by J.M Coetzee and still couldn't believe that someone can write such a true representation of childhood. True enough, it was a story about a boy who grew up in South Africa in the 1940s and on the surface, that hardly creates any connection to myself. But as I dwelt further into the story, I realised that childood could easily be the most arrogant, selfish yet naive state of our lives, no matter when or where you've lived. I could connect myself to the many little secrets "he" kept from his family about his school life and feelings and the reasons behind such secret. It's rather poignant in a sense that my childhood held secrets too, secrets of home you don't tell people in schools, secrets of school you don't share with people at home... It's leading two or more different lives, lives dictated by someone else that we follow to conform to a suggested normality. Normality that doesn't make sense, by the way. It was a very critical reflection on one's life and you can trust the author of Life & Time of Michael K to do that. Boyhood strikes the heart for its straight-forward, child-framed view on the world and from a extremely smart child, that is.

My next victims will be New Malaysian Essays 1 with the talented Amir Muhammad as editor/contibutor and Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri (like... finally!)... But first, I'll have to finish reading Fernando Llyod's Scorpion Orchid. Owh, and the 2000-words reflection task for LTP course too (haha!)

A Visit Down Memorylane

Last weekend, The Mother asked me to clean up a few boxes of my stuff which I left when I flew to Sydney in 2006. I reluctantly did so knowing how much precious time watching toons with my nephew and sister has to be wasted on the tedious task but being the super-nice daughter that I am, I just followed The Mother's instruction and paksa fifi+aidid to teman me cleaning the stuff up (although they end up making more mess than there already is :p)

I must say the cleaning up process revealed a lot of things I didn't realised about myself 5 years ago. I came across scribbles of my poems in some random notebooks (which I used to collect), notes I wrote to friends, cards people made/bought as a dedication for me, pictures of childhood and schooling memories, letters I wrote but never did send... It all brought back an array of feelings which caused me to reach a state of disbelief regarding how much different I used to be.

I could almost see myself bright-eyed answering all those questions in my coursebook with all my enthusiasm and optimism of changing the world someday. There is an unmissable faint scent of determination and dedication in every piece of work, major or minor. Each of my journal and reflection contained too much of myself in it. I was so genuinely eager to please everyone that I didn't manage to refrain myself from constantly showing it to the whole wide world. I chuckled at my own naive interpretation of the world and how much it was going around the same circle to reach the same point again. I could say that I was still in the 2nd stage of Kohlberg's Moral Development where I am conflicting and building my interpersonal accord and conformity although at that time, I perceived myself as belonging to a higher level.

I believe now if I were to be given the same tasks I went through in my Foundation years, I would respond differently... Very differently, indeed. Although there is still a tad of egocentrism, I have come to view the world a whole lot more widely and understand that things often do work in an almost antithetic way than I assumed them to be. I'm not saying that life is much more gloomier now, in fact it's much more easier to lead because I try to deal with it in a neutral and non-utopian way. Reaching this level of maturity that enables me to look back and analysing myself for reflection is something I never thought I'd do as I always told myself not to live in the past. But who are you kidding because it's also the past that makes you able to compare whether you are a better or worst person today.

Indeed, change is the thing that shows the path you've lead and will be leading in your life. Hopefully, my path will be guided by Allah s.w.t and so will all my loved ones so that we don't transgress too far away.

20 Most Sexiest Revisited

Somewhere around November 2006, I blogged about the top 20 sexiest person according to my view. Almost a year and half has passed, I felt the need to revisit that list and see whether sexiness is still the same for me :p So here goes in no particular orderlaaaa...

1) Johnny Depp
2) Mos Def
3) John Legend
4) Matt Damon
5) Raphael Nadal
6) Joaquin Phoenix
7) Jake Gyllenhall
8) Gael Garcia Bernal
9) Jessica Alba
10)Prince Frederick of Denmark
11)Will Smith
12)Taye Diggs
13)Adam Broody
14)Barack Obama
15)Shia LeBouf
16)William Quah
17)Chris Gorham
18)Paul McCartney
19)Denzel Washington
20)Halle Berry

A Year of Solitude

Sometimes you wonder why people take the beautiful things in their life for granted. You know that phase when we are courting a person's heart and attention, we'd do everything we could to have them. He stayed up all night making that "Good Luck for Your Exams" card for you when we both know he hasn't finished revising for tomorrow's test. He spent his savings trying to get that patent leather shoes we have been hinting on for our birthday. He calls us every now and then... But when he has our attention and the both of us finally becomes an item, everything goes out of the window.

I made a vow to myself that I won't be that person because I know how much it hurts to be absolutely discarded after being heavily pursued. You feel like a trophy, but only a silver one because he goes on to hunt other skirts. All of these is just a game for him. You end up making all the effort to keep things going even though you weren't the one who initiated the relationship. That was the story with my last relationship. My emotions were drained and my life was haywire after discovering that I mean nothing to a person I've sort of devoted myself to for almost a year.

Yesterday, it has been a year since I am finished with that relationship. Ahamdulillah, I've learnt my lessons quite well and see that life does offer me more wonderful things (although sometimes I do get pretty lonely when everyone else goes out with their loved ones and I'm left in the room reading a book *loser!*). I've only been in two relationships before and I don't really know much but I know that in my next relationship, it's important that we are equals and respect each other's needs. We musn't dictate each other's life even if we know absolutely everything about one another. Our relationship must offer some room for mental and emotional dependence above all other dimensions. My life may not be perfect but it should be fulfilled when I'm with him :)

Well, my main motivation in life now is to succeed in my studies in order to provide a better life for my mum and sister. Yet, I do have a second motivation who makes me smile all the time too and he has grown to be very dear to my heart. We keep in touch regularly and he seems to care for me, which makes me feel just fine and appreciated. I'm just lucky to know someone as nice, smart and positive like him. For these blessings, I should be thankful kan? So, "No, thanks!" for all those invitation for dinner dates and get-togethers. I'm happy with life now even if it has endured a year of so-called solitude.

Taking The Joy Ride

I travel using the public transportation every week to reach Cheras... It's a hassle but I just love observing the nature of human when we are all around strangers. For a bunch of Asians who uphold ourselves as polite and respectful, we are a herd of phoneys and I'm saying this through experiences.

It's very normal to see young men and women not leaving their seats when they see others who need it more than them. There was once a heavily pregnant woman standing in the bus for almost three minutes before I decided to ask a particular young man to give up his seat for her. He did seem a bit pissed off but at least, I'm doing something to help two specific people. If you are so proud of your manhood that my request was demeaning, you should have more common sense to just voluntarily give it up in the first place kan? There was also a few incidents where I gave up my seat for an elderly or pregnant person but some dickhead would just slide onto it and pretend that he/she deserves the seat. Bodoh tau!!!

Then, there's the odd couple we see getting off on the bus. I know for a fact that the Malaysian buses don't really have a good air conditioning system but you find these couples literally glued to each other and some of them goes further than you'd ever think. I travel back on Fridays mostly and it's not a new thing for me to see young Malay men on the bus with their girlfriends (some in hijabs, mind you) during the Friday prayer time. Yalah, I know that whatever you do is between you and God but then if you display it proudly to the world, you're just giving us somewhat of a birth right to sneer at you.

To add, some of these couples are just school kids. There was this one instance where I had to tap on this Malay girl's shoulder clad in her school uniform who was necking her boyfriend while his hands were all over her, just in front of me seating at the back seat! Hallo, so desperate is it? There must be a limit to everything and that was my limit. I mean, I have tolerated many things before like girls giving a peck on the cheek of their boyfriends or holding hands and stuff. Okaylah tu kan? Aku pun liberal jugak but that was too muchlah. Any person in their sanity would do what I did, right?

Responding accordingly to a situation requires a lot of guts, I've discovered that for sure. Sometimes, you just gotta be "bitchy" to get what you want or to point out an obvious misdemeanor. Like Usman Awang said, we have to be kurang ajar to belajar.

Introduction

(been tagged again :p)

First Name – Ana Shirin
Nickname – Ana, Yen, Sharon, Cikngah.
Name you wish you had – Eleena (my mum wanted it but dad thought it was too much).
What do people normally mistake your name - they say "an-na" (as in Anna Nicole Smith) instead of a-na (as in Ana Ivanovic)
Birthday- 14th August 1985
Birthplace – Hospital Kuala Lumpur
Time of Birth – 6.43am
Single or taken – single.
Zodiac sign - Leo

* YOUR APPEARANCES

How tall are you – around 167-8 cm
Wish you were taller – sometimes.
Eye color – black
Eye color you want – black
Natural Hair color – black
Current Hair color - black
Short or long hair – shoulder length
Ever dye your hair a bizarre color – nope
Curly,Straight,Wavy - wavy
Last time you did something dramatic with your hair – cut it short.
Glasses or contacts – none
Do you wear make-up – yes
Ever had hair extensions - nope.
Paint your nails – nope

* IN THE OPPOSITE GENDER

What color eyes – black or brown.
What color hair – black
Shy or Outgoing – outgoing
Looks or personality – personality
Sexy or Cute – cuteness
Serious or Fun – Fun
Older or Younger than you – doesn't matter
A turn on – intellectual
A turn off - penyepah

* THIS OR THAT

Flowers or Chocolate – Chocolate
Pepsi or Coke – Pepsi
Rap or Rock – rap
Relationship or One night stand - relationship.
School or Work – School.
Love or Money – Love.
Movies or Music – Music
Country or City – City
Sunny or Rainy days – Rainy
Friends or Family – Family

* HAVE YOU EVER

Lied – yes
Stole something – hearts (lame, aku tahu!).
Smoked – yes (curiosity can kill monkeys, not human)
Hurt someone close to you - yes.
Broke someone’s heart - yes.
Had your heart broken – yes
Wondered what was wrong with you – yes
Wish you were a prince/princess – nope
Liked someone who was taken – nopes
Shaved your head – nope
Been in love - yes
Used chopsticks – yes.
Sang in the mirror to yourself –every time.
Ever cried over someone - yes.
Is there anything you wish you could change about yourself –yes.
Do you think you’re attractive? – yes
If you had to choose a fairytale as your life what would you choose - Shrek
Do you play any sports – futsal

* FAVORITES

Flower – Daisies
Candy – snickers
Song – Ayu (VE)
Scent – Daisy by Marc Jacobs
Color – black
Movie – Buli
Singer – John Legend.
Words - damn it!
Junk food - burger
Website – youtube
Lotion – crabtree and evelyn
Anime – Bleach

Be Kind, Rewind!!

It's been a while since I watched such a small yet sincere movie like this. The primary reasons for me watching this movie were firstly, my comel Mos Def as the main man of the movie and the second would be the owh-so-talented Michel Gondry who is the director as well as producer. Upon hearing this combination (and Jack Black+Danny Glover combo), I instinctively knew that this movie would be great and that it was.

The movie revolves around the lives of Mike (Mos Def-ku) and Jerry (Jack Black) who live in the little town of Passaic, NY. Mike helps his foster father (Danny Glover) run a small VHS rental store called Be Kind, Rewind in a 100 year old building which is facing the possibility of being torn down and be relocated in the projects. So Mr Fletcher, the foster father decides to do research on how to save the business and hands over the responsibility for a few days to Mike. While Mr. Flecther was away, Jerry somehow got magnatised and ruined all the VHS in the store. So when a customer comes in with a request for a Ghostbuster VHS, Mike had to come up with all kinds of idea and finally chose to do his own version of the movie in an amateurish way. The thing is that people loved their work and more requests came for more videos! So from a small tak laku VHS store, people lined up for the sweded version of movies like Rush Hour 2, Space Odyssey and Boyz n The Hood(ye, sweded as in the verbified form of the noun "Sweden"- jack black created the term and that should explain the illogical manner of it). However, it wasn't all good and they still couldn't get enough funding to save the little place. Sedih :(

I recommend this movie for those who love movies with heart and little, true moments in life. It's not going to be super-inspirational like some coaching movie but I left the cinema with a wonderful sense of delight in my heart. Although the crowd in the cinema did not share my enthusiasm (I was laughing all the way and couldn't understand why these people aren't getting the jokes!!!), I truly enjoyed it. I say from now on, "let's be kind, rewind"

Where Memory Should Match The Video

I tell you, this is the funniest thing yet to be uncovered during this pre-election run. lawak... lawak.. lawak..



Obama, this is one heck of an advantage for you :)

Taking The Leap

How bloody lucky can you be to just see someone and straight away know that they are your soul mate and partner for life? That you don't have to bother to try anything, you don't even need to know if he/she is taken or not, you don't even need to know if he/she is a real human being... You just know that God (being the Supreme Being that He is) fashioned everything in a manner that this person was made for you, and only for you while other obstacles can stand in the way and be completely irrelevant.

I'm reading A Leap of Love by Catherine Lim (owwwwhhh... don't you just love her??!). It's a story of love between Li Ann and Jeremy, two strangers whose love for each other will (presumably) withstand the test of time and prying eyes. Set on every 29th February which only happens once in four years (just in case you didn't notice), they promise to meet each other up at the same cafe, same time, same table regardless of the circumstances. I've only read right up to Chapter 6 (after Li-ann's first encounter with Jeremy)but I have this achy feeling in my heart that this story will not end the way I want it to (yes, let's use the concept of foreshadowing- sila rujuk Literature Appreciation for Dummies.)

Owh well, I would have been finished reading it by tomorrow (I think).. We'll see whether love is, after all, the moving cause in life. For the time being, I want to bask in the glory of love (gaya King Julian of Madagascar)

On a slightly different note, I've just finished reading Dina Zaman's I Am Muslim... I was moved with Dina's honesty but I have to admit that I was a little bit surprised by some her discoveries/experiences which were liberally handled. Yet again, I feel that Dina Zaman is a thinker who knows what she's dealing with thus she can deal handle it without qualms because she has strong beliefs. I guess that is clearly reflected in the heavy nuances of the rationality and the practicality of the beautiful religion each time she faces such a situation. That would be an indicator that this book wants to deal with you as you are, like a normal human being with dilemmas and queries. Islam itu agama yang syumul and I think that is the whole point of the book. Thank You, Dina for exploring forbidden frontiers and boldly re-telling them for Malaysians as well as being a representative of Malaysian Muslims-no matter which type we call ourselves-

We're All In This Together

I was thinking that I should open a few fan clubs since I don't have the proper channels to vent my love and passion for the subjects. Kalau buka fan club, perlulah ada ahli-ahli kan??? So, there will be a few members eligible for exclusive invitation and yang lain, can send a written letter or just an sms would do fine too :p

1) The Raslan Brothers FC
invitation extended to: Rosyada Sulaiman and Syajaratuddurrah Mohd Khairuddi

2) The Crocs Haters Club
invitation extended to: Nur Amanina Abdul Samad, Syajaratuddurrah Mohd Khairuddi and The Mother

3) The Coffee Cart FC
invitation extended to: Khairun Nisa Kamaruddin

4) The I Need More Sleep Club
invitation extended to: Nur Amanina Abdul Samad, Muhammad Nabil Nor Kamal and Muhammad Yassir Shah Abdul Aziz

5) The 30 Hari Mencari Cinta Club
invitation extended to: Syajaratuddurrah Mohd Khairuddi, Muhammad Nabil Nor Kamal and Khairun Nisa Kamaruddin

6) The I Love Benefit Cosmetics Club
invitation extended to Aimi Mahfuzah Mohd Kamalludeen

7) The La Zeez FC
invitation extended to: Muhammad Asraf Baharuddin, Hisham Hussain and Muhammad Nabil Nor Kamal

8) The Devi's Corner FC
invitation extended to: Aimi Mahfuzah Kamalludeen, Nur Amanina Abdul Samad, Syajaratuddurrah Mohd Khairuddi and Ungku Khairunnisa Ungku Mohd Nordin

9) The I Miss Sydney Club
invitation extended to: Khairun Nisa Kamaruddin, Syajaratuddurrah Mohd Khairuddi and Rosyada Sulaiman

10) The John Legend is My Panacea Club
no invitation will be provided due to extreme degree of selfishness

It Doesn't Take Much

It doesn't take much to steal my heart,
It's probably just a twinkle in your eyes,
When they catch the sight of me in them,
Or that cute, boyish smile on your lips,
When it stops moving as I speak,
It can also be the slight caress,
When your fingers happens to brush mine,
Or it can simply be the way you move,
To the melody of our favourite song,
The one we silently agreed to make as ours,
When we both watered the hope for a possible love :)

(but seriously, it doesn't take much... :p)

The Sun Has Burst For 2008

*Took a taxi from KL Sentral and arrived at Polo Pavillion, Bukit Kiara when the rain was really heavy but it didn't deter my spirit... That was around 5.30pm, thought it should be called Rainburst instead... Owh well, I'm lucky that I was just in time for George Clinton and P/Funk*

*George Clinton at the Sky Stage was great, aku yang tak berapa mengerti funk ni pun can jive to their beat and join in the funk. Their strength was the ability to attract the crowds attention... No corny "terima kasihs" and "apa khabars", just pure music satisfaction. pakcik george clinton dah tua, okaaaay but he made all these youngsters' leg loose and obliged to shake to the funk.. ouh, dah 7pm... baik run to Era Stage for Raul Midon*

*Raul Midon was the third reason why I insisted on going to Sunburst, even if it means braving it alone. He was all I thought he would be... Simply entertaining. Luckily, he sang more songs from State Of Mind like Waited All My Life (nangis plis!), my-all-time-favourite-Sunshine, State of Mind and Suddenly. He also sang I've Got All The Answers from his sophomore album. But the thing is that the Malaysian crowd wasn't really familiar with his name and those watching him were pretty much going "mamat ni best tapi siapa dia ek??"... It was proof enough when a girl said to her boyfriend upon seeing him being lead down the stage "eh, eh... dia butalah, awak!"... ye, Raul Midon is a blind Latin Soul Jazz musician but at least, they can consider the experience watching a blind man being that good on the guitars as educational ler*

*Bumped into Lynn and Pojan after finished watching Raul Midon (thankful, thankful). They were intending to catch Midon but came a bit too late as the Era Stage was punctual unlike all the other stages. Lynn muka kecewa sikit but she has already watched him in Java Jazz Festival so tak rugilah sangat kot. We decided to just lepak2 as Sky Stage had Joe Flizzow and Hitz Stage was hosting One Buck Short. Watched Joe Flizzow from afar, kagum juge dgn Hip Hop Is Dead yang dimelayukan. Was more interested in watching people walking around like they're going swimming while some Malays proudly sipping on Tuborg. A music festival is all about the music, not about being happening*

*Lynn left early as she was bored and was willing to let go of John Legend. So, I lepaked with Pojan and went over to Sky Stage to catch The Roots after Joe Flizzow's set. The Roots of course was reason number 2 for the festival. Gileeeerrrr best! Loved the percussion set by ?uestlove and Kirk Douglas was the man too. Enche Black Thought's skills are unquestionable, terubat sakit hati missed their performance in Sydney. They sang a string of medleys as well as their owh-so-famous- U Got Me Unfortunately, there was this 40 year short mat salleh guy who was a little bit of a wannabe menari sebelah aku dengan awek cinanya, holding a cup of beer. I was dancing to the beat sambil tengok2 kalau beer tu tumpah ke atas bajuku (pakcik, arak itu haram untuk aku). There were also this bunch of kids smoking weed in the middle of the crowd and I say it's weed because I doubt teenage boys grin sheepishly when they pass around their normal ciggies*

*Pojan suggested that we should just lepak at the Sky Stage where John Legend will be performing next while Incognito performs at the Sun Stage next to us. We rushed to the front and managed to secure such a beautiful spot. I warned Pojan beforehand that he shouldn't be surprised if I suddenly cried when the man appears on stage... I swear that might be the longest hour I've waited on, my back hurts and Pojan was having some problems balancing.. hahaha.*

*The time came but there was some problems with the sound system. We patiently waited as the problem was being overcome by the conflicting persons. There were chants of "We want John" and "John Legend" going on, pressuring the technicians to complete their tasks a.s.a.p. Alas, we were still waiting even after 15 minutes of the scheduled time which was already an hour off (instead of 10pm, the show was pushed to 11pm). When the man finally came out, Mr Legend received the loudest roar from his fans and they all sang along to his songs. I was expecting the crowd to not know his songs and just being there for the sake of attending the fest but I was damn wrong. These people really could sing to every single song, regardless of whether it's a single or not. I was totally blown away by John Legend's talents and his ability to ooze sexiness through his moves or voice. He didn't say much, he just sang song after song (just like the way I love it). He had a balanced mix of songs from both Get Lifted and Once Again, those choices proving the man knows his crowd. Being the lucky ones in front, I managed to see him up close and shook his hand when he came down to greet us (he was handsome gileeer!!). I just decided to sink in his voice for that 1 hour and so, whiling away in the dream came true moments.*

*After John finished his set, I was ready to leave but Nabil was still on the way to pick me up so I stayed on to watch Incubus with Pojan. Bumped into Syai and Cici (loving gila, saya tak tahu puuuuun), borak sekejap and left when Nabil sampai with Sally at Bukit Kiara. Went to La Zeez for supper and still couldn't believe that I just watched John Legend live! Slept with a smile*

*Sunburst 2009 has a lot to live up to... Manalah tahu ada Jamie Foxx or Usher or Stevie Wonder (wah, wah, semuanya list personal favourites ni!) We'll see what awaits next year. Kalau cuti sekolah, bolehlah menyusul*

Books Galore

My room mate, Sayda gave the most earnest type of laughter when she discovered that the first purchase I made when the allowance came in was a book I've been eyeing on for a while... (owh, nina did so too!). To tell you the absolute truth, I found that the money was well spent and that was the best purchase I've made this month. And let me assure you that I have been spending quite a bit despite my new years' resolution to start saving more money for the future (damn it!)... hahaha

Anyway, a friend requested through another friend of mine that I should update the books I've bought or have read so that the former can get some recommendations which was actually kind of sweet but puzzling, don't you think so? Pressure tak kau?? Ngeh ngeh ngeh...

So far, I've finished reading a book I bought three weeks ago, Confessions of An Old Boy: Adventures of Dato' Halim by Kam "Gorgeous" Raslan(the brother of Karim "Handsome" Raslan). I think the main character in the book, Dato' Halim must be the oldest Malay male bimbo you'll ever come across in your life and I find it surprising that it is not a true person, although Kam does acknowledge that he is a fiction based on truth. Dato' Hamid is a man who is not afraid to be weak when he have too but will never appear to be on the losing side. And he owes it all to The Wife, of course... I feel this is simply one of the best books I've read thanks to the fluid language as well as the clever portrayal of the characters so much so that you feel they are one of our uncles/aunts/friends.

Another book I've recently read is the much awaited release of Glimpses by the very vivacious Adibah Amin who resumes the style of As I Was Passing(1)&(2) which compiles the bits and pieces of living here in Malaysia. Considering it has been almost 30 years since the highly recognised As I Was Passing series were published, it's of little wonder why Glimpses is selling like hot cake as I think people are eager to know if Malaysia has in fact change in any way, at least in Adibah's eye. I'll just tell you that As I Was Passing is still very much relevant while Glimpses only helps to put it in new perspective. It's not of comparison as Glimpses could easily be As I Was Passing (3). However, one thing I can assure you is that there is almost no doubt about Adibah's ability to relate her experience like she's your best friend while writing in what seems like an effortless manner to capture the readers interest to continue exploring her thoughts. Quoting Amir Muhammad in the pre-face, "if you had a neighbour like Adibah, you wouldn't want to live elsewhere"

Before both Glimpses and Confessions of An Old Boy, I've only just finished reading A.Samad Ismail: Journalism and Politics that was a gateway to the not-so-long-time-ago when Malayans/Malaysians still had the romantics of an ideal political system garnered by all, irrelevant of their race. Compiled in the book are a few newspaper articles written by the man himself as well as some other essays about him written by people in his life, namely his colleagues and one from his wife. Hardly any regret was expressed by any of them about working with a man who has a reputation of being hot-tempered and crass because they all knew they worked for perfection and for a common cause (which is what we all should keep in our heart when we function in an organisation). Reading his wife's recount was also a revelation of how much love can stand the test of time or obstacle. A. Samad Ismail was and is still is a Malaysian intellect who questions the right stuff and gets the right answers for all of us, even if it comes with a price.

I also made a discovery about Paulo Coelho when Sayda introduced him to me and just then, I remembered that a lot other people have also recommended him to me. Some of them strongly suggested that I'd definitely love him and indeed, that I did. I finished reading Like The Flowing River in just 5 hours and I truly enjoyed his view on the world. His views made me feel somewhat.... normal, if I may use that word. He is a proof that optimism is the core of humanity and compassion is a result of devotion to what you believe. Aku teruja giler masa baca and felt that Paulo was saying all the right words while pressing all my right buttons. A simply moving piece...

I'm currently reading The Writer and The World: Essays by V.S Naipaul which is essentially a collection of his experiences all around the world and his reflection of it. I've been immersed in the thick book and been carrying it around despite the weight. I won't ever question his Nobel Laureate title because this is a man of different calibre than the others I've read.
In between that book, I've sneaked in a Syed Ali Tawfik Al-Attas' book titled Eh, Wat Yu Talking: Chronicles of Malay Humour which I just bought yesterday. As a keen fan of Syed Ali Tawfik Al-Attas' works, I must say since I don't know him personally, I'm surprised that he has this incredible sense of humour and the ability to shed that scholarly cloak that he has wrapped around him... I'm only have way through the book and already I'm smiling to myself when I remember any of the jokes. Not bad for an accidental comedian, eyh??

Some of you must be bored to death reading all these details, so tell you what? Bore me back with list of books you've recently read or mere suggestions... Then, we'll call it even :p

Tidakkah Kau Terfikir....

* Kenapa kedai makan melayu mesti ada kucing??? Kadang-kadang, kucingnya berkurap dan berkudis tapi tiada usaha untuk menghalau kucing-kucing ini yang menggaru bulu-bulunya yang mungkin melayang masuk makanan kita. Hakikatnya, tidak semua orang gemarkan kucing sebagaimana tidak semua kucing gemarkan orang.

* Kenapa filem Tamil hampir selalu memperjuangkan cinta yang agak mustahil? Tapi cinta itu pasti akan berjaya melalui perbincangan yang mengambil masa lima minit di akhir cerita dan menjadikan semua pergaduhan yang memerlukan hero itu untuk terbang sana sini agak pointless serta kekayaan melampau bapa pihak perempuan takde faedahnya... Hakikatnya, aku tetap akan tengok juga sambil terpinga-pinga seronok

* Kenapa orang muda Malaysia lebih kenal Barack Obama dan Pervez Musharraf daripada Shafie Afdal dan Azmi Khalid? Hakikatnya, internet membuka minda kami dengan terlalu luas dan global sehingga kami hampir tidak peduli tentang yang di sini. Maka, gunakanlah internet dengan sebaik mungkin untuk menaip "Malaysia" kerana Yahoo dan Google juga ada maklumat tentang negara ini.

* Kenapa kanak-kanak di bandar tidak bermain layang-layang dan gasing lagi? Hakikatnya, PS2 yang lebih mahal tapi mungkin hanya mampu bertahan selama layang-layang dan gasing itu juga merupakan cara terbaik untuk mengunci anak di dalam rumah dan jauh dari penculik-penculik. Maka, mungkin boleh dicipta perisian PS2 yang berunsur permainan tradisional supaya anak-anak ini tahu cara terbaik untuk menerbangkan layang-layang itu dengan tinggi apabila mereka perlu berdepan situasi itu kelak.

* Kenapa di Malaysia, ia promosikan krim pemutih kulit tapi di barat, beriya pula menjual self-tanning solutions? Hakikatnya, kita hanya melihat kecantikan melalui apa yang dipromosikan oleh syarikat korporat konglomerat sebegini yang cuba memenuhi pendapat masyarakat sekeliling tentang erti kecantikan. Dalam erti kata lain, mudah benar kita terpengaruh dengan pemasaran sebegini kerana ia ditetapkan orang sekeliling kita (di Malaysia, kau cantik bila kau putih dan di barat, kau cantik bila kau tanned, padahal semuanya manusia juga). Maka, kecewalah dgn diri sendiri apabila hasilnya tidak sama dengan Fasha Sandha atau Zhang Zhi Yi tanpa melihat cermin dengan tepat untuk sedar bahawa inilah realiti dan yang terpantul itu adalah anda yang mencuba pengomersialan secara DIY.

Retrospect

I've been tagged by Nisa and I was pretty bored too.. hahahaha. Anyway, it's all about being a reflective practitioner regardless of what your practices might be...

10 years ago………..
The beginning of many beautiful friendships started when I was 13 where almost all of them lasted until today as we kept in touch constantly. My friends from my schooling years help me to always feel a sense of youth and relevant to the nature of my being. In other words, they help to define me and my lifelah. Besides that, I can clearly remember that I was very adamant on not going to any boarding schools despite the relatively good results and being the cool parents that they are, mummy and daddy just let me be. 13 was also the age when I knew the meaning of being serious and focused on the future by setting my aims and future career path (",)

5 years ago………
Was still dealing the loss of my arwah daddy (honestly,it's never going to be easy). I also worked in my mama's shop and earning some bucks to support self. Coming to IPBA was another defining moment of my life where I learnt how to become a thinker and a progressor.

1 year ago………
Was full of mixed emotions... Around this time, I was back in Sydney after a long holiday in Malaysia. Learnt that the relationship I had was based on lies, felt wasted and promised to stay focused on studies (Alhamdulillah for the diversion). Alhamdulillah again for the great house mates with whom I got to share laughter and tears, the fantastic lecturers (miss Dan O'Brien, Rod Lane, Ilija Casule & George Cooney in particular)and exhausting learning experiences...

Yesterday I was…….
hanging out for lunch at Makbul TTDI with Nina, Durra, Aimi and Nisya after LTP's tutorial where we got banged quite badly by Miss Lum (tidakkah kau penat?). Attended this really inspiring seminar on teachers' accountability by Mrs Vasantha Mallar before going to Gulai Kampung for a roti canai for tea. Blogged a bit and went for dinner... plainly said, it was all about makan :p

5 snacks I enjoy………
1. hotdog
2. burger
3. rojak pasembor
4. fifi and aidid's food (apa-apa sahaja just to annoy them
5. cheesecakes


5 songs I know all the words to…….
1. Ayu- V.E
2. Dil To Pagal Hai (tidakkah kau terkejut?)
3. Ordinary People- John Legend
4. Negaraku
5. Dilanda Cinta- Shanon Shah

5 bad habits………
1. fusses over trivial things (e.g expects matched set of cutlery di kedai makan)
2. procrastinates
3. listens to music loudly (ganggu orang!)
4. cuts into a discussion or conversation abruptly
5. often makes remarks about everything regardless of whether you're interested to know or not :p


5 biggest joy…….
1. Family (Mummy, Fifi, Aidid, Sunny)
2. Close friends
3. Good books
4. Great Music
5. Knowing that all of my loved ones are happy :)


5 favourite toys……..
1. my handphones
2. my PC
3. nina's lappy
4. aidid's race cars
5. fifi's vast collection of barbie dolls

5 favourite tv shows…….
1. Rove
2. Chaser's War On Everything
3. Majalah 3
4. Spongebob Squarepants
5. Kevin Hill

It's An Unfair World

Yesterday, I was talking or rather, chatting to a good friend who I've known for almost 5 years now. He is one who always has a great view on various issues so much so that I just love listening to him because more often than not, our views would be the total opposites but we will agree to disagree in the most funny way (knowing how uptight and headstrong I can be, that's a pretty big surprise aye?).

But his one view on the topic of our conversation yesterday was something I could not and, if I may add, refuse to comprehend, considering how much leadership work he has handled before. Well, it went like this or something to the same effect...

T: So why do you want to try so hard? Just so you know after 23 years of living, you ought to know that it's an unfair world. In Malaysia, it's an unfair system. Just deal with it

I almost caught my tongue, or rather my finger, after absorbing this opinion of his. Okay, I agree that the world has been an unfair place but why is that when you CAN change something, you simply refuse to? We talk so much about changing or shaping the new generation but we ourselves hold a principle in our mind that things are stagnant and there's nothing we can do about it.

His pessimistic view was rather hard for me to swallow as it does reflect that some people are actually holding back the needed change. Pardon the euphemism but if we're going to remain this ignorant, how can we ever make the world a better place? Small things are parts to a bigger dimension, small changes are the vehicle to a broader one. If you can't believe in the possibilities, it will remain the world as it is today.

It's an unfair world because we choose to make it so. Ye, aku frustrated :(

You're Perfect

It's never the wrong look in your eyes,
The Innocence and freedom I seek,
In the long Wilted life I've lived,
The rows of Sorrows never borrowed,
Always mine to Claim in a mute minute,
Always sole to a lone Soul,
Time and again, it yearns for Perfection,
That eventually came in You...

Maybe this Innocence won't last,
My Wilt will end the next second,
Cautioned by excitement of other Charms,
The Sorrows will then be sold earnestly,
Nothing will be to be Claimed as mine,
Of Souls flying upon the soaring skjavascript:void(0)
Publish Posty,
Time and again, Perfection redefined,
But You will always be my Perfection

*for all my loved ones, beauty is defined in you*

Ten Songs Of Significantly Interesting Beats To Be Remembered

This is just a random list I have decided to come up with to celebrate almost ten years of serious music appreciation (hahaha!). Okay, maybe not that random as I've spent two weeks thinking about this list. It's definitely not easy to decide and I faced difficulties in determining a criteria but I made the ultimate choice a day ago (you must be wondering why I have a lot of time in my hands... the answer is I actually don't.. haha) FYI, songs may be chosen for a variety of reason, from compact and impossible music arrangements to the creative energy channeled in the song. Interesting might not mean good or revolutionary but just defining enough for a know-nothing person like me, so pardon the quite limited repertoire of music. Anyway, tidakkah kau teruja juga untuk tahu? So, here it goeslah in no particular order

1) One Thing- Amerie
2) Agua De Belen- Poncho Sanchez
3) 99 Problems- Jay Z
4) Seven Nation Army- White Stripes
5) Summertime- Miles Davies
6) Joget Pahang- P.Ramlee
7) Used To Love You- John Legend
8) Song 2- Blur
9) I Want You Back- Jackson Five
10) Wannabe- Spice Girls

For all those out there raising an eyebrow over this short list, do care enough to relate your selections. Those who smile over the triviality of this list can now move on with their lives as usual and not break a blood vein trying to compile this obscure part of life (waaa... sarcastically deep tak daku?)

Bila Ana Jahat

Caution: Ana was in one of her bitchy, post-PMS moods when she experienced all these so she had to wait until she is finally rational after a looong bath and a cup of good Vittoria coffee. This might come quite delayed but all the more still relevant to anybody out there who has experienced any kind of frustration of the same sort.


I have a certain set of pre-conceptions of how customer service should be provided to clients primarily because clients pay money for the service while the person who serves would ideally represent their organisation/corporation. Though, I often ask myself if I'm setting the standards too high for these people who rightfully do not owe me anything at all. Okay, to give you a clearer idea, I'll just relate a situation where I was pretty pissed off with the service and simply couldn't tolerate the lack of professionalism or politeness. So, you tell me whether I am fussy or some people just don't know how to treat others.

A blazing hot afternoon at Bangsar:
I was accompanying Durra to do an important banking transaction at a bank, naturally. As the electronic beeper alerts us that we should proceed to counter 6, we dutifully approach the empty counter and a stocky man at counter 5 looked at us with a half-effort glance and said "counter 5, counter 5.. counter 6 kan kosong" (like, hallo! how are we suppose to know?? knowing how busy bank counters can be, i thought we were supposed to wait patiently like all good citizens should do). Being the sweet, little creatures that we are, we followed the instruction and Durra went on with the transaction.

Pakcik : Ni nak buat apa ni?
Ana : Nak withdraw duit
Pakcik : Owwh.. takde kad ke? (sly look)
Ana : Hurrmmmm... nak aktifkan akaun kembali sebab dah dua tahun tak guna akaun
(if you're wondering why I'm talking, Durra was diam and not answering, so I did)
Pakcik : Okay... tapi kena masukkan duit dalam akaun juga. Keluar dan masuk
Ana : Owwhh... ye ke? Saya diberitahu hanya perlu keluarkan duit di kaunter
Pakcik : Tak tahulah.. Kadang-kadang orang ni bagi maklumat lain-lain. Suka hatilah
Ana : Transaksi masuk sudah pernah buat dalam masa terdekat ni sebenarnya
Pakcik : owwhhh... dah buat??? oklah.. suka hatilah (asks for the forms and IC)

Pakcik checks the forms and insisted that Durra should put some money into the account regardless of the information I gave. (lantak kaulah, pakcik)

After a few moments of trying to authorise the forms, he seemed to face some difficulties...
Pakcik : Ni macam mana ni? Sign tak match pun... Bila buat akaun ni, sign sama tak?
Durra : Errr... tak sama rasanya. Sebab dah lama buat and tak pernah guna buku akaun
Pakcik : Ye ke?? You all ni buat saya rasa tak sedap hatilah.. Sebab yelah, orang suka tipu pakai akaun orang lain ni, terutamanya orang pencen punya. Sekejap saya tanya pegawai saya.. yang ni, kita tak boleh main lepas sahaja

(Bisik hati kecil Ana sementara pakcik in his selipar jepun goes on to meet his pegawai: Hallo, pakcik! On that account book, it did state that Durra was born in 1985, takkan dah pencen kot??! Plus, the ic number in it matches with her IC yang terang-terang ada mukanya. Kalau ye pun the fault is hers for not having the same sign, you shouldn't have said yang you tak sedap hati seolah-olah you are making a direct accusation that my friend is a delinquent)

Pakcik: oklah, you datang lepas sejam... kita kena tunggu fax dari cawangan lama you. You pergilah makan dulu ke ape ke... Lepas sejam, you boleh datang balik (dengan lagak ketua kampung pisang)

After an hour or so, we came back and I decided not to accompany Durra at the counter now for fear that I would make comments on how easy the problem can be solved and he shouldn't have treated us as an unnecessary fuss. Luckily, Durra was served by another person who appeared very professional despite his apparent young age. Still, the pakcik selipar jepun felt obliged to shout out the necessary procedures from his counter 5 to counter 9 as if the guy who was handling Durra's transaction didn't have the brains to do it(the guy did seem pretty annoyed, mind you), causing the whole bank to know that Durra didn't have a matched signature.

Pakcik selipar jepun went on to call Durra to his counter to give a short ceramah on how much trouble they went through because of this and why she shouldn't change her signature. I just looked on from where I was seated in the waiting area because by then, I was keen on taking his selipar jepun and turning it into soup for him to drink so that he can learn how to treat people with a level of professionalism as this is not a transaction in Kedai Pau Pak Abu where you can say anything and I wouldn't care.

Well, it wasn't so much of what he said but rather the way he said it that made me feel that I will never open a bank account in that bank. If you're so lazy to please your clients, then try to ask for another position where you can wear selipar jepun and I wouldn't give a rat's ass. . And they say that "our principle is that our customers are always right"... Yeah, right!