Plots With A View

Earlier today, we had such a great time at the Tri-Nation Rugby match, where the Australian defeated the South African team.

Back home however, there was a different thing, since there was nothing much to see on telly.
*bummer*

And it was a tad bit cold to head out to the local pub/club tonight too.

So we ended up hiring a DVD to watch, Plots With A View, starring Alfred Molina (the villain Doc Ock in Spider-man 2, and also one of the actor in Frida, and Chocolat).

As usual, it was Neil who picked the movie, since if he left the decision to me, that would probably mean him having to sit through an endless varieties of Hollywood blockbuster crap (hehe.. I just can't help it!), and (NOT)surprisingly the choices Neil's made were always pleasant to watch.

This British comedy, has about the similar subject to the other movie I've seen before (starring the French actor Jean Reno), which was dealing with funerals and cemetery land plot. But that's where it all ends.

Plots With A View heads in a different direction when a funeral director (Alfred Molina) decided to declare his undying love to the one woman he had always been in love with, but the only catch is that woman is now (un)happily married, to the biggest jerk in town - the Town Mayor!

So, the whole movie deals with the effort of Alfred scheming to find a way so that he could be together with the woman he love.

There's also some hilarious segment of the war between the funeral directors, where Alfred normally do a conventional funeral arrangement, his competitor (a role played by Christopher Walken, who seemed to be having one whale of an enjoyable time) decide to go one step further, and introduce all this special funeral themes. (Do expect some Star Trek and Elvis references, but you got to see it to enjoy it!)

I really glad I watched the show.
Enjoyable and wickedly funny!

Wallaby vs Springbok

It has been a week since we return from our trip, and lets just say we are very much settled back into our home-life routines.

I did a little bit of dusting and house keeping, and after that off we went to do our weekly shopping, stocking up the refrigerator! Despite the slightly chilly weather (compare to back in Asia), the weather was fine with beautiful clear blue sky.

Nice to be home again.

However, what made today even a special day, was due to the fact that we had received an invitation to watch the Tri-Nation Rugby match at Subiaco Oval, between Australian Wallaby versus the South African Springbok. And it was a special VIP invitation, meaning we got to sit in the box, with some finger food served during the game! :-) *wheeeee*

When I think of it, it was really amazing how for the past 3 years, I've had slowly absorbing the sporting cultures of the Australian in general, especially when it comes to being a sport events spectator.

Who would have thought I would actually GO to all these games (when we got the invitations most of the time, anyway) and still enjoy the whole experience?!

If there's one thing I could praise the people here, is the fact that how they had made sport as part of their life.

Sports are not exclusive only to the men only, since even the women and the kids could be seen heading for any games, at any given time. It was definitely a family affair here.

And, if they found out if you were totally clueless about the sports (like yours truly here.. hehe), they'd be happy enough to indulge you in their short conversation to explain the basic rules of the games, etc, and try to make sure you are following the whole thing, and enjoying it too..

What, can I say.. I'm so proud of myself.

Now these days, don't be surprised if I actually flicked on the TV channels, just to find out about the outcome of certain footy games, etc.

I think, I'm slowly turning into like any other sports-mad Aussie.
And the fact that some of the Aussie's sportsman are so damn HOT might have something to do about it too!

Oh, by the way, the Wallaby won the rugby match too..
;-)

Riding In Cars With Boys

Neil went away on another business trip last night, this time in Alice Springs for some meeting/convention. And he won't be back until late tonight.

So while waiting for his return, I decided to watch the TV and luckily for me, they were showing Drew Barrymore's Riding In Cars With Boys.

I've always wanted to get the DVD but never actually got to it, so I was really pleased that they were showing it tonight. What made the whole thing even better was the fact that, THAT hot cutie Adam Garcia was in it too, as Drew's son(!).

(I know, I thought Drew looked too young to be Adam's mother, but hey.. what the hell.. I'm not complaining!)

Anyway, despite the sometimes slow pace, it's actually refreshing to watch this kind of movies, once in a while, when it tackles issues on difficulties one faced in life, and how determination keeps pushing us to move on no matter how hard it is.

And the fact that the movie is based on a novel of a real life experience of its author really says it all.

Truly inspiring!

The war of the weeps

In continuation of my last post regarding my surprise finding on the current fascination among Malaysians on their reality TV talent search shows (refer here), I also posted a comment on
Serabut's LJ regarding the same issue:

It really amazed me during my recent short return to KL, when I noticed how much the people really dig into their local reality starsearch show!

At my sis' place, they constantly put their Astro Channel on the reruns of THAT other similar-formatted show "Akademi Fantasia".. and the funniest thing was that even the KIDS (that'll be my nieces and nephews, who were barely out of their kindergarten days!) were following the whole TV show thingy too..

*Yikes!* Is THAT all what Malaysians back home are watching? Or was it just MY family?! *Shudder*

And getting back to the "Malaysian Idol" topic, did you notice that most of the contestants are so Adik-Adik ('sisters', hehe) and very der very meh meh one.. Why, ah? (At least in "Akademi Fantasia" we all KNOW that only Aznil IS the over-acting drama QUEEN!! Him, and that other girl from Borneo who keep relying on 'Undi Simpati', ie sympathy votes) :-P

Boy, am I glad I'm back in Oz, so I could just dig my head into the reruns of The Simpsons.. (They show it ALL the time here!)

Funnily enough, there was a short excerpt on Malaysian Idols in Tonight's episode of Mondo Thingo, where a remarks of a certain Malaysian opposition party members were quoted, saying how he worried that this whole (sad) Idol phenomenon is making young Malaysians weak, and them too concentrating on their effort to embrace glamour life.. -- complete with clips of various young Malaysian contestants during their Idol audition.. HORRIBLY awful!

May God has mercy on us all..

Joining the LJ bandwagon

After being in the background for a while, I finally decided to join the LJ community.. Yay!

Not that I'm creating another blog page, since I've already had so much trouble keeping up with THIS one! The only reason for that, was so that I could made a few non-anonymous comments to some postings of a few of my LJ mates that I've got to known recently.

THAT, and also the fact that even with my busy study schedules, I still always found time to waste around (hehe..), and Neil wasn't around tonight - more time to kill, you see - since he's gone to a dinner function in Kalgoorlie (work related) and would only be back home very late.

Anyway, I think the LJ icons (shown above and below this entry) which I found during my random search through the LJ community (and sorry, I couldn't remember their original LJ icons' creators) really summed up the whole LJ experience best!

Sheila Majid new CD

Did I tell you that during our recent shopping trip in IKEA KL, at the brand new Ikano Centre, I also bought some CD's from Speedy Videos there too.

And one of the CD I bought was Cinta Kita by Sheila Majid.

I wasn't even aware that this album had been released until when I was back in KL. I guess it was just a hush-hush affair, even though apparently, it HAD been released first in the Indonesian market.

Anyway, Sheila Majid and me gone a waaaaay back in history. Nothing personal though, only just the fact that I've always love her music ever since I've heard her from the first album.

Oh boy, has it been really THAT long? :-o

I still remember the time in High School when Faris and I would share a headphone to listen to Sheila's Sinaran album, in the bus during one of our school trip to the east coast.

Then, during A-Levels, I would sneaked out quietly out of my hostel, to see her performed LIVE in her Warna Concert tour, without any of my roommates knowing about it at all! And coincidently, Faris did the same thing, when he actually left his college in Kuantan, to see the concert too! (Now, if only we had met during the concert, then it would have been more FUN, and Sheila would probably had to deal with this two screaming grrls while she sang, and THAT might not be a pretty sight too).

And of course, there's the memorable huge by a Malaysian- standard anyway, Ikhlas concert at Stadium Merdeka, which I went with a bunch of A-Levels friends, and not forgetting the countless of times I went for the meet the fans session for autograph-signing in shopping malls around KL.

There's also her performance at the Hard Rock Cafe KL, which I went with my ITM college mate Madi, and later her mini concert at Planet Hollywood KL, which I went with my darling sis.

Her more recent albums had a mix of great and not so great songs, but I never failed to buy it, no matter how late it would be. And this bring us to her current release.

I've been listening to the whole album for hours since this morning, and what can I say, it was slightly different to any other albums that she had released before.

Perhaps, the fact that it has more Indonesian touch to the music arrangement might have something to do about it, but nevertheless, I wasn't too disappointed at all. Different but still nice.

I just gotta listen to it a few more times, and would only stop, once if the neighbours start to complain!

Shreked for the 2nd time.

I thought we had missed our chance but apparently luck was still on our side. And I was talking about watching the movie Shrek 2 on the big screen.

Last night, right after Neil finished working, we went to the Galleria in Morley, to catch one of the last few shows of this great movie. And we certainly glad we did.

The original characters are as lovable as ever, and the new ones newly-introduced just made the whole thing even better.

There's the King and Queen of Far Far Away Land, the Fairy GodMother, with his ever-so-camp son the Prince Charming (that's Fairy GodMother, get it? Hehe..)

And I could also see how Puss in Boots could easily threaten Donkey as the new annoying side-kick. With that so much charm and feline bravado, he's definitely so irresistible! *purr*

I'm so glad we took the trouble to catch the show, because it was definitely worth it. In a way, it was kind of a good closure to our recent holiday back in Malaysia/Singapore.

Now, if I could only snap quickly out of this whole high-on-cloud-nine holiday moods, and get my feet back on the ground, to moving on and getting busy with my study!

Those lucky bitches!

I'm still on holiday moods. And also not forgetting a horrible withdrawal symptoms of ALL food asian.. *sigh*. And just to top it all, this is an email that I received from my darling friend in UK:

From : Alfie
Sent : Thursday, July 15, 2004 2:23:56 PM
To : azmi
Subject : photos

Hi,
Thank for the photos. I have received them ages ago but I've been slack at replying.
That's cuz I've been criss crossing the US. Went over to NYC, New Orleans, LA
& San Diego. That's enuff me thinks!!!
Highlight of the trip was definitely jumping up & down, waving my hands up in the air, screaming like a banshee at Madonna's concert in Madison Square
Garden!!!!!!! Fantastic. Defining moment was when she & the entire arena sang Like A Prayer .
She did quite a lot of the old stuff like Vogue, Express Yourself, Material Girl. She even sang Papa Don't Preach and finished the show with Holiday. Its sooo good that I'm going again to see her in London.
Back down to earth now. Am working in Cardiff and moving
down here by th end of the month. Oh well. Ciao.

Alfie

Bitch.

*sigh*
I want to see ol' Madge too!! :-(

It's nice to be HOME again..

After been away for about 2 weeks, dealing with air travels, annoying airport security, and the extreme change of weather patterns, it's nice to be back in the comfort of our HOME.. again..

*bliss*

Time to get back to our daily routine, and for me, getting back to the drill of completing my study... and tonnes of projects and drawing assignments..

*home SWEET home*

Hellboy

We just arrived in Perth just now, and everything at home seemed to be in place.

The flight in from Singapore went well too, although I didn't sleep a single wink since my attention was so transfixed onto the video-screen, watching the shows in the in-flight entertainment. Besides, I just want to make sure I'll get better and deeper sleep once I reached home.

Anyway, one of the movie I watched during the flight was Hellboy, with Ron Perlman's in the starring role as the devilboy from Hell, brought up into this world by a Nazi mystical experiment with link/bridge to the other world.

Despite his ugly evil appearance, Hellboy - nicknamed HB by his close mates - IS with the good guys.

Anyway, the movie is based on a comic character which I've seen when I was still in college years ago, beautifully drawn by Mike Mignola.

And, despite me haven't been faithfully following the original comics, I've always love the art drawn by the artist, so it just made me curious how the movie maker would made the movie and try to justify and transfer whatever on the pages of the comic book onto the silver screen.

Truth to be told, it wasn't a bad job after all.

Although sad to say, the small screen in front of my flight seat did hamper down my excitement a little bit. However, the whole movie was still thoroughly enjoyable, with plenty of action and special effects to razzle and dazzle.

I wouldn't be surprised if I decided to watch it again on the big screen, since Perth, or even Australia for that matter, seems to be always left behind when it comes to the new releases of recent movies.

We'll see how it goes..

Connie and Carla

It was our last day here in Singapore, and since we had already did so much window shopping, and not forgetting furniture hunting yesterday at Park Mall, we decided to have a look around Orchard Road area, and maybe catch a movie before our flight home.

And since we missed the Shrek 2 show in KL, we were hoping we would be able to catch it here in Singapore, but to no avail.

So, the next best thing was to catch this movie Connie and Carla, starring Nia Vardalos (that girl from My Big Fat Greek Wedding) and Toni Colette (who was the boy's mother in Six Sense - "I see dead people..!" - and also as the female lead in Muriel's Wedding).

True to its promise in its trailer promo, the movie was filled with showtunes, done ala Broadway in a funny way of course.

In short, it could be simply summed up as a mix of Tony Curtis & Jack Lemmon's Some Like it Hot and Julie Andrew's Victor/Victoria, but with unfortunately less comedy impact as the former.

In fact, their effort to glamorize the drag show performance did fall a bit flat, when they tried to emulate the success of sing-along session of Julia Roberts' My Best Friend Wedding (when everybody burst out singing joining Rupert Everett's number), but this time, all the gay audiences in the drag bar sing whole-heartedly to 'Don't Cry For Me Argentina', complete with diva-esque choreographed movements a-la the Village People's 'Y.M.C.A'. Unfortunately, the whole thing felt awfully flat, which might had been improved should they had chosen a better song probably.

Anyway, despite the little flaw which didn't mar the whole movie, we still had a good time watching it. And Toni Colette certainly did a good convincing job acting like a drag queen. For a start, she really looked like one, especially with all those heavy make up and costume! :-)

The peril of having a groupies

Last night and earlier tonight, we were at the Club One Seven men's health spa & sauna, and for the first time in his life, Neil had a groupies!

And what I said groupies, I meant..

• groupies = group of fans/admirers

Well, probably I exaggerated a little bit there, since it all started with this one young Malay guy (a fellow Malaysian who came from Kedah, but been working in Singapore for a while) who tried to make a conversation with Neil. Not just a small talk, but there was also a sense of eagerness to be very friendly too!

He later even brought his other friend to join in the chat, and despite Neil making a point to them that he wasn't interested (in whatever they were interested in), and the fact that he was there at the club with me, the boys were insisting on keep making the small talk going on further.

And tonight, at the same place, they were there too, and again they did the same thing that they did last night, being all overly friendly and chatty too.. *sigh* Apparently, ignoring them still didn't work at all..

Come to think of it, their action could easily be classified as stalking by then, but it never worried us, since we were only there at the club for a short break in our holiday in Singapore and we'd be flying off home soon too!

When we thought about the whole thing again, it seemed a bit funny (although it was starting to become annoying too at that time), but at least now Neil knows how it feels to be famous (hehe..) and having a same bunch of people stalking him all around the place, albeit for an extremely short time! :-P

To JB and back

The flight into Singapore from Kuala Lumpur went well last night, and we got into our hotel in Chinatown with no problem at all.

This morning, we made sure we woke up early, so that we'd be able to catch a bus from Rochor Road to go to Johor Bahru (JB).

Come to think of it, it was a bit strange considering I just left Malaysia (from KL) last night, and today I'm back in Malaysia (this time in JB) again!

Anyway, the only reason we were doing this day-trip was because for Neil to see the city itself. He once took an express bus ride from Singapore to KL, but never had a chance to pass through JB, so since we got plenty of time to go around in this trip, we thought why not doing it then..

The moment we arrived, I was impressed with how much the city had brown since the last time I was there (which was years ago!). The only thing that irritated me a bit was the fact that how un-organized they seemed to be when it comes to tourist related matter.

As soon as we walked out of the Malaysian immigration centre, we were a little bit lost because there didn't seem to be enough information for us (hehe..) tourists on where to go. Not even any brochures, or big city map on a notice board telling us where to go, or where to get information either..

And of course, me being a useless-Malaysian-host-cum-clueless-Aussie-tourist doesn't make the situation any better. So, we just slowly walked out of the immigration/custom building and ended up finding ourselves next to a huge shopping mall.

The lack of instant information certainly altered our moods to venture out far, so we decided to just hang around the mall and just do a brisk walk and window shopping. And by the time we finished exploring, it was time to leave(!) and catch a train back into Singapore.

So, yes.
We were in JB, but we didn't even go to any one of those compulsory touristy sites, like the istana (palace), the state government building, or even the State Mosque.

But hey, we DID do what any other locals in Malaysia would normally do in their spare time, and THAT is hanging out at the mall!
:-)

Spidey rules!

The last time Neil and I were in KL together were about 2 1/2 years ago, and in one of the night, we watched the famous Shrek movie and had such a great time.

So this time, since Shrek 2 had just been released in Australia, we thought we'd be able to watch it in KL instead, just for old time sake. And boy were we wrong! Apparently Australians were always lagging behind, when it comes to world-movies premier, and the movie we wanted to watch was no longer shown.

*Bummer* indeed.

So we ended watching Spider-man 2 instead, and *woah* what a ride it was!

True to what most of the critics had said, the second installment of the Spider-man franchise were truly one helluva fun-filled roller-coaster ride.

You see, the first one wasn't bad at all. In fact it was great.. But the sequel IS way much better!

I can't help but noticed there were a lot of homage to the old movies in the way the new Spidey movie was presented visually, mixing with the more recent CGI technologies of course.

There's the scene when Doc Ock's mechanical arms ran berserk at the lab, when he first unveiled his creation to the public, and all the lab assistants ended up being attacked viciously. But of course, all this were only shown through the shadows reflecting the scene, on the wall, ala the old B-grade horror movies in the 50s and 60s.

Then, there's the ever so talented Alfred Molina (whom I was so impressed when he appeared in the movies Chocolat, and Frida), this time bringing a strong credibility to his villain character, Doc Ock.

Besides that, there's also the ever-so-necessary sexual tension between Peter Parker and MJ Watson, whom both we all love oh-so-much.

Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker/Spider-man was so buffed physically in a such delicious way, yet Kirsten Dunst's Mary Jane character equally balanced it out in her strong yet sensual manner.

There's even a few surprises in store, in particular to the regular fans of Queer As Folk TV series (season 4 coming soon, yay!), when the actor who play the character Michael (who happen to be such a comic nerd) in that show, made his appearance as someone who bumped into Spidey (in his full gear) in an elevator.

Let's just say they also exchange some short remarks about the 'funky' costume and 'crotch'..
And I just wonder how many people actually get it, (ie. the QAF in-jokes) when they watch the movie the first time around?!

Anyway, we really had a great time watching the sequel, and I myself am definitely looking forward for the next one!

And the whole movie-experience just help us filled out our time perfectly, before we catch our early evening flight into Singapore too..

A family affair

After a good round of shopping yesterday, we decided to take it easy today.

However, my initial plan to bring Neil to visit the SkyBridge at the Petronas Twin Tower didn't materialized since we were too tired to wake up early in the morning just to join in the queue at the tower in order to get the tickets to get in.

Besides, we were still full from the delicious cuisine that we had at the Old Penang Cafe in Mid-Valley Megamall, where we had dinner with Alan, to introduce Neil to him last night.

Hence a good rest and a sleep in would probably be good for the body.

Anyway, today, we still ended up in the KLCC area, window shopping at Suria, and also meeting up my sister for a quick lunch (which would be brunch for us since we still haven't had our breakfast yet).

And everything went well, it seems.

I wonder whether my sister even realized that she had just met her new member in our family.. although THAT wasn't exactly how I introduced Neil to her.. :-P

As far as my family's concern, Neil's is just my flat-mate, no matter how ridiculous it may sound. Although I suspect they all already knew the truths anyway...

The boys were lost in IKEA

We went to the stunning brand new IKEA place at the Ikano Power Centre in Mutiara Damansara today, and boy were we impressed!

The place is HUUUUGE I tell you, and well-designed too. Despite using a conventional warehouse-style details in its structure, the whole place is still decently finished!

IKEA Perth could certainly learn something from here, since the old place there in Perth is looking a tad bit tired, and in dire needs to be expanded and upgraded too.

So, in our endless oohs and aahs, wandering around the shop, we ended up making a few purchases ourselves too, as expected.. Hehe..

I know, I know. If you've been to one IKEA; then you've been to ALL IKEA!

But we just can't help ourselves. Besides, the currency is on our side and it was definitely a good bargain. And we did it all in the spirit of holiday shopping!

;-)

To top it all, we even had our lunch at their cafe there! The Swedish must be singing and dancing all the way to their banks now..

DNA#54 July'2004 - a special gift for Faris

Oh, by the way, did I tell you that when Neil arrived in KL on last Friday, he also brought along with him a copy of the latest (but very late) issue of DNA#54 July'2004?

Definitely their MOST delicious issue yet!
With scrumptious Nick on the cover.. Yummy!!

*drool*
*drool*
*drool*
*drool*
*drool*

Okay, my throat's getting a bit dry now.. Better drink some water!

Anyway, today when we met Faris at his place, we gave him that copy of the magazine as a gift (we can always get another one when we get back home.. I hope!), and boy was Faris all so delighted!! :-P

Let's just say, when we departed after our Putrajaya trip, Faris was so eager to get back home to his place and get to know better of Nick the cover model..

*hmmmmmm*...

Visiting Putrajaya

Despite having a late night last night, going out to BB just to enjoy the night-out atmosphere in KL, we still made sure we woke up in time today, since we've already made plan to visit my dear ol' friend Faris at his place in Kota Warisan, Sepang.

This would also mean Neil will have another chance to see a different aspect of housing in Malaysia, this time more catered to the common people, as opposed to the wealthy suburbs of Damansara Heights and Bangsar that we visited yesterday.

And, Faris was also kind enough to help us book a cab for our trip to visit the Nation's new administrative capital, the Putrajaya.

In one way, it's nice to see some effort that had been done by the Malaysian government in building a world-class city in which everybody could really be proud of. True to the spirit of the now-overly-used Malaysia Boleh ("Malaysia Can!") chant.

There's this huge axis of avenue (still yet to be opened at the time) in the centre of the administrative city in which the new High Court (aptly named Palace of Justice) building and the Putrajaya City Council Office building -- with a HUGE stainless steel arch entrance -- were located.

And on both ends of this avenue are the visual axis of the Prime Minister's Office on one side, and the Putrajaya Convention Centre on the other.

You can tell there's a LOT of money being put in the area!
*ka-ching! $$$$*

On the other hand, it also means that ALL those excess of money that had been spent could have also been used for something even better, to improve the condition of the existing city that we have, that is the good ol' Kuala Lumpur.

Does Putrajaya really needs all those fancy looking bridges (at least SIX to my last count, with one of them suspiciously looked like a Santiago Caltrava's bridge design in Spain?) all built in place to cross a mere man-made lake.. (and it was NOT even a huge lake, for God sake!)

Instead, what could be done is use THAT amount money to improve the existing infrastructure of the current public transport system in KL. Do you know that in order to get from one transit system to another (for example, from the Monorail station in Brickfields to the main KLSentral Station), one would have to go through the unpredictable weather and crossing a busy road with traffic to do so?!!

Huh?

It's one thing to build a new city which everyone can be proud of; but being totally sensible in the planning and the execution of the plan is another.

Let's just hope the new Prime Minister would have that sensibilities in carrying on his newly-appointed duty. I'm crossing my fingers for that..

One night in Bangsar

Neil finally arrived in KL yesterday afternoon (luckily he was already in the hotel when the thunderstorms occurred), but I only managed to join him late today's morning after saying my goodbyes to my Mom and my family at my sister's place.

It's nice to see him again. How I terribly missed my kisses and cuddles which I always get from him at home! Mmmmmmm.. nice..

*blush*

Anyway, as planned, we also met my good friends from college, Afzan and Pinat later in the afternoon, so that they'll able to meet my hubby Neil (it was Pinat's second time, since she met him the last time she came to Perth on her company's work visit), and also because of the fact that Afzan got a car, so he'd be able to help drive us around town, since I wanted to show Neil the other face of the city, in particular the more prosperous suburbs of Damansara Heights and Bangsar.

At least he'd be able to see this strange fascination among the locals to incorporate those awkward looking Greek columns *cringe!* into the front of their 2-or-3-storeys bungalows, without even considering any significance of putting them there in the first place!

I just couldn't understand who started this silly idea of equaling personal wealth to an awfully-looking bungalows with a totally mis-matched of architectural styles.

["Waaahh, Tan Sri.. Your bung-a-loww so nice lorrr.. A very unique Italian-Greek-Roman style form, with a hint of flavour of Balinese-resort-inspired feeeel.. Wahlau mehh.. must be very expensive, ahhh?!!"]

*cringing to the max*

Where got taste there?!

And don't even get me started on the interior design bit!

Anyway, back to my story, after all the drive we ended stopping for dinner at Jalan Telawi in Bangsar.

It was really nice being able to eat out on the street stalls, something you'd never get to see in Australia..

There's always varieties of food and dishes I could choose from, and the atmosphere's always alive, so full of energy and activity. However, the only one difference that I notice tonight in this visit, was the constant attention the general public are giving to the the TV sets (yup, they actually DO have TV installed too at the stalls!) all while having their dinner.

Their eyes were practically glued onto the TVs, while their hand made the feeding movement from the plate to the mouth. (Let's just hope nobody had a face-stabbed-with-a-fork incident there.. NOT a pretty sight to see while trying to enjoy your food, I'd say!)

Apparently, it was Saturday night, and it was the weekly performance and elimination night for the contestants of Akademi Fantasia, a locally-produced reality-talent-TV show, which has the same intention/feel as the more internationally well-known UK based Pop Idol TV show, or even it's off-springs the American Idol , Australian Idol.. and (get this) Malaysian Idol too!

Sad phenomenon isn't it?

Wet Friday noon in KL

Earlier today, I've decided to visit my old office in Jalan Ipoh where I work last, just to catch up with the girl who's still working there, and my good ol' boss too.

And they happened to be moving office to a new area too that day.

We had a good chat anyway. And as soon as I was about to leave, it started to rain as heavy as ever (boy, I've really forgotten how unbearable the thunderstorms in KL could be), and the thought of getting stuck in traffic in such condition was NOT on my agenda at all!

After numerous unsuccessful effort to flag down a cab, I finally got onto a bus (it's better that, than standing soaked in the rain hoping foolishly for a cab driver to mercifully stop for me!) which brought me to the nearest monorail station in Chow Kit road.

Anyway, the bus ride turned out quite good, since it let me enjoy the ride quietly while gazing out of the bus window, looking at the familiar wet scene of Kuala Lumpur which I used to be so familiar with once in my life..

The regular thunderstorms in the city.
The ride on my 90cc Honda cup motorbike weaving through the nearly-static KL's traffic.
The frantic stop to put on my raincoat.
And in the end, still getting bloodyfreakin' WET anyway, thanks to the water-clogged road surfaces, and splashes from other fuckin' cars and busses.

*sigh..*
Those were the good ol' days..

I'm swatched!

I'm so into the olympic mood today. And I got my swatch to prove it too!

Hehe..

Yes, as you might have guessed it, I've got myself yet another watch, BUT only after been holding on to my last plastic one for more than 5 years! So it's about time too.

Boy, has it been that long?!!

Anyway, after been choosing and comparing all the models available at the Swatch shop in Lot 10 (I'm sure the salespersons hate me for that.. *evil laugh*.. but hey, I gotta make sure it something I really likes, right?), I ended up choosing one which I would never thought I would buy.

I decided to get one of those extra-large swatch.

Yup. Not the tiny women's model. Nor the normal-sized ones. I got the BIG one! (but please, NOT the humongous one which you can put on the wall, who do you think I am..a bloody giant?)

Anyway, the model of the Swatch is Theoratos, with a blue-coloured rubbery strap with some Versace-type water motifs on it. And the face of the watch is a simple steely-grey background with modern-looking numerals and the Athens Olympic logo on it.

And it only costs me RM195!

Of course there's another Swatch model that I'd love to get my hands on. A Swatch Irony with a solid stainless steel face (also an X-Large model), but with a knock-out RM440 in price!

Uhmmmm.. no thanks. I think I'll just stick to the cheaper ones.. thank you.

Now, that I'm all set, I'm just waiting to get to the TV marathons of my favourite events at the Summer games, namely: men's artistic gymnastic, diving, swimming, and athletics.. *drool*

I know, I'm so predictable.. LOL

The thorns among the roses

It was nice to see Alan again.

I missed the chance to do so the last time I was back in KL (about 8 months ago) when Neil and I were on our way for our Christmas holidays in Europe.

Anyway, prior to the show which is staged at the Bangsar Shopping Centre, we went for some dinner (a light one for me, since my Mom and Sis had made sure they stuffed me first with all the nice dishes they had cooked at my sister's place. I know, I'm a pig!) and had a really good chat.

And, we also had a great time watching the musical too!

And it was really awkward being in the minority of men in the full-house audiences of women.

The original US-cast were terrific, and everybody seems to be so connected with the women-ly issues they brought up in their songs. Although, I have to admit, it could get a tad bit squeamish, listening to all that.. Something to do with thrush, or flush, or something like that! (I know.. *Eeeeeeeewww..!*)

And I thought it was already traumatic enough for me in my childhood having to deal with buying Kotex New Freedom (see, I even still remember the full name brand!) from our local shop, for my sisters..

*shudder to think about it now*
:-P

The awkward silence

I decided to go back to KL today, (since I've made plan to meet up with Alan tonight, and join him for a theatre show) and my Mom is tagging along too.

The funny thing was, during this time, I've made sure that I doze off in the bus trip to avoid any awkward conversation with my Mom. (Don't get me wrong, I LOVE chatting with my Mom, but sometimes it could be quite a pain for me.. And I really mean PAIN!)

All THIS, was after our last trip together (about 8 months earlier, when I was last back in Malaysia), when we ended talking about my younger brother (who was getting married at that time) and my youngest sister (who was getting engage herself), and then our conversation suddenly shifted to ME!

My Mom was starting to ask me whether I'd want her to find me a prospective wife (yes.. OMG!!) since she knew one, whom she thinks would be suitable for me! (But of course, I expertly and quickly too - haha! - change the subject later)

*Ewwwwwwww...*
*extreme cringe factor there*
(If only she'd knew she actually already have a son-in-law! Hehehe..)
:-P

And so, I slept throughout the journey this time.. and everyone's ended up happy (especially this yours truly!)

Shopping with my mom

Mom was pleased to see me back as always, although she always complained that my trips home were always too short..

Anyway, it was nice to be home again.. And my trip back to my hometown is never complete without the ever-so-compulsory shopping excursions with my dearest mummy at the local supermarket in town. And we went there by using my cousin's motorbike. (Yes, I ride motorbike too!)

And it was all in her effort to make sure that I'm all well-stocked with the necessary food and spices, to help me with my awfully-mediocre culinary skills back home in Perth.. And of course, to make sure I'm well fed too! Hehe..

Mother, aren't they all the same wherever you are in this world?! ;-)

Heading back to my hometown

Left KL, to head back to my lil ol' hometown: Muar.

I always love doing this trips, back when I was still studying/working in KL. Those monthly-or-so trips back to my hometown, sitting quietly in the express bus, while watching the world outside passed by in a quick blurry moment.

*am totally nostalgic!*

I'm full, thanks!

Aaahhhhhh.... the high feeling I got, everytime I'm back in KL.

That familiar smell.
Those familiar faces that I love so much.
And ALL the food I could eat.

And normally it's always the food that got to me first! Boy, am I really stuffed, and it was only my first day back here!!!

Just can't help it, how am I supposed to ignore all those crabs cooked in 'masak lemak cili api', and the 'ikan keli goreng bercili' (catfish fried in chilli)?

Yummmmmmyyyyyyy!! :-P

Stop when you're beeped!

Ughhhhh.. the pain of airline traveling these days -- getting beeped by the security system! You'd have thought that after all the technology available, they would have come up with something VERY efficient when it comes to screening airline passengers.

Nope. I'm afraid NOT!

Considering the amount of wasted time and effort being put everytime you were asked to remove something from your clothing [oh yeah.. first the shoes, then.. the belt.. what next?] before crossing the ever-so efficient metal detector, the airport security might as well introduce a law asking every passenger to be stripped completely naked before boarding their flight..

Fast. Fair. No fuss.

And we'll have a much better relaxed flight too..! But, ONLY if the rest of the passengers are all young athletic men, extremely cute and buffed! :-P
*Hmmmmmmmm...*

I'll be back!

Since I'll be away for a while [check the message in my sidebar Memo*, under my profile, thanks], I thought I might as well leave my blog page with something nice to those who actually visited and read (OMG!) its contents..

So here you go!



[Just make sure you don't *drool* too much onto your keyboard! Haha..]
See 'ya!



Late addendum to my sidebar *Memo - CHUP.. sat! :

I'll be away for a short while from 10th until 25th July 2004. I'm flying into KL for a short break, seeing my Mom and catching up with friends. So please bear with me for not being able to update this blog.

[I would certainly love to try doing it from a cyber cafe but that's too much bloodyfreakin' hassle for me! Hehehh.. :-P That's why I need a laptop.. An iBook would do, please! ;-)]

Thanks for visiting anyway, and see you when I get back!

All set to go..

I'm all packed and ready to go!

Boy it wasn't easy to do all those packing I tell 'ya!

Which shirt to bring? How many pairs of jeans should I pack in? Is it too hot for a denim jacket? (it IS Malaysia, silly me!) Well, you got the idea.. right?

Anyway, most importantly, I've also packed some souvenirs I had bought earlier this week, for the kids.. haha.. NOT mine, mind you! They are my 2 nephews, and 3 nieces (including the new girl, just born recently in April!)

The gift's probably nothing much in value, but at least I got them something, and kids always love when they got something.. right? They really do, don't they?!

Anyway, my Malaysia Airlines flight leaves at 4:30pm today, so I'm just doing some last minute packing (of course!) earlier today, and tried to tidy up the house a bit. At least, it won't be left in too much of a mess mess for hubby to deal with.. Hehe..

I wonder how busy today's flight gonna be like. It'd be nice if I got to be upgraded to business class too, and got to travel in style.. *Mmmmm.. more leg room...* :-)

One thing I'm very sure about is, once the plane landed in KLIA, I'm going to get a hard time adjusting this ol' body of mine to the temperature and weather changes.

It was about 5 to 8 degrees Celsius last night in Perth.. versus the tropical heat and haze in KL.. Oh my.. NOT pretty! I hope I just survive this 2 week period, and still got to get back home in Perth in one piece!

Powerpuff Girls

I just couldn't help myself!

I came across this great website which do a quiz for you to determine which one of the Powerpuff Girls closely reflect yourself.

And me being a BIG fan [you go grrrl!] obviously just HAVE to do it.. so here it is, as I suspected.. Voila!



Hahaha.. so cute!

Take the quiz, and have fun! ;-)
I just gotta go out now for a while to save the world..

Where's my DNA?

We decided to do our weekly shopping early tonight so that this Saturday it would leave us with some free time, and we can both take it easy (no panicking with my last minute packing!) before my flight back to KL.

At the local newsagent, I went to check whether the latest (July) issue of DNA magazine is already out, but unfortunately it was not! :-(

Obviously I wasn't impressed with the news since it IS already the 8th day of the new month, but if it's not out yet, there's nothing that I could possibly do about it.

I would love to get my hand on the latest issue so that I could read something during my flight.

If it's proven newsworthy ;-), I might even snatch another copy for my good friend Faris (he always appreciate it! Hehe..)

I'll just have to wait and see I guess, and in the mean time I'll just have to be happy perving (again!) on Mr. Lee R on the front cover of the June's edition! *drool!* :-P

Home is where your heart is..

I just realized today, it's only another 2 more days, and I'll be flying back to Kuala Lumpur (KL) for a short break.

It seems a little bit strange these days, trying to process my feelings whenever I travel to Malaysia from Perth.

I might have only been here in Perth, Australia for less than 3 years, but I'm pretty sure this is where I want to build my life now, especially with Neil in my whole picture.

As foreign as it may seem, this is my home now. But what does it make of my past? Are Malaysia any more significant in my life, or just becoming another place in the world I regularly visited, to see my family and catch up with friends?

I was in Kuala Lumpur at least for 10 years of my whole entire life, prior to my move to DownUnder.

That's were I study and eventually got a job. That's where most of my family lives these days, and my friends too, and it was also my playground where I encounter some of the most wonderful people there.. ;-)

There was just so much memories there, I can't possibly ignore the impact it has, in my life.

Flying back to KL will always freshen me up with all the memories, good or bad. But what made it mostly worth the trip is to see those familiar places that made my life so wonderful and meaningful, back then, now and always will.. My loving family and great close friends..

But still... I know, as soon as my flight take off from the runaway at Perth airport, I'd instantly missed this new city I now call home.. and not forgetting my darling hubby at home. [Luckily, he'll be joining me 5 days after I left.. and then at the end of this trip, we'd both be looking forward to get back to our home that we started together.. ;-)]

The table's here

The delivery guys from Monro arrived at our place just now, slightly later than scheduled. But it doesn't seem to matter because I was so happy expecting the arrivals of out dining sets.

Upon arrival I noticed that there was some defects on the table legs, and further discussion with the sales girl revealed it was NOT what we were promised in the first place.

Apparently, they do not have the table we wanted in stock, therefore they sent us the item on display from their store!

NOT happy, Jan!

However, we've agreed and arranged that they are going to replace the table which had been delivered to our house with a new one, once their new stocks arrive (in 10-12 weeks time). And in the mean time, they'll let us keep the current table for us to use.

Well, at least the Dining room won't be left empty again, and we have a proper table for our guests to have dinner on!

Missing my hubby..

Neil wasn't home last night. He had to drive down south to a small town somewhere for some urgent meetings, so he left early yesterday morning and he won't be back until tonight.

I find it so hard sleeping on my own, everytime he goes away. Ever since I arrived here in Perth, he has always been on my side, day and night (well, especially at night! ;-) Hehehe..)

I understand his needs to go away on work requirements, and have no problem with that at all, it's just that sleeping in bed on my own just doesn't sound exiciting at all.

At least NOT when it's so bloody freezing in the cold stormy winter night.. No kiss goodnight. No hugs and cuddles to keep me warm, as I snooze off to la-la land.

I really miss him.. and looking forward to his return tonight!

Queer Eye for the Gay Guy

Don't you just LOVE the Fab Five?! For those who doesn't know (how could that be possible?), they are five gay men in America who stormed into the house of selected heterosexual man and try to improve the man's live through a total makeover, be it the fashion sense, food they eat, the house/apartment they live in, the personal grooming and even their attitude towards life in general.

Despite some initial backlash from some gay people who think the show's merely highlighting the cliched image of gay men, apparently it was such a huge hit, not only in America, but also else where around the world!

Fellow gay men love the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy show because of its relax, fun attitude of the hosts, and also making ourselves more visible to the world communities, whereas the women worldwide LOVE them even more, because for the first time in history, they are able to change their husband/spouse/boyfriend into something more presentable and updated. Every women's dream, I bet!

In the show, there's Ted the food specialist, Jai the cultural expert, Carson the fashion bitch (and we all love him!), Thom the interior guru, and the ever so cute Kyan the grooming guy.

It is amazing how they manage to pull the whole show together without appearing too corny or fake, because for most of the time, the participating straight man really turns out better in the end, projecting a more sophisticated and confident outlook in appearance and manner, although the grooming bits still require a further fine tuning because apparently, straight men do not know how to safely shave their face! *gasp!*

(They always seem to be in a rush, and I was half-expecting any one of them to accidentally cut their throat -- not quite earning themselves the current in tag: metrosexual, as they would have loved themselves to be known by then -- thus turning the whole episode into one bloody spin-off from CSI)

Anyway, their living space always ended up looking great too (great work Thom!)

In tonight's episode however, they have a simple twist: instead of slaving their time and expertise towards the regular straight boys, this time they shift the focus to another fellow gay man! How noble indeed.

Well, it's about time girls!

In the one-off special of Queer Eye for the Gay Guy, the object of their affection is an average looking gay man name Warren (if I'm not mistaken). If this one doesn't break the so-called cliched image of gay men, I don't know what else would!

Despite a slightly less exciting outcome, I certainly think it was an appropriate thing for the boys to do. There's just too many metrosexuals out there, and THAT's just making it more confusing for all of us here.

It's hard enough that some gay men look too damn straight, now the straight boys want to look like gays! :-/ LOL.. (And a lot of my fellow gay friends keep screaming they couldn't find a boyfriend! Hello?!!)

In conclusion, I think it's a great thing what the Fab Five have been doing, making the world a better place to live and to look at, but the occasional turn to another fellow gay man is definitely welcomed.

After all, we could all make do with some great fashion tips in our lives once in a while, don't we?!

We got table!

After attending yesterday's workshop in the Town of Vincent council house, we decided to take it easy and looked around to see the sale at the furniture shops in Perth.

It has been ages since we started looking for a suitable dining table (and chairs) for our dining area, but to no avail.

The reason is always either: too big, too small, too woody, too boring, etc (you got the idea).

You see, what we've been looking for is a decent size dining table to sit minimum 6 people, so the most comfortable dimension would be 1300mm in diameter for a circular table.

What made the task even harder, is the fact that we've already have a preconceived idea on how the table should look like. Clear tempered (ie. toughened) glass top, with a single straight cylindrical stainless steel leg in the middle and a strong heavy stainless steel base.

Just like the one we saw in Harrods's, London last December in UK! (And believe me, that doesn't make the whole thing any easier!)

We keep stumbling into more inferior looking table design which really frustrated us constantly. And a rectangle table doesn't quite work in the Dining room.

So yesterday, for the umpteenth time, we got back into Monro Sofa+Bed+Table store in Osborne Park, to have another look at this dining table which is the closest that we could possible accept.

The size is still not correct unfortunately (it was only 1200mm in diameter) but it could still sits 6 comfortably (at least that IS the minimum standard according to interior design guidelines to furniture design, I think), so it wasn't so bad to start with.

And, after numerous checking, the tripod legs seemed stable enough to deal with some rowdy dinner guests (NOT that we expecting any, anyway) just in case they got too carried away in the dinner conversations, after pissing themselves (and probably us too.. haha!) out of the wine bottles and liquour.

Also, the fact that the clear glass top is slightly thicker (only by a tiny fraction though) than the conventional similar glass top, certainly helps made the table look pretty sturdy and strong too.

AND, most importantly, the item is ON SALE (and we being grrls just couldn't resist it! Could we all?!!) :-P

So, after a thorough discussion at home, weighing the options (not much really) and the possibilities (it IS on sale for god sake!), we decided to go for it.

Late today's afternoon, we revisited the store, had a final look at the settings, and whipped our credit card and said the magic words: "Charge it!"

Yay! Finally we commit ourselves to buy a brand new dining table, with 6 black vinyl-bound (couldn't find anyone in leather, too bloody expensive probably anyway) dining chairs (with polished chrome legs) to match.

And from now on, I don't need to have my breakfast at the study table anymore too! LOL

Workshop: vincentvision2024

Saturday is normally the day for us to do our weekly shopping at the local supermarket, have a look around for furniture (since we are still in the process of furnishing the house, in particular the Family Living and Dining areas), and also went to visit any houses open for display/inspection, just to make sure we are up to date with current market trends, and also getting ideas for our future project(s).

Today is totally different since we'd be attending a workshop organized by local council, to get some feedback from the general public, in their process of producing a 20-year vision for the town.

The whole vision ideas was supposed to become some sort of guidelines for the council, on how Town of Vincent would handle the rapid growth, in terms of town planning, new developments, re-developments, urban infill, densities and population; all without sacrificing life comfort, heritage aspects and the values upheld by the general communities.

We arrived there just in time before it started. As we registered, it dawned upon me that today's participants came from a wide range of locations within the city limits, so it would be interesting to learn something from everyone.

From my observation, one thing that really worries most of the people is the prospect of growing and changing within the city. They seemed afraid that any new developments introduced in their neighborhood (especially if it involve multiple dwellings development) would terribly upset the original peaceful environment it once might have. What this mean, is that they would rather have whatever they have now, stays the same 20, 30 years into the future. So any needs for the city (or even the state) to increase number of housing available for the public, would have to be done somewhere else, thus the increasing size of the suburban areas, via the neverending urban sprawl to the all four corners outside Perth. Total suburbia!

(And the state of WA find it very hard to cope with the fast growth, and the constant needs to provide and keep building up new infrastructure for the new suburbs, when the existing ones are still sufficient and good)

You see, Town of Vincent areas are very unique, since they are located just outside of the Perth city fringe, therefore giving its high mixes of architectural style, inner city feel crossing with regular home style in the suburb. The proximity to the city also resulting in high mixture of personal background and culture within the community.

What I personally believe, is in order for the city to be successful, it must NOT restraint itself from growing as the needs required it to be, even if it means changing for the sake of it.

Just like Darwin's theory, we as human beings would NOT be where we are now if we did not adapt ourselves to the constant changes happening in the world; therefore the same goes with the place we live in.

What important are that those changes (and growth) be carefully accessed and made in line with other importance of needs within the community who lives there. It's a fine balance to work this out, but it IS something which needed to be done.

From the brainstorming session held, it really amazed me how all this preliminary ideas came about for discussion, which shows how the public really cares about the place they live in.

I just hope it would be all be channeled in a positive way, so that the council could work out what best for the city and the public, and carefully implement them in the visions for Town of Vincent. Hopefully, in 8 months time, the vision for the city would come into reality, something everybody could be proud of, therefore enhancing the qualities of life available here in the area.

I for one, am looking forward for more of such activities and discussion, involving the communities in my neighbourhood.

For more info, please check:

vincentvision2024

Brian's birthday

It's Brian's birthday today..

Haven't heard from him for a while, ever since we met up here in Perth, when he flew down from Bangkok to Darwin and Perth months back. Wondering what Elden and him been up to since..

But, knowing the boys so well, I'm sure they'll have a blast partying and celebrating the birthday. After all, they are living in Bangkok at the moment, the city where the fun never ends! ;-)

(Uhmm, come to think of it, the parties don't last that long these days, with the Thai government starting to impose midnight curfew, ie. early closing time to all night clubs and pubs, in order to make sure all the husbands actually do go home to be with their wife and family! I know, sad isn't it?!)

Anyway, I hope the boys had a great time!

Oprah's 50th + Carrie & Co.

Channel 10 screened a special episode of Oprah tonight on telly. So instead of the usual crappy show on Friday night, I actually had a great time instead. (Note that I actually wrote 'I' there instead of 'We', since hubby wasn't so keen on watching such show, so he ended up surfing the net, while I had Oprah all to myself!)

Oprah's 50th Birthday Bash
In the first part of the show, they had this special birthday bash to celebrate Oprah's 50th birthday.

Oh boy, and what a great bash it was, indeed!

All the big names in Hollywood either actually made a special video message congratulating her, or even made a special appearance in studio, much to the delight of the audiences there (and at home too. of course!)

Even Sidney Poitier and Nelson Mandela wishes her their best, which would certainly mean a lot, since Oprah the TV show and the personality herself had certainly made a huge impact on the TV scene, which cross boundaries in touching topics such as families, self-empowerment (remember Dr. Phil?), sought out make-overs (be it fashion, or home furnishing),and also encouraging book reading world-wide through her now-so-famous Oprah Book Club.

During the show, she was also serenaded by artists such as Tina Turner (flown in specially from Switzerland) and all time favourites Stevie Wonder. To top it all, the whole show was co-hosted by Oprah's best friend, along with the ever-so suave, My Saturday Night Fever himself, John Travolta!

Bye bye girls..
In the next segment of Oprah, we were shown the interview given to the cast of Sex and The City before the airing of the final episode of the show in the states (which unfortunately STILL hasn't being shown here yet, in Oz).

It's truly unbelievable that such ground-breaking TV show had made such an impact in the TV world, and suddenly it's coming to an end.. :"( (and here I am, still recovering from the unseen final episode of FRIENDS! Hello?!!)

Anyway, the girls are beautiful as always, and gave a warm interviews of what their thoughts on the end of the terrific TV shows, and the uncertainties lies ahead of them (although, Sarah Jessica-Parker do sound a little bit restraint and fake-sounding in her long-winded response to Oprah's questions, compare to the other girls')

With the end of the show, that means another item (ie Sex and The City DVDs collection) added to my wishlist if things I gotta have, along with the complete set of Friends, Coupling (an on-going TV comedy from BBC), and the endless movie boxsets including Alien Quadrology, Back to the Future Trilogy, Indiana Jones Trilogy, .. and the list goes on and on, and on..

CSI special
The final segment of Oprah tonight was a special on real-life forensic case vs. the TV series CSI. However, I just didn't feel like watching dismembered/rotting/bullet-holed (yeah you got the idea) bodies being shown lying on a steel bench to be done a post-mortem. Comparisons between the CSI TV episodes to real-life cases might be interesting, but I just don't feel like watching gruesome stuff, after a heart-wrenching segment of saying my goodbyes to Carrie and co. It would be a total anti-climax for the night.

So at 10:30pm, I flicked the channel to ABC to catch the comedy show The Glass House.. *sigh..*

Now.. that cheered me up a bit.