DUA SEN | 2¢

hello hello

2007-08-24T18:44:00.001+08:00

2 bloody years!!!
LOL

long time no see.. horr?!!
:-P

a friend in need, is a friend indeed

2005-08-24T16:44:00.000+08:00

If there's ever one thing that I missed most after leaving KL (besides my family and those delicious food of course!) and move DownUnder, is the fact that I'm leaving behind all my friends too.

They're NOT just your average people whom you just greet your hi's and bye's to whenever you feel like doing so; these so-called friends are definitely more than that. Being brought up in a boarding school for most of my life teenage life, friends are like my extended family to me, my confidante, even my lifeline.

I could never imagine my how I could ever last this long in my life, if it wasn't for the constant sincere support of these beautiful people called friends, on top of the undying love I got from my family.

So when I finally moved here in Perth, one of the hardest fact I had to deal is not knowing anyone at all whom I could call friend. Of course, there were those kids in college whom I met nearly everyday, but I still find it a bit hard to get along closer to them, partially due to our slight age difference (most of them are fresh high school graduates anyway, thus we obviously have a totally different wavelengths in our thinking).

But then again, thanks to my dearest childhood friend, Faris, I do get my regular dose of close friendship connection whenever he flew into Perth in his flight duty. At least, knowing he'd be there for me no matter how hard my life could be here in such foreign place at times, gave me the strength to keep moving on.

So the past few years, other than the occasional visits from Faris, I had to merely content myself with these mere acquaintence from college, until early this year when I finally met D through one of those internet websites.

Right from the first time we met, we just clicked right away. I guess knowing that we shared so much similarities on the story of how we ended up in this country just gave us more reasons to get to know each other more. His sense of down-to-earthness also helps, especially considering how nasty fellow Asians (yup, he's Malaysian too, also with an Aussie partner) could be, whenever they encounter anybody with similar skin complexion as theirs.

I'm not sure why with such hostility from these people. They must be dealing some issues with their low self-esteem, or maybe they were just being territorial? Kosser betul ngan hadek2 nih. I totally don't have time for such games. But D was never like any of them.

The friendship between us just grows naturally, and what even better, we both LOVE Ning Baizura's earlier and recent albums to death. (Haha.. *blushes*)

Since he was always busy with work, and me with my studies, we could only meet once in a while. And everytime when we do meet, we always had such a great time catching up.

And then the hard bit came.

D has been dealing with some back pain recently, and even the trip to the doctor or physiotherapist couldn't make much difference. The pain finally gone after a while, only to come back, but this time even much more aggressive.

I only found out yesterday (since I've been a bit busy myself) that D had been taking off days from work, for the past 2 weeks, and had also been to the hospital to get some biopsy done on him. Apparently, the pain (in his lower back of his spine) that he had been experiencing all this while has started to show in the form of some swelling in one of his lymph nodes.

The result for his biopsy wouldn't be known until later next week, but the doctor only offered 2 possibilities:

He could have been having some serious viral infection in his lymph nodes, OR
There's a possibility that it could also be some cancerous problem (and THAT could be one big nasty news)

At this stage, there's nothing much that we, or rather he could do but to wait. It's really strange and totally emotionally hurtful when somebody you get along very well and closed to (despite only knew him/her for a such short period) had to deal with such traumatic experience.

At least, until the result comes out and all this sorted out, all that we could do is pray.

It's going to be a VERY long hard week for D, his partner T, and his family. And it'd be just as hard for us too.

I wish D great strength in dealing with this difficult time in his life. Just hang on strong there, mate.. We are all behind you for all the support that you need.

*HUGS*

Take care.

Grey's Anatomy

2005-08-23T16:44:00.000+08:00

Watched the 3rd episode of the new TV series Grey's Anatomy last night, and guess what? I'm totally HOOKED!

I mean, if even at the 3rd episode, they still manage to catch our attention, the producer must have done something good, right?

Besides, I'm feeling SO OVERDOSED already at the moment, with all these excessice spin-offs which has been muddling the TV shows these days. After all the CSIs (original in Vegas; Miami; and New York) and Law & Orders (original, SVU: Special Victims Unit, Criminal Intent, and Trial By Jury), I thought enough is enough, and I'll just choose the BEST one only to watch.. [but hey, THIS is entitled to one blog entry of its own, I guess?!]

And having a change of pace in the thing I watch doesn't seem a bad idea at all. So that's where Grey's Anatomy perfectly come in place.

One MAIN factor in determining whether a TV show going to be a success or not, is by studying the characters in it, to see whether they're convincing enough and deserved our undying attention weeks after weeks of viewing. And THAT was what I've been doing these past 3 weeks!

***

The Medical Interns:

Dr. Meredith Grey
(Ellen Pompeo)
This lady is one helluva strong woman, although, at other times, I did catch a glance of her sheer desperation side, in her struggles to juggle her internship, the pressure of being the daughter of the famous lady surgeon (slowly unveiled through the episodes) in the same hospital, the wacky fellow interns, and of course the oh-so-essential love interest from the resident hunk, in the form of the Attending Surgeon, Dr. Derek Shepherd.

Being a strong-willed woman, albeit a little bit (not so much though) clumsy at times in her dealing with her life, Meredith IS a character everybody would LOVE to care for; therefore promising a strong fan-base for this great TV show.

Dr. George O'Malley
(T.R. Knight)
To quote from the official website from ABC, which gives a brief summary of the show: George O'Malley is the warm but insecure boy next door who always manages to do or say the wrong thing at the wrong time. In spite of his attraction to women, he's treated as "just one of the girls."

One of the girls?!! Haha.. Sessuattuh! As a matter of fact, in the first episode, as all the interns were changing into their uniforms, George were describing some people he met at a party and when he were given a funny look by the other interns for something that he mentioned, then he fumbled and quickly said something like, "But hey, I'm not gay.." Hmmm.. Very suspicious indeed.

Anyway, apart from Meredith, George is my next favourite character from the show. He's warm, down-to-earth, with the lovable (and huggable too!) boy-next-door personality.

What could he possibly offers in the future? Well let's just say, he could be hampering some deep love secret for his close friend Meredith, therefore creating a love-triangle between the characters.

And who knows, he could be gay too! [There's a hilarious scene in episode 3 when he had to deal with this issue.. hehe.. poor boy!] We just have to wait to find out more.

Dr. Cristina Yang
(Sandra Oh)
Sandra would probably be better known for her recent role in the critic's favourite movie "Sideway", which I still have yet have the time to see yet.. *sigh*

Anyway, in this show, Dr. Cristina Yang is the Queen of Ice. Heartless, hard-working Asian bitch (woohoo!) who couldn't care about what other people think about her, as long as she succeed in her goal in becoming a great surgeon. Despite Cristina's character being a tad bit cliched, it somehow gave a good balance to Meredith's in their journey in dealing with the medical internship.

The best bit was in the opening of episode 2 where Cristina making her way to Seattle Grace Hospital (that's where all the actions take place, by the way), riding a big [read: BIG!] motorbike. Hmmmm.. Could she possibly be the resident dyke? [Not TWO gay roles in a show?!! Is THAT even possible? Haha..] Butch femme?!

Or maybe, her icy heart just needs a little bit of thawing. And a little bit of warm loving?! You gotta love this girl too!

Dr. Isobel ''Izzie'' Stevens
(Katherine Heigl)
There's not much being shown yet about Izzie, yet in a few moments the she hog the screen, you can easily say that this beauty (she supports her medical studies by doing some modelling work.. Suh-weet!) has GOT brains too.. and a BIG heart (in a metaphorical way, of course) to boost.

Said to come from a poor family background, it's easily to be seen how she's fighting hard the passe judgement people normally says of beautiful girls, especially when the girls are blond, and the so-called lack in the brain department. And she working hard to prove these people wrong!

There might even be some back story earlier in her life (I really hope so!) on how she becomes so dedicated in her task.. which I'm sure would be inspirational. Who knows..

Dr. Alex Karev
(Justin Chambers)
The last friend (if that what you can call him) in THIS group of interns, Alex is your typical arrogant jock who everyone'd love to hate. VERY much.

Even Meredith and Cristina both share similar views on him. One time when they faced a prospect of having to share an elevator with Alex (while he kept on going being an arrogant prick that he is), the girls exclaimed, "We'd rather be a lesbian" and darted off to take the stairs instead. Hehe.. you go girls!

Alex probably got some major self image issue he had to deal with, but one thing for sure, the girls really know how to deal with this jock!

The Doctors:

Dr. Miranda ''The Nazi'' Bailey
(Chandra Wilson)
There IS a reason why she's called "The Nazi", and that's because she could really drill the interns. Miranda proves the fact that just because you a bit small in stature, that doesn't mean you can't hurt! Kecik-kecik cili api of sorts.

As a senior Resident Doctor, she's one tough lady, and very hard to please too. You'd definite won't want to fool around in her presence. Yet, despite the cold hard exterior, she's also a very compassionate doctor, dedicated in her roles to the patients, and training the interns.

Dr. Derek Shepherd
(Patrick Dempsey)
As mentioned in my earlier post, he IS the official resident hunk in the hospital. The object of affection for Meredith despite how hard she try to deny it herself.

As a new comer to Seattle Grace Hospital (he just got transferred(?)/moved from New York), Derek is just as fresh to the hospital's environment as the interns, and is slowly showing his credibility as the new Attending Surgeon. Not much has been shown of his background yet (it IS after all still up to episode 3) so any future revelations on this cute hunk would be truly appreciated. Hmmmmm.. chunk o'Hunk!

Dr. Preston Burke
(Isaiah Washington)
This other Attending Surgeon is probably the resident arrogant jock back in his internship days, and he still have a bit of that selfish arrogance still stuck up there in his head. Anyway, don't take that fully against him because Preston IS after all a very good surgeon still in his journey to the top.

He sees Derek arrival in the hospital as a direct competition to him, especially considering the fact that they were both the main contender for a job promotion there. And it seems that Preston would do anything to ensure that he gets what he aimed for!

Dr. Richard Webber
(James Pickens Jr.)
The last of the main roles in this series, Dr. Webber encompass the typical warm leadership role you'd expect from a Chief Surgeon. Serious at times, he also have some funny sides which were shown from time to time.

As the one overseeing the whole run in the surgery's department, he'd definitely have his hands full with the constant politicking amog his medical staff, and most importantly, the over-eager medical interns who'd always love to get noticed by him, in their training to become a good surgeon themselves.

***

The Verdict So Far:

It has only been 3 episodes, yet the future seems so bright. With tight writings and colourful characters, Grey's Anatomy can only promise great viewing for faithful TV viewers.

But then again, I'm might only saying all this because I'm still on rebound after my girls from Desperate Housewives left me (after their first season ended recently on Aussie TV screen). On the other hand, Grey's Anatomy could also be a great TV show to watch, and its strength would be shown even more as the first season's episodes evolve.

As far as the characters goes, what I wrote up there is only of my own observation based on the first 3 episodes, and we all know there's only so much they could squeeze in such short period. For more information on the background of the cast, you can refer here in the official (short) cast biographies.

One thing for sure, I'd keep coming back for more to watch the show every Monday nights at 8:30pm here in Oz. It'd also be interesting to see whether the show would slowly shifted from being a one- or two-main-character-driven series at the moment, to a full-fledge ensemble performance from all the strong cast.

The mad medical interns would definitely keep me entertain for that one hour viewing, and even educate me (whenever possible) of the ~~stressfull~~ wonderful world of student doctors, everywhere in the world.

And oh, to end this blog entry on a high note, Grey's Anatomy is also nominated for the 56th Annual Emmy® Awards, for 3 categories:

Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series
Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series - Sandra Oh [Oh yeah!]

..and, they are also starting with the second season of the show in the United States of America, which premieres on their ABC channel on the 25th September 2005. More strong reason for me to watch and follow the show, indeed!

;-)

NB: All photos are courtesy of ABC Inc.

100 songs (meme)

2005-08-22T13:11:00.000+08:00

I found this in someone's blog, and thought it was a pretty neat idea (Don't worry, nobody's tagged here. But hey, DO try it out, anyway!)

The Directions:
[1] Go to musicoutfitters and put your birth year into the search field [there's a "Search Our Site" tag at the top right hand corner of the screen].

[2] The first link is likely the top 100 songs of that year. Cut and paste that list here (in your blog).

[3] Bold the ones you actually like. Understand that the word "like" in this case means, at the very least, that you wouldn't immediately change the radio station.

[4] Pick a favorite and underline it.

The Results:
1973
[Top 100 Hits of 1973 / Top 100 Songs of 1973]

1. Tie A Yellow Ribbon 'Round The Ole Oak Tree, Tony Orlando and Dawn
2. Bad Bad Leroy Brown, Jim Croce
3. Killing Me Softly With His Song, Roberta Flack >> a real classic.. I LURVE!
4. Let's Get It On, Marvin Gaye >> class!
5. My Love, Paul McCartney and Wings
6. Why Me, Kris Kristofferson
7. Crocodile Rock, Elton John
8. Will It Go Round In Circles, Billy Preston
9. You're So Vain, Carly Simon >> who.. moi?
10. Touch Me In The Morning, Diana Ross >> because I was touched EVERY morning! Haha..
11. The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia, Vicki Lawrence
12. Playground In My Mind, Clint Holmes
13. Brother Louie, Stories
14. Delta Dawn, Helen Reddy
15. Me And Mrs. Jones, Billy Paul
16. Frankenstein, Edgar Winter Group
17. Drift Away, Dobie Gray
18. Little Willy, Sweet
19. You Are The Sunshine Of My Life, Stevie Wonder
20. Half Breed, Cher
21. That Lady, Isley Bros.
22. Pillow Talk, Sylvia
23. We're An American Band, Grand Funk Railroad
24. Right Place, Wrong Time, Dr. John
25. Wildflower, Skylark
26. Superstition, Stevie Wonder
27. Loves Me Like A Rock, Paul Simon
28. The Morning After, Maureen McGovern
29. Rocky Mountain High, John Denver
30. Stuck In The Middle With You, Stealers Wheel
31. Shambala, Three Dog Night
32. Love Train, O'Jays
33. I'm Gonna Love You Just A Little More, Barry White
34. Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose, Tony Orlando and Dawn
35. Keep On Truckin' (Pt. 1), Eddie Kendricks
36. Dancing In The Moonlight, King Harvest
37. Danny's Song, Anne Murray
38. Monster Mash, Bobby "Boris" Pickett and The Crypt Kickers
39. Natural High, Bloodstone
40. Diamond Girl, Seals and Crofts
41. Long Train Running, Doobie Brothers
42. Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth), George Harrison
43. If You Want Me To Stay, Sly and The Family Stone
44. Daddy's Home, Jermaine Jackson
45. Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye), Gladys Knight and The Pips
46. I'm Doing Fine Now, New York City
47. Could It Be I'm Falling In Love, Spinners
48. Daniel, Elton John >> one of Elton's good ones.
49. Midnight Train To Georgia, Gladys Knight and The Pips
50. Smoke On The Water , Deep Purple >> rock on!
51. The Cover Of Rolling Stone, Dr. Hook and The Medicine Show
52. Behind Closed Doors, Charlie Rich
53. Your Mama Don't Dance, Loggins and Messina
54. Feelin' Stronger Every Day, Chicago
55. The Cisco Kid, War
56. Live And Let Die, Wings
57. Oh, Babe, What Would You Say?, Hurricane Smith
58. I Believe In You, Johnnie Taylor
59. Sing, Carpenters
60. Ain't No Woman (Like The One I Got), Four Tops
61. Dueling Banjos, Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandel
62. Higher Ground, Stevie Wonder
63. Here I Am (Come And Take Me), Al Green >> didn't UB40 do a version of this song too? Nice!!
64. My Maria, B.W. Stevenson
65. Superfly, Curtis Mayfield
66. Get Down, Gilbert O'Sullivan
67. Last Song, Edward Bear
68. Reelin' In The Years, Steely Dan
69. Hocus Pocus, Focus
70. Yesterday Once More, Carpenters >> *sigh* melancholy song, for one of those days.
71. Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, Bette Midler >> it's Bette! 'Nuff said.
72. Clair, Gilbert O'Sullivan
73. Do It Again, Steely Dan
74. Kodachrome, Paul Simon
75. Why Can't We Live Together, Timmy Thomas
76. So Very Hard To Go, Tower Of Power
77. Do You Want To Dance?, Bette Midler
78. Rockin' Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie Flu, Johnny Rivers
79. Ramblin' Man, Allman Brothers
80. Masterpiece, Temptations
81. Peaceful, Helen Reddy
82. One Of A Kind (Love Affair), Spinners
83. Funny Face, Donna Fargo
84. Funky Worm, Ohio Players
85. Angie, Rolling Stones
86. Jambalaya (On The Bayou), Blue Ridge Rangers
87. Don't Expect Me To Be Your Friend, Lobo
88. Break Up To Make Up, Stylistics
89. Daisy A Day, Jud Strunk
90. Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001), Deodato
91. Stir It Up, Johnny Nash
92. Money, Pink Floyd
93. Gypsy Man, War
94. The World Is A Ghetto, War
95. Yes We Can Can, Pointer Sisters
96. Free Ride, Edgar Winter Group
97. Space Oddity, David Bowie
98. It Never Rains In Southern California, Albert Hammond
99. The Twelfth Of Never, Donny Osmond
100. Papa Was A Rolling Stone, Temptations >> only because I like the version done by George Michael/Queen

The Verdict:
10 out of 100 songs. Not bad, I think. 1973 turned out a pretty good year for music too, I guess.

Now.. I wonder, what song topped the chart in Malaysia back in 1973?

let's get INSANE!! - because we can

2005-08-19T15:33:00.000+08:00

This one is for a good cause.

Do you sometimes wonder, how come, when there's a certain new music album in the market, which has just been released, you looked for it high and low and you just couldn't FIND the bloodyfreakin' CD.

This guy's facing the same problem too, and the worst thing is.. the album he (and everyone else) has been searching for is HIS!

We certainly feel for you, brudder.. Blame the ~~record company~~ marketing people dude!

So, he is doing what any other Malaysian musician had never done before (at least to my current limited knowledge-lah), and he is literally re-inventing the term [inter]net-working to the max.

He's offering to distribute himself whatever amount of the said CDs/cassettes [of his debut album, "Fuuyo"] which he has in his possession, to anyone who is interested, and they can send the amount of money worth for the album directly back to him.

"... JIKA AWAK MAHUKAN ALBUM FUUYO AFDLIN SHAUKI, email direct kepada saya your full name and address anda ke ~~selambakodok@hotmail.com~~ selambakodok@gmail.com^ and write AFDLIN DAH HILANG AKAL! as the subject..."

Go and check his blog (click here) for further info.

Yes he might have seemed to lost his mind, but then who wouldn't? If you're in his shoes, you would have done the same too. I certainly would.

This is for the support to the local music scene back in Malaysia.

Just because one road is blocked, that doesn't mean we are completely trapped. There's always other ways to go around it.

And it's because we CAN!

*****

^EDITED 22 August 2005 : FUUYO banner added *fuiiyohh!* to the entry, sebab it looks kinda cute. Haha.. Oso can, wat?!!

^EDITED 25 August 2005 : because he changed his email, due to the unexpected explosive albums requests he had been receiving that the hotmail account couldn't handle(!). Now THAT's what I call HOT (hehe.. oooh, the irony of it!) Not bad, eh?!

:-P

frozen

2005-08-19T10:01:00.000+08:00

Brrrrr.... it was bloody cold last night!

Woke up this morning, all curled in bed and wondering whether we had left the fridge door @#&% opened.

Nope. That wasn't it.

So I checked the Perth weather details over the internet this morning, and there it was:

1.4°C!!

Which was the minimum temperature in Perth Metro area, at 06:57am this morning.

Mak oiiiii.. sejuk gilerrrr!!!

Luckily my snugglicious Neil was there to keep me warm.

THAT, ladies and gentleman, IS the wonderful world of couplehood.
*squeee* ♥

;-)

hell hail.. yeah?!

2005-08-17T09:15:00.000+08:00

Remember about the forecasted hailstorm I wrote last Friday? Well, forget it. It didn't happen at all, despite the heavy rain cloud detected on the weather radar. Buang karan jek menunggu. Come to think of it, nama nye pun FORECAST kan?! Maybe the temperature wasn't cold enough to turn the rain water droplets into ice.

Anyway, woke up this morning, and checked the weather forecast for the day:

FORECAST FOR THE PERTH METROPOLITAN AREA
Issued at 8:45am WST on Wednesday the 17th of August 2005 for today and tonight

FORECAST:
Severe Weather Warning issued for this afternoon and evening. Occasional showers, increasing early this afternoon with thunderstorms and hail. Fresh and gusty NW winds shifting S/SW this evening. Damaging squalls possible with thunderstorms.

Hmmm, alamat gerentilah I won't be going out today. Even to the local mart to buy some groceries. Or to the post office to get some stamps. And also to Subway to send my casual job application form (cari fulu$$$ skett lerr beb).. Suddenly, there's lots of chores for me to do! Meh.

I'm not sure whether the hail and thunderstorm would actually happen or not.. but it's good NOT to be out there, and just to stay in the comfort of our home, looking at the dark grey sky outside.

And just in case, maybe I SHOULD put out some buckets and pans in our backyard to collect those hails should it finally decide to come. You know.. to collect those ice water and keep it in the freezer. It'd be handy to serve them in the gin & tonic to any visiting guests. Haha..

:-P

the path we take in our life

2005-08-15T16:44:00.000+08:00

I came accross a blog last week, where the writer finally decided to give up blogging, after having a hard time dealing with his sexuality.

You see, he just realised that he IS gay, but still in the process of swallowing the hard fact (no pun intended there, though!). So he decided to do the noble thing: stop blogging, stop getting himself surrounded with all these homos, and most importantly, he decided to follow what his family/religion told him the right thing to do - BE straight.

Don't get me wrong here. Coming out is a difficult process, and the outcome may varies from one person to another. And what made it harder is when there's family involvement in it, in terms of what they think is good versus what is bad for your life. I should know it because I had to go through the same process not so long time ago, and unfortunately it is something I have to deal with still, these days.

Anyway, I'm not gonna make any comments on the guy's decision, nor telling MY side of story here, but instead, I'm gonna post a touching letter, which I found from a blog I frequently reads.

This [anonymous] letter proves that despite how some family deals harshly to their kids homosexuality, there ARE other people who see things differently, in a much bigger perspective with a different refreshing point of view..

A Mother's Reflections

"Many letters have been sent to the Valley News concerning the homosexual menace in Vermont. I am the mother of a gay son and I've taken enough from you good people. I'm tired of your foolish rhetoric about the "homosexual agenda" and your allegations that accepting homosexuality is the same thing as advocating sex with children. You are cruel and ignorant. You have been robbing me of the joys of motherhood ever since my children were tiny.

My firstborn son started suffering at the hands of the moral little thugs from your moral, upright families from the time he was in the first grade. He was physically and verbally abused from first grade straight through high school because he was perceived to be gay.

He never professed to be gay or had any association with anything gay, but he had the misfortune not to walk or have gestures like the other boys. He was called "fag" incessantly, starting when he was 6.

In high school, while your children were doing what kids that age should be doing, mine labored over a suicide note, drafting and redrafting it to be sure his family knew how much he loved them. My sobbing 17-year-old tore the heart out of me as he choked out that he just couldn't bear to continue living any longer, that he didn't want to be gay and that he couldn't face a life without dignity.

You have the audacity to talk about protecting families and children from the homosexual menace, while you yourselves tear apart families and drive children to despair. I don't know why my son is gay, but I do know that God didn't put him, and millions like him, on this Earth to give you someone to abuse. God gave you brains so that you could think, and it's about time you started doing that.

At the core of all your misguided beliefs is the belief that this could never happen to you, that there is some kind of subculture out there that people have chosen to join. The fact is that if it can happen to my family, it can happen to yours, and you won't get to choose. Whether it is genetic or whether something occurs during a critical time of fetal development, I don't know. I can only tell you with an absolute certainty that it is inborn.

If you want to tout your own morality, you'd best come up with something more substantive than your heterosexuality. You did nothing to earn it; it was given to you. If you disagree, I would be interested in hearing your story, because my own heterosexuality was a blessing I received with no effort whatsoever on my part. It is so woven into the very soul of me that nothing could ever change it. For those of you who reduce sexual orientation to a simple choice, a character issue, a bad habit or something that can be changed by a 10-step program, I'm puzzled. Are you saying that your own sexual orientation is nothing more than something you have chosen, that you could change it at will? If that's not the case, then why would you suggest that someone else can?

A popular theme in your letters is that Vermont has been infiltrated by outsiders. Both sides of my family have lived in Vermont for generations. I am heart and soul a Vermonter, so I'll thank you to stop saying that you are speaking for "true Vermonters."

You invoke the memory of the brave people who have fought on the battlefield for this great country, saying that they didn't give their lives so that the "homosexual agenda" could tear down the principles they died defending. My 83-year-old father fought in some of the most horrific battles of World War II, was wounded and awarded the Purple Heart.

He shakes his head in sadness at the life his grandson has had to live. He says he fought alongside homosexuals in those battles, that they did their part and bothered no one. One of his best friends in the service was gay, and he never knew it until the end, and when he did find out, it mattered not at all. That wasn't the measure of the man.

You religious folk just can't bear the thought that as my son emerges from the hell that was his childhood he might like to find a lifelong companion and have a measure of happiness. It offends your sensibilities that he should request the right to visit that companion in the hospital, to make medical decisions for him or to benefit from tax laws governing inheritance.

How dare he? you say. These outrageous requests would threaten the very existence of your family, would undermine the sanctity of marriage. You use religion to abdicate your responsibility to be thinking human beings. There are vast numbers of religious people who find your attitudes repugnant. God is not for the privileged majority, and God knows my son has committed no sin.

The deep-thinking author of a letter to the April 12 Valley News who lectures about homosexual sin and tells us about "those of us who have been blessed with the benefits of a religious upbringing" asks: "What ever happened to the idea of striving . . . to be better human beings than we are?"

Indeed, sir, what ever happened to that? "

There IS hope in this world after all..

And by the way, in my opinion, the only way we could live our life to the fullest is NOT through what we thought other people might think of us, but rather, we fully accepting ourselves FIRST for all the perfection AND faults that we are. After all, nobody's perfect in this world anyway.

To kitjarnabangsar, whatever your choose to do in the way you live your life, I wish you all the best!

hazy shade of winter - The Bangles

2005-08-12T13:15:00.000+08:00

I know for a fact that a serious case of HAZE has been occuring in the South East of Asia, or more prominently in the peninsular Malaysia. Apparently these past few days, the Air Pollutant Index (API) has even exceeded the dangerous level, beyond the 500 API mark!

What the..?!
@_@

Ironically, THIS is NOT a new problem. Years after years, the same issues keep on arising, ie. major haze problem due to the forest open-burning act in the neighbouring country.

Neighbour? I mean I thought neighbours are supposed to take care of each other, not choking us to death with some of their air-polluting deadly smoke?

If any one of my neighbour here start burning off rubbish out in the open, I would have tell them, You better put off that bloodyfucking flame you sonoffabitch, you. What are you, an idiot, or what? @#%&!! You muthafucka.

Okay. I'd probably be a bit kinder than THAT, and put my thoughts into a more respectable words. But you know what I mean.

To illustrate how bad the current haze situation facing Kuala Lumpur/Malaysia, check out the diagram below, in particular where it has been circled, which I got from a blog I happened to visit recently (thanks najib, hope you don't mind!):

The circle marks the dirty spot!

Eeeeeeewww.. Gross! *chokes and gasps for FRESH air!*

I just can't believe how all of you up there survive such horrible condition. I'm just glad that the air wasn't that bad when I was back in KL last month. Let's just hope that some rain would fall and clear up the air a bit there.

At least here in Perth/Australia, with ARE getting a lot of downpour, even as we're approaching the end of WINTER. And as I'm writing this up, there's a HUGE raincloud approaching the city from the west, pictured below (image courtesy of the Bureau of Meteorology, Australia):

It's raining ~~Men~~ Hail!

In fact, it's already drizzling constantly now, and we're expecting more over the weekend, complete with squally wind, hails and storm.

It might be wet and cold here in Perth. But at least we're not choked by the dirty haze, and I'm eternally grateful for that. I just hope everybody else in Malaysia, including my family and friends are coping well with their current unfortunate situation. Just hang on there mates!

of desperate housewives and mad medical interns

2005-08-08T23:11:00.000+08:00

Gosh.. it seems like a lot of good TV show is finishing at the moment, here in Oz. First there was The Amazing Race 7, last week, and now it's the Desperate Housewives. I just hope that as winter's finishing, and the hot weather's approaching, we won't be bombarded with tons of sad horrible TV reruns as substitute shows, over all the commercial TV channels, like they always do.

Anyway, regarding Desperate Housewives, it's one of the recent hit TV shows nobody should miss! In fact, from my recent trip back in KL, they has just started with the first few episodes there, and I certainly did my civic duty of promoting the show -- voluntarily of course! -- to all my hadek2/kak vetz friends and my darling sisters at home too, like any good fanboy would have done.

*blushes and beams with pride* Teheeee.

Where it's just a new beginning in other part of the world, here in Oz, the show has come to its end of its first season. And ho boy.. what a ride it had been!

I won't disclose as much of what happened in tonight's final episode, but let's just say that even with all my initial assumptions of whatever had been going on (in the eralier episodes) in Wysteria Lane, proven right, they still manage to pull one helluva big surprise, even I didn't see it coming!

Hehe.. how's that for a teaser?

For all who haven't seen any of their episodes, now is just as a good time to join the girls' fun ride through Wysteria Lane. Perfect casting. The writings been great, and always neatly tied up in-between the weekly episodes. Besides that, there's always the eyecandy in the form of the sexy resident gardener (Jesse Metcalfe as John) and handsome plumber (James Denton as Mike Delfino) to keep all the girls (and THE grrls in some of us) happy too. *drools*

Oh, and don't forget the gorgeous girls too! Nicollette Sheridan as Edie Britt, Eva Longoria (Gabrielle Solis), Marcia Cross (Bree Van De Kamp), Teri Hatcher (Susan Mayer), Felicity Huffman (Lyynette Scavo) and even Brenda Strong (as the dead Mary Alice Young & narrator - not in picture), all played an equally important role in this fascinating TV show. At least THEY should keep the guy viewers happy too.

I'm going to miss my Desperate Housewives terribly, at least until the new season arrives next year.

I just wish we are living in such similar neighbourhood like theirs. Then all this waiting wouldn't be too bad. And not to mention the dreamy gardener and the plumber too.. Woof! *sigh*

***

On a brighter note, apparently all is not lost, even with season's finale of Desperate Housewives on Channel 7. I had a choice of turning off the TV (I DON'T think so!).. OR change to Channel 10, since starting tonight (right after the Housewives), they are showing ALL the repeats of Sex & The City, starting with Episode 1! Tempting indeed. Especially considering that I had NEVER seen the earlier episodes of the show.

Another choice is to just stick with Channel 7 since they have the premiere episode of the current hit TV show in America: Grey's Anatomy.

And after a quick deep thinking -- VERY quick, since I only have a few ad breaks in-between the shows -- I finally decide to stay with the new show.

Apparently this hot new TV show has been getting a great review in the United States, thanks to their mix style of drama and comedy thrown in all together, and fresh new faces in the casting too.

Tonight's pilot episode had a reasonably tight writing too, considering the crucial fact that they have to introduce all the main characters of the show. They are all basically a bunch of medical students just enrolling themselves in an internship program at a hospital, and as the story develops, we'd see the highs and lows in the mad lives of these desperate(?) medical interns.

As the main character, we have Ellen Pompeo as Dr Meredith Grey (hence the title of the show), as one of the interns, a strong-female lead character, which IS a refreshing change in a TV show these days. Also, we have the resident hunk in the shape of Dr. Derek Shepherd, played by the cutie-pie Patrick Dempsey, whom I swear looks like a sweet young version of Sean Penn, everytime he smiles.

He'd be Grey's love-interest for this show. Did I also mentioned that both of them had sex, right at the start of the episode, AND he's also the Resident Doctor in the hospital for the medical intern.

Oooh.. conflict of interest. I like!

The sex bit? How did it happen? You gotta find out about it yourself! I don't want to spoil the story here. All I can say is this show has just got a brand new fanboy here in Perth.

To simply (and quickly) describe the show: it has the kind of warmth and comedic pace of Scrubs, the drama and tension of Chicago Hope and ER, minus the gory bits -- thank God! -- (at least it was a bit less in the face) when it comes to the medical details part.

Not only I was impressed with the first episode, they even have funky music soundtracks all throughout the episode. Great start!

Now I just can't wait for more.

dvds!

2005-08-06T17:08:00.000+08:00

On our WINDOW-shopping excursion to the Westfield Whitford City shopping mall (somewhere in the northern suburb) earlier today -- since it was such a lovely day for a drive --not only we were rewarded with finding a great food court -- they have SO MANY different food stores there, in one decently-laid-out eating space, a rarities at least here in Perth, -- but we had also succumbed ourselves in some impulsive shopping.

Random Food Place finding + impulsive shopping = NOT a healthy combination!

Anyway, at this HUGE shopping mall, we found out that they also have the JB Hi-Fi Store, where loads of CDs, DVDs, could be found at sometimes a very good bargain prices.

So I thought, Hey they got one JB Hi-Fi here too! No wonder all these suburban folks couldn't be bothered to go to the city when all sorts of shops could be found here. Meh. Why don't we have a quick check inside JB Hi-Fi, just before we leave dear? Big mistake that one.

Walking in empty-handed, when we walked out, we got ourselves a few copy of DVDs:

Pedro Almodóvar's All About My Mother [Todo Sobre Mi Madre]
The Third Man (featuring Orson Welles), a classic b&w film
The Shrek Collection DVD Box Set (consisting of Shrek and Shrek 2)

I know. So much for our strong-willed persona. *cries in shame* Window-shop my ass.

At least we got them at a good bargain price, so it wasn't too bad.
Also, we ARE slowly building up our home DVDs collection, so that's good too I guess.
Besides, Neil has been wanting to buy them Shrek DVDs for ages, and now that we got them, I should probably start think of something else to buy him for his Christmas gift this year..

*ponders*

:-/

The Amazing Race 7

2005-08-05T14:03:00.000+08:00

Finally, the wait was over.

I was talking about the hit reality TV show, The Amazing Race 7. The final episode for that season, was aired last nite over Channel 7.

Despite the initial spoiler whichI got about nearly 3 months ago, from some fellow blogger (or LiveJournalers, rather. Yup I was talking about YOU abdaziz! Hehe..), I still decide to follow the show whenever time's permitting.

I know, where's the fun in watching such show if you already know the winners, right? Agreed. Points noted.

BUT what better way to spend my wintry Thursday night here in Perth, when there's nothing much else are available on the other channels, other than to travel all over the world at a flick of a TV remote button, all while sitting comfortably on the sofa?

Anyway, the producer for this show is always reliable in providing some decent home entertainment, with their sharp and efficient editing process. And they've won a few awards (was it for the Emmy award?) for the best reality TV show in America too, for a few years in a row.

And I'm glad I watched the final leg of the race last nite. The final 3 couple-contestants, Ron & Kelly, Rob & Amber, and Uchenna & Joyce, really gave an all-out effort to get to the finishing line.

Despite the negative response given to Rob & Amber, by most people I know who watch the proggramme, I personally think that they were the best reality-TV villain ever performed on TV. The spice they added to the show certainly increased the sense of suspense to the avid fans of the show. And if they were to win the million dollar prize, I'd say they deserve it for their awesome effort. Well, most of the time it was Rob (he doesn't sound that bright, this fella) who did all the nasty job anyway.

But then again, as everybody in the world should have known by know (I really hope so, or else this would have been a MAJOR SPOILER for you too!)... they weren't the winner. Too bad.

And I swear I could hear a big cheer somewhere out there, from those who'd love to HATE them if they had won. Haha..

So, hats off to Uchenna & Joyce (my next favourite couple in this season) for being such a deserving team to win, after ALL the trouble they had to go through to stand on that final grand winners spot.

♥ Yay! ♥

Now I just can't wait for the show's next season's installment, and from what I found here.. and to quote it here:

The Amazing Race 8 (Family Edition) - Applications Due March 11th, 2005

.. it seems so promising already, no matter what that "Family Edition" was suppose to mean in the first place anyway. Bring it on!

Ruby's Last Dollar

2005-08-04T17:55:00.000+08:00

Last nite we were invited to the season's premiere show of Black Swan's Theatre's Ruby's Last Dollar, at the Octagon Thetre, in The UWA.

It had been a while since the last time we got any invites to a theatre production, so I was quite looking forward for a night indulgence in a bit of art and culture, or so to speak.

For a quick run of the plot, the story revolves around Ruby Constance, former superstar dancer on the Tivoli circuit in Sydney back in the 50's and 60's, but now only left reminiscing her old glory days, in her twilight years, yet still looking as glamorous as ever in her bright ruby red (get it?) dress, with a matching pair of shoes to boost. All these, to the accompanying musical sound of poker machines (widely known as pokies here in Oz) in the background, in her local RSL Club.

You see, not only she's a has been, she's also a gambler.

How could a lady so successful in her younger days succumb to the hypnotizing world of gambling, you wonder? All THAT were unfold seamlessly through her strong vivid memories, which constantly appearing at the times when she'd rather be left alone, thus making her embark on a journey to her past, revisiting old stories which made her whom she is now.

Jacki Weaver, a house hold name in Australian acting circuit did a very convincing job, portraying the strength (as a survivor) , pride (of her old glory years) and fragility (in dealing with her sometimes hurtfull past) of Ruby, while Kirstie Hutton plays her younger self in the flashback segment.

Despite seeming to be a single-character-driven show, surprisingly there are supporting casts who had actually made the black comedy even so much more memorable.

The casting of Alan Dukes, Kate Mulvany, George Shevtsov, David James and the yummilicious Michael Tuahine , all in some multiple roles not only gave colours and textures to the play, they also provide the perfect background for Weaver/Hutton's Ruby character to grow, whithout detracting the main focus on Ruby's life from the audience.

I certainly had a truly great time watching the play, immersing myself in the delightful world of this former dancer in her dancing days, and slowly trying to understand the pains that might had caused her addiction to gambling.

The show was funny, sad, even hilarious at times, yet surprisingly so real; and to see Weaver's expression towards the end of her performance, when Ruby finally confronted her innermost painful memory, made the whole journey so worthwhile.

Ruby's Last Dollar is definitely a memorable show, performed by a great ensemble of casts. If you happen to be in Perth between now and the 20th August 2005, it's probably worth your time to join Ruby's trip down her memory lane.

I certainly enjoyed mine!

august birthday wishes

2005-08-03T17:51:00.000+08:00

I just realized that August is such a busy month for me, especially when it comes to birthday wishes. Thanks to the constant reminders I've been getting through my emails, from my Birthday Alarm. Handy tools though, I tell you!

Somehow, I seem to know a LOT of people who were born in this month. Must be the roar in the Leos which I seem to be attracted to... friendshipwise, of course! Must be something to do with the astronomical allignments and compatibility between the Aquarian in me and the Leos. I don't know.

Anyway, first, there are my best of friends from high school: Zeen on the 3rd, Alfie (5th), and Teh (9th).

Then of course there's jazz whom I got to know through the blogsphere. Her's is on the 4th.

Best friend from college: Pinat, on the 8th.

The boys whom I got to know through my boogie-ing (haha) phase in Velvet, back in the good ol' days *sigh*: Kipi (14th) and Salleh (26th).

And the rests are: Hisham (18th), and Ida (22nd).

Hmmm.. that should cover the lots.

To ALL of you August babies.. ♥Happy Birthday♥ and I wish all of you all the best in your future!

They might not be reading this entry, but I'm sure they can feel the good wishes up-lifting them on their special day when it arrives. May the force be with you.
;-)

*BIG group hugs*

this AF thing

2005-08-02T14:22:00.000+08:00

I was never a big fan of a certain reality TV show, like the Akademi Fantasia, as I had mentioned it here in my blog before.

I mean, I understand the objectives of such programme, in order to dig out the young singing/performing talents that might have hidden among the current generation of kids. What I just couldn't understand is the sort of fanaticism that comes with it, among the viewers of the TV show, which somehow overshadows the real important effort of un-earthing such great talents, IF there WERE any in the first place to start with.

In my opinion, as long as the judges had done a good joob in narrowing down the contestants during the preliminary rounds, then the latter part should be too hard to deal with. Unfortunately that doesn't always seems to be the case.

For most of the times, the producer seems to be just happy to rely on mere good looks, sans any singing talents at all. Of course when it comes to show like Akademi Fantasia (AF), or any other show for that matter, THAT's what seems to sell. Millions worth of TXT messages sent by these so-called fans, to ensure that their favourite singer stays in. Don't worry if he/she couldn't sing in-tempo, or sings out-of-tune, or didn't even have a nice personality to start with. If they're cute, keep them in!

Sad. But that's the truth which you can see, really happening.

In the current season of AF, based on my short observance during my recent trip back to KL, I was sad to find out that among all their contestants, there were only (at least in MY opinion) 2 or 3 of them (all girls) who really deserve to be there. There rest were only filler, to maximise the SMS-voting money-return potentials.

And then, there was also this Mawi phenomenon. He's an under-achiever whom many, well at-least a significant portion of the viewers, want to win the contest. I'm not sure why, but it must be in context of all this Malaysia Boleh chant, to prove that no matter what your background is, you CAN do it if you try.

A noble thinking indeed, but ONLY made sense if it really has substance.

I personally don't think Mawi was such a hot contestant to start with. His singing was just mediocre, and at times quite restricted to a certain style. And don't even think of mentioning the fact that he had sang out-of-tempo on a few occasions during the concerts.

On the other hand, there are others who actually GOT the potential, like the youngest among them all, Amylea, who deserves to win, but probably won't because she couldn't rake in the votes needed. LOT$$$ of them.

The funny thing was, even all my sisters had joined this Mawi-world (don't ask me, THAT's his favourite tagline) bandwagon. And not forgetting my Mom too *face-palms*, although she much prefers if he keep himself stay doing the qari (quran reciting) thingy, like any other Malay mothers would love their kids to be, rather than indulging in the so-called sinful life of the popstars. Oh the horror! ;-)

So even when I returned to Perth, I managed to satisfy my curiousity of what happened to the latter part of AFs, through the writings that I could find in the blogsphere. The musings from this person is my favourite, since it's always bias-ly entertaining (haha) and informative too. (Thanks fiebie!)

The latest news is that they are up to the final four contestants, which means the Grand Final is just around the corner. And as expected, Mawi's in; along with Amylea, Felix and Marsha (to loosely^ quote from fiebie, fighting among themselves for the first, second and third runner-up places!)

Frankly speaking, all is still not lost. What required now is some pro-active actions from the factions of voters who do NOT support Mawi.

(Hehehe.. sorry-lah Along, Angah and Usu.. I STILL don't think he's THAT good a singer! :-P)

It's a well known scenario that Mawi got the most number of supports in term of SMS votings. So the only way to deal with it, is for the remainder of the voters to group together, and decide which one among the three other finalists (being Amylea, Felix and Marsha) truly DESERVES to win, and concentrate voting on THAT person instead!

It's probably still a long way shot, but still worth trying, I think.

And of course, if you ask me, I still think Amylea is the best bet. But then, THAT might be the hidden fanatic side of me doing the talking. We'll never know!

AFundi AMYLEA!!

;-)

*****

^EDITED 3rd August 2005: Because this was what he really said in his entry..

"... At least ada jugak le 3 orang yang berbakat besar dalam AF tu akan memperjuangan tempat ke dua, tiga dan empat..."

Malaysia Boleh indeed!

reflections of life

2005-08-01T23:10:00.000+08:00

Neil has been away on a work trip down south of the state for the whole day, since very early this morning, so it's nice to have him safely home, especially considering the bad wet weather he had to get through, during his flight coming back to Perth.

Of couse, he also missed tonight's episode of the Desperate Housewives, but that's NOT a big deal, as long as he do NOT miss next week's episode, which would be the season's finale for the year.

Anyway, getting to my point, while sitting down on the sofa tonight, resting from his tiring return flight trip, he also pointed out that earlier today, he found out that somebody who were from the same table as our's during last friday night's fund-raising dinner had passed away.

What made it even more shocking and sad, was the fact that this guy who died, he sat next to me at the dinner table. We had never met him before, but of course, as a courtesy in any dinner events, I indulge in a small dinner talk with him throughout the night.

He seemed like a very healthy guy his age, and was looking forward to go on a round-the world trip, starting in the next few days, with his wife who's also a political figure in the state. Only towards the end of the dinner that he had to leave the table early, and were told by his wife that he wasn't feeling well.

When Neil told me about his passing tonight, I was truly affected by the news, and the fact how fragile this life could be. It certainly made me think how important it is to pause once in a while in our hectic routine of daily life, and just look around to the people that matters in our life.

These important people might have been there all your life, but they won't be there forever. One day they're there, but the next thing you know, they'd be gone. Forever.

Just be sure never forget to tell all these people how much they meant to you, and how much you LOVE them. All the time.

Before it gets too late to do so.

I won a lucky draw!

2005-07-29T23:52:00.000+08:00

Yup you heard it right, there.

We just got back from this fund-raising dinner tonight, celebrating the retirement of a prominent politician of the state (who used to be Neil's boss at work).

Frankly speaking, I've never been to such dinner, you know with LOTS of politicians and big-shots in the guest list, and were truly surprised that I had a great time there.

Throughout the night, there were a few selected speakers, whom each gave a 3-minute speech, toasting (or sometimes roasting too) the above-mentioned retiring guy. Some were serious, some were funny, and a guy even wrote a song and sang it there too.

And of course, everybody made me feel comfortable too, saying hi's (from those whom I've met in other circumstances before) and doing small chats.

The best thing that happened in the night was of course when they started announcing the raffles ticket winners. We didn't buy the raffles since we already paid to attend the dinner itself. (It IS after all a FUND-raising dinner to start with, remember?!) BUT when they announced the three winners of the door-prize, meaning from the tickets we bought to attend the function, MY name was announced as one of the lucky ones!

"Ticket #164, *pause to check from the long list of guests* The name's Azmi , from Table 7"

Woohoo!

You see, I've won loads of other things in my life before. Free CDs. DVDs. Movie tickets. Free meals. Etc. But never anything from the lucky draw like that.

I was supposed to be collecting a wine bottle for my winning ticket at the end of the dinner, but somebody must have swiped it first, so the organiser ~~had~~ decided to replace it with a free bottle of wine port; The Bassendean 'Centenary 2001' Vintage Port 1998, produced by the families of the former WA Labor Senator Giles.

We've had the port before and it was pretty good. And also good to have it around the house too, especially when having guests over for dinner, as the post-dessert drinks. Yum.

Anyway, truth to be told, it wasn't really the gift that counts, but the exciting thought that I've actually won something for free that night, that really matters. Hehe.. I know.. I'm the biggest cheapskate in the entire universe.

:-P

raoul rules!

2005-07-26T14:32:00.000+08:00

Ladies & gentlemen, I feel so much better today!

Although I have to admit it, after yesterday's unfortunate incident, the suspense still lingers.. if you know what I mean.. Haha..

On a lighter note, thanks to jazz, and her recent comment in her blog entry.. I've discovered this guy.

Here you go.. Go on, *drools* if you must!

To the uninitiated like me, he's Raoul Bova. Yes jazz, it's R-A-O-U-L, with an "O" in the middle.

Yup, you mis-spelt it girl.
Shame on you! :-P

Here's another one of him. Mmmmmm.. sexy!

Gosh.. where have I been to all this while? How come I've never heard of this man before?! *drools* Was he some Italian actor or something?

Okay.. *blushes* I have to admit I haven't bothered YET reading his profiles in his official website. Awww.. come ON! With ~~body~~ face like THAT, who in their right frame of mind would even bother reading?! Duh!

Okay.. one more pic. The last one for today, I promise!

*sigh* I wish I were THAT lucky bitch.

Damn you lucky dog!

mean beans

2005-07-25T15:41:00.000+08:00

Okay, now what the hell is wrong with me?

I'm just about to finally get over the flu thingy, and now I'm back with a tummy trouble. And it all started yesterday noon, at Mark's.

We were there at his place to watch the live footy game on the telly, with him and his brother. And Mark being a good host and a great cook he is, would always prepared a nice hot lunch. This time it was some meat stew cooked together with beans. LOTS of beans.

Now.. BEANS. Somehow, that name sort of rings a bell.. as if it triggers some not-so-distant unpleasant memories to this yours truly.

*insert flashback music here*

You see, in our last trip to Paris sometime in October last year, on one of the nights there, we decided to be adventurous and really eat like the locals. And when I said locals, it wasn't just your average french cuisine; it was the North African/Algerian cuisine, since the hotel where we were staying at is located smack in a middle of a district, where melting pot of people from different ethnicities and background live, work and play.

After over-coming our usual language barrier in ordering our meals, the waiting game starts, and eventually our meals arrived. Mine was a hot bowl of beans soup. Hmmmm.. My instinct instantly told me that maybe this wasn't quite a good idea after all to start with.

To cut the story short, I ate the soup as much as I could, since I was quite hungry that night, especially after a full-day walking around the romantic city, and a bowl of hot soup didn't sound so bad at all considering it was a chilly autumn night there to boost.

Oh boy.. BAD mistake.

The next morning, I was feeling a tad bit queesy and bloated in the tummy. Gassy I guess. Kembung perut masuk angin, that's how my mom would describe it.

And of course, the fishy tapas meal I had for lunch the next day, in this nice tiny Spanish restaurant (in France!) didn't quit agree with the beans soup I had the night before. So there you go.. it feels like I had ~~Bombay~~ Delhi^ belly right in the heart of Paris. Suh-weet. Heh.

Luckily, the fact that I restrain myself from eating anything serious for the next 24-hours after that, helps minimise my tummy trouble.. and managed to let me enjoy the remainder of our trip there.

*flashback music ends*

Now back to the main story.

Back at Mark's, I knew I should have restrain myself from eating too much of the beans stew, but somehow, being the idiot that I am, I pigged out myself. After all, it was a delicious meal!

Let's just say Sunday afternoon ended on a high note, despite our team the West Coast Eagles boys lost to the Sydney Swans, after putting up a good decent fight, at the SCG.

Today on the other hand was a whole different story. Not only, my tummy was bloated (started last night before I went to bed), I was also feeling all queesy in my throat, as if i'm going to throw up.

And then I had THE incident too.

Well you know, when you get all gassy, people tend to fart a lot too. Except this time, a little tiny unwanted surprise decided to tag along. Not much though, since FORTUNATELY, I've already been to the toilet like TWICE that morning. So nothing major came out (*phew!*), but the smelly pong that came with it was really enough to knock me off and faint for hours.

Thanks a LOT you bloodyfreakin' Mr Beans.

Luckily, I was at home, so a quick change of clothes ensued, and like all good husband I decided to do my laundry early, this week! Haha..

Boy.. what a day it has been. Bean? :-P

This proves it all.
After 32-wonderful-years growing up, I finally found out that I'm beans-intollerant.

With all pun intended:
I shouldn't have bean eating those bloodyfuckin' BEANS in the first place.
And of course, I could also claim that I HAVE really bean there, done that!

Ewwww.. NOT a pretty sight, I tell ya'!

*****

^EDITED 3rd August 2005: After I double-checked it with hubby.. Hehe!

Help.. my head's leaking

2005-07-21T16:45:00.000+08:00

It has been a week since I got back from my short trip back to KL.

Yes, I HAVE been back there, and left already. But the whole trip's gonna require a whole new entry on its own. If I feel like doing so, of course!

Anyway, it's been a week since I'm back to Perth, and it was exactly a week since I've been dealing with the horrible horrors of cold, runny nose, and bloodyfuckin' sore throat!

Neil said it's the weather. Everyone's been getting it, one after another.
Madi said it's the change of weather. Well, you know from the hazy-ish hot humid KL's weather to *brrrr* it's fuckin' bloody cold here mate winter weather of good ol' Perth.
And I said, I don't fuckin' care whatever it is. Just get it to fuckin' STOP!

Amazing I'd say. This tiny lil' head of mine, yet still able to produce gallons of snot and gross gooie stuff, steadily running down my nose. No matter how hard I blow, there's always some more waiting to drip off my face. Plenty more.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

As if there's a huge leak somewhere up there in my head.
Hello mister sexy plumber, would you mind giving me good plugged, please..?

OMG.. don't tell me it was my brain leaking! Nooooo..
O_o

Anyway, Clarityne finally seems to be doing its job. It's about time too. The bin is already over-flowing with wet soiled tissue papers. And if it wasn't for the soft aloe-vera enhanced tissue papers bought by my darling Neil, my nose would have been badly chaffed by now, or even completely come off my face all together too.

Thanks honey. *kiss kiss* Love you!

On second thought, maybe I should have hold on that kisses first.
At least until I'm completely sure I'm germ-free.

Because I swear I thought I heard a teeny weeny lil' sniffles coming out of Neil's nose.

Oooops.

It has been a while..

2005-07-18T14:25:00.000+08:00

Gosh.. It has definitely been a while since the last time I wrote anything.

Honestly, for the past 7 months of not blogging (yet, still blog-lurking, hehe..), I've been so close of just giving this up totally.

I just do NOT possess the kind of stamina to keep on writing like some people do, especially with the added pressure to satisfy the reading-pleasure of those who actually drop by at this page and actually READ them!

And believe me, I HATE pressures! *pfffhhtt!*

Truly ironic, considering the main reason I started blogging in the first place, was just to express myself to whatever topic that came to my mind, or even just a mere jottings of whatever happened in my so-called life.

At 32, my life is getting a tad bit routine. Domestic if you must say it. Of course there are still the drama, adventures and funny highlights to it all; it's just that they are a little bit too personal to pour it all out in the open.

Don't know-lah.

Does this entry means I'm back blogging?
Maybe. Maybe NOT.

For a guy who gets bored pretty easily, this IS already a history in the making! (Hey I'm back blogging ain't I?) Hehe.. I can't promised regularity, but I guess I'll try to write in whenever I can.

Besides, college new term just started, and I haven't even finish sorting out my subjects/classes this time! *damn!*

:-P

my new toy

2005-06-07T22:21:00.000+08:00

Sony Ericsson K700i

Ze front..

.. and ze back!

My precioussssss...

;-)

sad news

2004-12-26T23:55:00.000+08:00

May everyone involved in this unfortunate disaster stays strong, in facing the uncertainties of the incoming new year. Our sincere hope and best of wishes goes to everyone.

*hugs*

~Azmi+Neil

[Visiting Auckland, December 2004-January 2005]

Missing my kids

2004-11-05T09:38:00.000+08:00

I received a TXT messages from my niece yesterday. She just turned 10 (OMG, she's a big girl now) on Tuesday, and I sent her a few Birthday wishes messages, thru her mom's work email, her mom's mobile phone, and one to her OWN mobile phone too(!).

I know, a 10-year old girl with her own a mobile phone. What the..? (Don't ask me, ask her DAD) Furthermore, her mobile phone is even much better than mine. It's a Sony Ericsson T610, complete with colour screen and built-in camera, while I'm still stuck with this crappy (well, it wasn't that bad, really) ol' Nokia 3315.

*sigh* This requires another whole blog section to whine about!

Anyway, getting back to my story; once I got the TXT message, I figured she must have at least got one of the Birthday wishes that I sent her. Here's what my darling niece wrote:

Salam hai uda tengah buat apa.uda raya kat mana.uda rayalah kat rumah atin.atin dapat masuk kelas nombor 2.Atin dan uni rindu kat Uda.

Sender:
Atin+Ayuni
+601********
Sent:
4-Nov-2004
16:26:31

.. of which can be loosely translated to:
"Hi Uda (yup, that's what my nieces and nephews called me at home in KL, just a common family nickname representing my hierarchy - haha.. I'm the 3rd of 5 by the way - among my siblings according to our age) What are you doing? Where are you celebrating 'raya' (that's the big festival celebrated at the end of Ramadhan, the fasting month) Uda, why don't you celebrate it at our house. Atin (that's her name) got second place in my recent examination. Atin and Uni (that's her lil' sis name) miss you Uda."

Awww.. I miss them lots too. In fact I missed them ALL. My nieces Atin & Ayuni. My nephews Ajeem & Afeeq. And not forgetting the latest addition to the group, my brother's little girl fondly called (by her dad at least) as Biah (although I would have preferred to call her Abby, short for Rabiatul). All start with the letter "A", get it? ;-)

So, I replied to her, explaining how I can't go home for raya, because I still got classes at that time, and how the omputeh (ie. the whites/Europeans/general Australians) here do not celebrate the festival, hence no public holiday for me. And how I missed all of them terribly. Complete with the sad/weepy emoticon too.. :"(

To this, she replied:

Uda, uda datang rumah atin bulan 12 nanti ok. Please, please :-( :-(

Sender:
Atin+Ayuni
+601********
Sent:
4-Nov-2004
16:36:31

The girl really broke my heart. Since I couldn't come back for the festival, she was hoping I'd at least return home in December.

The thing is, she and her cousins, always compete among themselves, on how long I should be staying between their houses, everytime I got back to KL. Nothing serious. Just a harmless sibling-like rivalry I guess. And a little bit of token of appreciation for the short return of their good ol' uncle.

Which made me love them ALL even MORE.

I didn't reply directly to what she asked for, knowing that I couldn't be back in KL for Christmas holiday either. So, instead, I just wish her well, asking her how come she wasn't in school (I know, lame excuse to divert her question) and also, wishing my loving regards to the family at home.

*sigh*

I wish I could head home for raya. I wish I could head home in KL anytime I wished for. But THAT's not going to happen, unless I'm this super fast swimmer who could swim across the ocean in a nick of time. For God sake, I wasn't even a competent swimmer at all either! Put me in water, OK.. I dog-paddled a bit, and leave me longer, for sure I tenggelam (sink) like a solid concrete.

Oh well, I just gotta wait until sometime next year, when my one-year return trip flight ticket from SIA is due to be used. Then I'll head back to KL with head held high, hopes in cloud nine, and I'll give them kids a big warm loving hugs, fresh from DownUnder.

In the mean time, I just have to make do, looking at their photo, with a very heavy heart.

I really miss ALL my kids dearly. My intan payung gunung meletups..

My girl is 10

2004-11-02T22:14:00.000+08:00

It's my eldest niece's birthday today.
Yup, Fatin is 10 already.

*sigh* ..and how time really flies..

I still remember when she was just this tiny baby girl. The first grandchild for my parents. The pride of the family.

And I remember cradling her in my arms when she can't stop crying at some nights (this during my college years and I stayed with my sis' family), and my sister's just too tired to pacify her girl after having such a long day at work.

I'd hush Fatin softly and rock her in my arms, calming her down, until she fell asleep again.

I remember, on one of her birthdays, when she was about 6, and I bought her a pair of pink blouse with matching three-quarter shorts, and her face just gleamed with joy when she opened the birthday present.

I remember her first time in Kindergarten, and how she proudly show me her school bag, and books, and colour pencils, when she got home from school.

I remember the calls she'd normally made to my mobile phone, when I no longer live with her family (once I've started working) and she'd be asking me how come I hardly visit her anymore, and how much she rindu (missed) me.

I remember, how she'd always 'fight' with her cousins (my 2 nephews) on how long I should be staying at her place, compare to the boys', whenever I eventually do my obligatory visits to my sisters' place, during holidays and long weekends.

I remember the sad looks on her face when she found out I was leaving Malaysia and going to live in Perth, Australia, and she wondered how often I'd be coming back to visit her. But then her moods quickly changed when she realized the opportunity for her to get gifts from me, whenever I DO come back for short holidays to visit the family.

There's so much that I remember when my girl is growing up, and now suddenly she's a big girl.

Happy 10th Birthday my darling Fatin.

With all my love, hugs and kisses..
From your dear uncle,
UdaAzmi

:")

Party time

2004-10-24T19:05:00.000+08:00

Oh-my-God.

My eyes are wide awake, but my brain is still asleep.

Considering that my body just about to recover from the jet-lag I had coming back from the recent trip to Europe, staying up late last night and coming home to nearly 4:30am(!) wouldn't make it any better for the recovery process at all..

Yes ladies & gentlemen, I went to Perth Pride Parade, and later the Pride Party last night, and I had a bloody swell of time! ;-)

The Parade seemed to be much better organized compared to last year, and the fact that effort had been made to do a simulcast show with the radio Nova 93.7FM, really helps to set the festive feel among the crowd, with boppy/dancy music simultaneously coordinated to the on-going parade. There was even some fireworks to boost too!

This year, Neil & I again joined one of the float parading down the street, and boy it certainly bring out a lot of memory of my first parade I did here in Perth in 2001. The feeling was tremendous back then. It just made you proud of who you are, and where you are in life, sexuality doesn't seem to be any issue at all. And last night, I felt it all over again. Totally exhilarating.

Even Mark was in the parade too with us, along with his niece and her friend.

Later, we all head out for pizza, for our late dinner, and then we went separate way, since Neil & I are going to the Party afterwards. But beforehand, we stopped at the latest gay bar in town, just recently opened in Perth: Eurobar, just to see how the place is, and boy was it packed!

Everybody was definitely high on the party mood after the parade, and we just can't wait to head out there to the party venue.

The Party itself turned out quite good too. Staged at 2 different venues (but still within a short distance to each other) due to problems securing a bigger venue earlier in the year for the party, I decided straight away that we would stay at the Gilkisons (a bigger dance hall with high volume of ceiling) rather than at the Ambar (a smaller, more intimate club-like dance floor).

Unfortunately, everyone else was thinking the same, so we ended up having to stay in a queue *bummer* for quite some time before finally being allowed to get in by the security.

Despite that initial brief setback, we had a great time dancing, as soon as we got in. Oh yeah. The organiser had done a good job selecting the line up for the night's DJs, and the visual electronic display and disco-lightworks are truly up to standard.

And of course, yours truly had really burn the dance floor while having such a wonderful time (when were the last time we dance? :-o Like so many MONTHS ago?!!) Luckily nobody was murdered nor seriously injured in the process of doing so. Hehehh..

What party?

2004-10-23T08:08:00.000+08:00

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!

I just realised that tonight IS the night for Perth Pride Parade & Party for 2004. Thank God I didn't miss the date, or it would have been terribly disappointing for me, considering that I've never missed attending it ever since my first one in 2001.

Woohoo.. partypartyPARTEEE!
:-P

Sir-lang-gore anyone?!

2004-10-22T13:19:00.000+08:00

Malaysia got a special mention on last night's episode of Kath & Kim. Well.. it wasn't exactly "Malaysia". More like "Selangor" instead.

It was the episode when Brett had to go and visit his supposedly terribly sick Mom back in the Gold Coast, bringing along baby Epponnee. And Kim, being her bitchy self (of course) just simply couldn't be arsed (apparently, she didn't quite get along well with the mother-in-law), although she wouldn't mind fantasizing Brett inheriting the poor ol' lady's wealth, should anything happened to her at the hospital.

Brett's mother's a wealthy woman indeed, only she wouldn't dream of her money fell into the hands of that bitch Kim. Especially, thinking of all her precious collection of Selangor Pewter stuff.

And there it goes: "Selangor" was mentioned not once, not twice, but a few bloody times! Except that, it was done with a typical Kath & Kim exaggerated style. So it was pronounced as: Sir-lang-gore. (At least Johor is a much easier name of state to be pronounced accurately! Haha..)

After a while it was a tad bit embarrassing for me, but then, it WAS an episode from the famous Kath & Kim. Only that, it just doesn't help these sometimes helpless Australians on the correct pronunciation of all words of Malay-origin.

I'll just have to try not to act surprise (nor frustrated for that matter) though, if some European looking tourists approach me whenever I'm back in Malaysia, asking me where they could find a Sir-lang-gore Pewter store.

That's just a true sign of a die-hard Kath & Kim fan I bet! ;-)

The pikchures are ready!

2004-10-21T20:01:00.000+08:00

Went to pick up the holidays photo on the way back from college today... Woohoo!!

I guess the holiday bug still hasn't completely left me, so I ended up going through the shots one by one once I reached home. Reminiscing the good time we had back in Paris, Berlin & Vienna.
*sigh*

Unfortunately, there's so many of them photos, it would have to end up like the rest of our photo collection from the previous holidays, collecting dust inside the respective photo envelopes, rather than being arranged neatly in a proper photo album.

[Gosh.. gotta get myself organized, and get all those photos in place too! ]

OR.. I could scan them and put it over the net?!

[Arrrggghhh.. Noooooo.. too much work to do..!!]

Aisehh.. what to do? :-/

And the dam simply burst..

2004-10-21T09:07:00.000+08:00

Reading abdaziz's blog yesterday makes me think on why some people react to certain things differently compare to others. And he was talking about reactions to the scenes in the movie, at the cinema.

Well you know, those horrible bunch who always laugh insensitively during sad scenes, or even worse, making jokes and laughing hysterically during scary horror scenes.

Why can't they just act normal, and be sad or scared accordingly as what unfolds in the movies. Or even if THAT is hard enough, why can't they just shut up and let other people enjoy the rest of the show?

Me, on the other hand, find it very easy to be moved by the sad scenes in a movie; the good decent ones of course. And a very convincing acting helps a lot too.

I remembered during college time, back in ITM Shah Alam, when I'd go and watch the movie Powder (starring Sean Patrick Flanery, Jeff Goldblum, Lance Henriksen & Mary Steenburgen) again, & again, & AGAIN, and still being touched each time. Never once that I left the cinemas without my red teary eyes.

Then there's the movie In America (with the Oscar-nominated performance by Samantha Morton, although it was the sisters' Sarah & Emma Bolger cute performances that really steals the show) which I watched during my flight coming home from our Europe holidays earlier this year. We just had finished our in-flight meal, and the movie was about to end. And then suddenly there it was: the daughters were telling their Dad that it's OK to let their (dead) brother go, and tears just rolled down my cheek without any hesitation. Right there (in a flight full of other strangers who were probably wondering: What the..? But hey, I was enjoying my in-flight movie OK?!) and just like that.

On a recent note, there was the Sex & the City last Monday night, in one of its final episode. The one when Samantha finds out a very shocking news about herself. I was still calm and controlled the moment she got the news. But I failed miserably the moment she shared the news to her fellow girlfriends, during Miranda's big wedding day.

And it wasn't the sad news that really touched me, at leasts not as much as the fact how accommodating & understanding the other girls were when they heard it first, even Miranda on her very special day. Just the thought of no matter what happened, you could at least have you best mates to rely on. And THAT's when it happened. All hell's break loose, and my emotional dam simply burst. Just like that.

It must have been the friendship factor that touched me the most, and I guess Neil understood it, and just let me sit quietly next to him, half-cuddling me while I just sniffed-and-snorted myself, with a vey wet tissue paper clutch in my palm, through the rest of the episode that night. Very comforting.

I don't know. Maybe I'm a tad bit too in-touched with my feelings, when it comes to all things sad and emotional. Or maybe I'm just being too emphatically stronger when it comes to being understanding the feeling of what others are going through. Dunno-lah.

One thing for sure, all these never brought me down. Instead, all this sad scenes in movies and TV shows just made me more conscious to reflect on myself and my life, and made me realized how lucky I am to have what I have now.

I supposed, a little bit of reality-check every once in a while in one's life could never do any harm at all.

THAT song

2004-10-20T08:56:00.000+08:00

Zzzzzzz...#$#$%&#$%#^&$*(........*

In my struggle to fight the clutch of my zombiness state, I came across this website, featuring a surprisingly catchy (haha) song: The Llama Song.

It certainly perk me up a bit, THAT for sure.
Now, if I could.. only..take.. my eyes.. o-f-f.. t-the.. com-pu-t-e-r.. s-scre..e-e..en for.. a.. w-h-i-l-e..
@_@

The return of the zombie

2004-10-19T18:05:00.000+08:00

Yeah.. sounds like a title from some old B-movie, I know.. but THAT's exactly how I've been feeling this past 2 days.

Oh, and before I proceed, to those who still haven't got a faintest idea what I've been up to for the past 18 days: I've been away on a short trip to Paris/Berlin/Vienna, and had just return home last Sunday. Hence the zombie-like feeling.

Jet lag. *Ughh* how I really hate those two words.

I'd always tell myself, it's only a mind over matter thingy. I'll just will myself to tell my body that everything is fine and under control.. and I could just continue my life accordingly, after THAT 20-hour return trip from Vienna (including a short 3-hour transit in KLIA) into Perth.

Hoo boy.. was I totally wrong!

Despite having the help of a sleeping pill to ensure I sleep deeply on Sunday night.. the results was still less than satisfying on yesterday Monday morning.

Heading back to college (yup, term breaks' over unfortunately), everything seemed to be moving in such a slow-motion, as if somebody is toying with the remote control buttons.

Furthermore, the non-stop thump-thumping sound in my head doesn't make anything easier for me either.. o_O))

If what's been said about recovering from jet lag is true, I'm going to be like this for a total of 6 days, for all the 6 time zones that I crossed.

That's another 4 more days to go..! *shucks*

Couldn't concentrate in classes.
Couldn't concentrate on finishing the CAD drawings on the PC.
Couldn't be bothered surfing the net.
Couldn't walk straight without the risk of bumping into something or someone.
Couldn't even keep the brain stay awake, for God sake!

At least, at home, all our dirty laundry from the trip had been washed and put away (with the help of my darling Neil, -- of course! -- where I unpacked the bags and sorted out the dirty clothes, he put them in the washing machine, hanged them out to dry and picked them up from the clothes lines, and then, I folded them up and stored the freshly clean clothes accordingly.. Just like what any other hubbies would have done! Hehe..)

AND.. I've also sent out the holidays photos for processing (all 7 rolls of them! Heh.) and kind of looking forward to get it back.

In the mean time, please excuse me. I think I'll go have a nap, and use the PC keyboard as my pillow..

..nicul8r..7104rhd73@#$@%&*&FFYFggh06&)(*%..
-_- *Zzzzzzzzzzzzz...*

Bye bye bye

2004-09-29T17:31:00.000+08:00

Before I go.. notes from my side bar:

Memo - CHUP.. sat!
I'm going away, again!

I'll be away for about 2 weeks, and will only be back in the 3rd week of October.

And I don't think I'd be able to update anything in the blog until I'm home.. :-(

[Which is why I still need a laptop so that I could update my blog easier, AND maybe I'll do a little bit of school work too! (Uhmm, or maybe not. Hehe..) :-P
...An iBook - just like Alan's(!), would DEFINITELY work just fine for me... So, pretty please.. anyone?!! Hehe.. ;-)]

So see y'all later.. And BEHAVE
yourselves in the mean time too! :-)

*kisses*

...

Whazzup?

2004-09-29T16:51:00.000+08:00

Oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy OH BOY!!

I've been so busy for the past few months, and couldn't even get enough time (since no time would ever be enough for me, being a helpless perfectionist, hehehh) to update the blog.
Which is why I've been blog-hopping in between doing the assignments, reading out other people's blog just to satisfy my cravings. Yes, I know, I'm a blogaholics, but hey, that's a wholenew story for some other time.

Furthermore, for the past 2 weeks, I've been doing long hours of CAD drawings work at the computer lab in college. And when I say long hours, I mean VERY long; like from 7:30am right up till about 8pm at night. :-S

*sigh*

And my bloody back is killing me too. Adoii.. sakitnya.

The only good outcome out of this misery, is the fact that we'd be leaving for a short holiday VERY soon!! Hehehe..

2 weeks of pure bliss of fun and relax, and most importantly NO homework.
(Well.. nothing much that I can do about the last bit, since I can't lug the ol' PC to where we're going; so the school work HAS to wait till I come back.. Hehehhhh.. *evil laugh*)

At the moment, am still at college, squeezing up the hours until the last bit, doing as much work as I can. Because tomorrow, it's hasta la vista baby and see 'ya when I get back!

Woohoo!!

iBook

2004-09-29T16:30:00.000+08:00

And since we're still on the topic of Apple Computer's great invention, I received a short email from my good friend Alan, earlier today.

He stated among other thing, he'll be flying off to Bali for 5 days towards the end of October, since he manage to grab a good bargain in the air ticket from AirAsia.

Lucky bitch, hehe.. I've always wanted to go to Bali.
*sigh*

AND, he also casually included in the email, that he had also get himself a brand new iBook.

Lucky @#$%& bitch!! I want it too!!
*head-desk*

Yeah.. rub it in. Rub it in.. BITCH. Heh.
:-P

2004-09-17T16:48:00.000+08:00

The new Apple iMac G5

That, ladies and gentlemen, is one helluva orgasm!
*sigh*

I don't know (and I don't care) how they did it, but I want one anyway.. please?

What about me?

2004-09-09T18:01:00.000+08:00

Thanks to jazz, here's MY versions of things:

1. WHAT IS YOUR MIDDLE NAME?
bin(?). Also can what..?!

2. WHAT KIND OF PANTS ARE YOU WEARING?
Jeans most of the time. Cargo pants for some other times.

3. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
She will be loved by Maroon 5.

4. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?
Michiyo (made in Indonesia) instant soup noodle -- THAT was what I had for lunch! :-P

5. WHAT WAS YOUR LAST DRINK?
Schweppes lemonade.

6. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
Black. It always look good on a piece of white paper.

7. HOW IS THE WEATHER RIGHT NOW?
It was sunny day, with a clear blue sky, earlier on. Now, it's sunset.
Here's the current observation courtesy of the Bureau of Meteorology, Australia for the Perth Metro area:

Date: 09 September 2004
Time(AWST): 17:51
Temperature: 13.6°C
Dew Point: 3.5°C
Relative Humidity: 50%
Wind Direction: South
Wind Speed: 18 km/h (10 knots)
Wind Gust: 30 km/h (16 knots)
Pressure: 1026.7 hPa
Rain (since 9am): 0.4 mm

8. LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
Neil (of course!)

9. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT THE OTHER SEX?
The other sex? I hardly took notice of them! Oh okay, hmmm the hair maybe? No? The shoes? Uhm.. No. I give up.
If it's the same sex, then it normally starts with the big strong hairy forearms, then it's the eyes. The lips. The pecs. The tush. Haha..

10. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT YOU THIS?
Well.. nobody actually sent me this, coz I cut-&-paste it from jazz's blog.. Hehe.. But still, why not.

11. HOW ARE YOU TODAY?
Great. Never been better.

12. FAVORITE DRINK?
Used to be the Mamak's Teh Tarik (that's tea, with an extreme amount of condensed milk mix in it) for breakfast, before heading out to work, back in Kuala Lumpur. These days, I just have to make do with Nescafe. (I know, instant coffee. But what to do? We don't have any coffee maker at home)

13. FAVORITE ALCOHOLIC DRINK?
Bailey's Irish cream.
Gin and Tonic.
Even tried Vodka with Cranberry when we were in Hong Kong, and not so bad at all!

14. FAVORITE SPORTS?
Aussie Footie. Have you seen the players?!
*drools at the thoughts*

15. HAIR COLOR?
Black, with some few grey hairs sneaking out somewhere up there -- even with my short-cropped crew-cut hair style. Damn you grey hair!

16. EYE COLOR?
Dark brown.

17. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
Nope.

18. SIBLINGS AND THEIR AGES?
Three sisters (37, 35 & 22 year olds) & a brother (27 year old).

19. FAVORITE MONTH?
December. That's when it's summer time here in DownUnder. And it's the Christmas/New Year long holidays too. What more can I ask for?

20. FAVORITE FOOD?
Hainanese Chicken Rice. Curry laksa. Assam Laksa. Soto Ayam. The list could go on, and on and on..

21. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers starring: Geoffrey Rush, Charlize Theron, John Lithgow, Miriam Margoyles, Stephen Fry (yes!), Stanley Tucci & Emily Watson, among others.

22. FAVORITE DAY OF THE YEAR?
Holi-day!

23. ARE YOU TOO SHY TO ASK SOMEONE OUT?
Nah.. not me.

24. DO YOU LIKE SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDING MOVIES BETTER?
I like 'em all.

25. SUMMER OR WINTER?
Summer, by the beach.. Mmmmmmm..

26. HUGS OR KISSES?
Hugs. AND kisses.

27. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU QUARRELLED?
Long time ago, when I was still in high school. Probably with my brother.

28. CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA?
Chocolate.

29. DO YOU WANT YOUR FRIENDS TO WRITE BACK?
Sure. Whatever.

30. WHO IS MOST LIKELY NOT TO RESPOND?
Those who are busy!

31. WHO IS LIKELY TO RESPOND?
Anybody.

32. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING?
Fup by Jim Dodge.
(It's only 122 pages, and I've had the book for nearly a year, and I still haven't get myself to finish reading it! Hehe.. Too much distractions! Heh.)

33. WHAT'S ON YOUR SCREEN SAVER (Also DESKTOP)?
Screensaver: some Microsoft shit thingy..
Desktop: Pic of me and hubby in the back garden of our previous home.

34. WHAT DID YOU DO LAST NIGHT?
Clearing up the newspaper from the Living room, for recycling.

35. FAVORITE SMELLS?
Le Male from Jean Paul Gaultier.
D&G (the one in blue velvet box).
Freshly cut lawn.

36. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING?
Hey, what's THAT poking me in the back?! :-P

37. EVER BREAK SOMEONE'S HEART?
Unfortunately yes. I know. I'm bad.

38. DO YOU SMOKE? IF YES, PLEASE ELABORATE:
I quit 2 ½ years ago. Cold turkey.
*pats on shoulder* Good boy. Woof!

39. WHAT IS YOUR WORST QUALITY?
I procrastinate.

40. WHAT IS YOUR BEST QUALITY?
Good listener.

41. HAVE ANY NICKNAMES?
No. My name's is already short and so bloodyfreakin' easy to remember.

42. WHEN DID YOU LAST "GET SOME?"
You don't want to know this! Hehehh..

43. ARE YOU HAPPY?
Oh yeah! Blissfully. ;-)

44. ARE YOU HORNY?
All the time!
Haha..

Note: Somehow, questions No. 5 & 10 were already missing from the list when I did the cut-&-paste-ing. Dunno why. Go and ask jazz about it yourself! :-P Hehehhh..

Additional note (post-blogged 10 September 2004): Added questions No. 5 & 10 today. :-) Thanks jazz!

You got the time?

2004-09-03T17:24:00.000+08:00

Just added a ClockLink's [city/date/time(zone)] digital clock into the blog, especially for those who always wonder what time it is in Perth.. :-)

DNA#55 August'2004 & Reichen

2004-08-26T12:31:00.000+08:00

Here's the eye-candy for the month of August.

Although, what's inside was even better. They had some write-ups and photo spread (only decent ones though!) of Reichen, one-half of that famous gay couple [although they had un(?)fortunately went their own separate ways, ever since] from the hit reality TV show The Amazing Race 2.

Here's a sneak peek of yummilicious Reichen.. Mmmmmm..

That one's specially dedicated to Jer.

;-)

August updates

2004-08-25T15:44:00.000+08:00

I've been so behind when it comes to doing my blog lately.
Just that been so busybusyBUSY.
*sigh*
More back-posted updates for (first 3 weeks of) August today.
Just click on the August 2004 Archives for easier viewing.

2004-08-24T14:26:00.000+08:00

.. *drool*..!

Leatherfest

2004-08-21T18:12:00.000+08:00

Party on tonight!
;-)

I won a freebie!

2004-08-19T18:04:00.000+08:00

Yay.. I won another CD freebie! It was from one of the contest in a local free music/lifestyle newspaper/magazine.

When I checked one of the Sanity website describing the double CD I had won, here what it says:

The perfect "after hours" soundtrack features 36 heartfelt tracks sung by women FOR women.

FOR women? WTF?
Well women or not, I'm pretty sure I'm going to enjoy the music. It IS a free CD for me after all.

Here are the Track Listing:

Disk 1
1. Gabrielle - Out Of Reach
2. Natalie Imbruglia - Torn
3. Macy Gray - Still
4. Leonardo's Bride - Even When I'm Sleeping
5. Everything But The Girl - Missing (Todd Terry Remix)
6. Bic Runga - Sway
7. Sophie B. Hawkins - As I Lay Me Down
8. Eurythmics - Don't Ask Me Why
9. Sam Brown - Stop
10. Edie Brickell & New Bohemians - Circle
11. Fairground Attraction - Moon On The Rain
12. Missy Higgins - The Special Two
13. Keri Noble - Talk To Me
14. Jewel - Foolish Games
15. Tori Amos - Winter
16. Tina Arena - Chains
17. Vanessa Williams - Save The Best For Last
18. Marianne Faithfull - The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan

Disk 2
1. Alicia Keys - Fallin'
2. Kylie Minogue - Put Yourself In My Place
3. Cyndi Lauper - Time After Time
4. Tina Turner - Private Dancer
5. Dan Greenwood - Only One
6. Sinead O'connor - Jealous
7. Tanita Tikaram - Twist In My Sobriety
8. Sugababes - Shape
9. Paul Mac Featuring Abby Dobson - Gonna Miss You
10. Texas - Say What You Want
11. Sheryl Crow - Strong Enough
12. Divinyls - I'm On Your Side
13. Stevie Nicks - Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You
14. Natalie Merchant - Carnival
15. Beth Hart - L.A. Song (Out Of This Town)
16. Janis Joplin - A Woman Left Lonely
17. Bette Midler - The Rose
18. Dj Sammy & Yanou Featuring Do - heaven (Candlelight)

I am so proud of myself.. heh!
*pats on my shoulder*

Guests from Holland

2004-08-17T15:55:00.000+08:00

Today, we are receiving some guests who'd be staying at our place for a few days.

The guests, Han and Ton, a gay-couple from Holland, were introduced to us by my friend Khim who lives in France, who told us that the Dutch couple were driving down the coast of W.A. from Darwin to Perth for their few weeks holidays, so we invited them to stay over at our place during their Perth stop.

So, in the next 4 days, I'll be getting busy entertaining our very own first 'couple' guests, staying over at our tiny little place we call home. :-)

I just hope, they'll feel comfortable during their stay here..

Welcome to Athens 2004

2004-08-14T17:07:00.000+08:00

I was still high from watching the Sydney Olympics opening ceremony re-run on TV last night, and just couldn't wait to see the one for Athens.

Like everybody said, if the Greeks manage to pull this one successfully, the rest of the games should be doing well. And they certainly did.

The Athens ceremony started with a beautiful water-filled stadium floor, and then the Olympics rings on the surface of the water were lit by a 'flying meteor', and what a truly splendid start it was!

After that, throughout the gala opening, there were lots of visual effects which were really captivating, beautifully captured the essence of the rich Greek history, its culture and its role in introducing the modern Olympics to the rest of the modern world. Even the Greek Gods and all the mythical characters weren't spared from taking part in the show!

They might have used less volunteers in the performances (compare to Sydney games), but with what they lack, they truly shine in the 'red-carpet' walk of the Greeks visual culture, displayed chronologically while going around the stadium.

I was truly impressed, and were so happy for the Athens Olympic committee.
Am definitely looking forward to watch the rest of the 2004 Olympic Games..

I'm so much into the Olympics mood now.
And I got my Olympic Swatch to prove it too!
;-)

Sydney Olympics re-run

2004-08-13T23:59:00.000+08:00

In about less than 2 hours time, the main opening ceremony of the Athens 2004 Olympics would be shown live on Channel 7. But I just couldn't be arsed to wait for it. Because, it only starts at 1:30am! And wouldn't finish until about 5:30am. WTF eh?

Haven't you heard of time-zoning?
Oh.

Instead, I chose to watch the re-run of the Sydney 2000 Olympics opening ceremony, also shown on Channel 7. Bloody excellent I tell 'ya!

Some people say, it was only because the Australians just couldn't help to accept that Olympics in Sydney was so over, and they would love to think that the Greeks would never able to achieve the same success as theirs. At least when it comes to the opening gala party anyway.

Whatever.

All I know is, I missed the Sydney opening ceremony because of the fucking bad TV reception (damn you RTM!) on my TV at my place, back then in KL. So, this time I made sure I won't missed it. Didn't I tell you.., it was EXCELLENT!

I can always catch the Athens ceremony tomorrow morning, when they do a re-run of it at 9:30am.

Smart me, eh?
;-)

Memo update

2004-08-12T17:21:00.000+08:00

Been really busy lately sorting out my studies, and of course back-posting my blog entries, as noted in my memo in the side bar today:

Memo - CHUP.. sat!

Yes, I'm BACK!

In fact I've been back for nearly 3 weeks, but just been too busy getting back to my studying routine, and home life too..

If you are still interested to what happened during my recent trip back to Kuala Lumpur (from the 10th until 25th July 2004), then you can just scroll down and click on my July 2004 Archives. That way it'll be easier for you to just scroll down your screen and read the whole lot.. :-)

[Which is why I still need a laptop so that I could update my blog easier! An iBook would DEFINITELY work just fine for me.., please.. anyone?!! Hehe.. ;-)]

And.. *sigh..* it's definitely nice to be back home..

And it's nice to be back blogging too! ;-)

Olympians

2004-08-11T16:30:00.000+08:00

You just know that the Olympics is just around the corner, when most of the newspaper start to print a picture of half-naked men on their front cover..

*mmmmmmmm*
And I'm NOT complaining!

Oh my.. what a day!

2004-08-09T22:41:00.000+08:00

Despite my sudden excitement to the recent episode of Oz on SBS last week, I was just feeling too bloodyfreakin' exhausted to even flicked on the TV remote tonight.

Yeah, it had been THAT full long day, today.

Went to college early in the morning, and didn't even get home until close to 7pm. Then gotta start doing the cooking for dinner too (I'm a good husband, you see. Hehe..)

It was just that, there was so much catching up needed to be done in my classes, specially when it comes to the current projects and assignment.

*sigh*

I better go to bed now, and just try to sleep and rest. I totally need it.

The ultra-cool Ocean's Eleven

2004-08-08T23:50:00.000+08:00

I can't remember how many times I've seen this before, but tonight, I've decided to watch it again, but only because Neil hasn't seen the movie Ocean's Eleven before, so it would be nice to sit and cuddle on the sofa, and watch it together this time..

Besides, I still think the movie (at least the current remake, not the original Rat Pack one, since I've never got a chance to see that one yet) is so bloody cool!

Uhm, er, and George Clooney is in it too.
Of course! What was I thinking, eh?! :-P

Anything with George Clooney in it, count me in baby.

Anyway, despite already known the whole plot lines, I still fine the whole movie entertaining. Maybe I just love such genre, you know, all this good-guys-as-the-bad-guys thingy, with a little bit of big-time-stealing-job plan thrown in, and not forgetting a cool soundtrack in the background too.

And then, there Julia Roberts too. With that elegant entry scene, how can we all not love that girl?!

I still think My Best Friend's Wedding was her best yet though, and only because she got Rupert Everett.. hehe

Anyway, as what already been known to public, the producers are in the process of making its sequel, Ocean's Twelve - duh! - so, it is definitely something to look out for.

It'd be interesting to find out who's gonna be their 12th member, and with Julia being pregnant during the filming, I just can't wait some maternal hormones sizzle around between the main cast.

And as long as they stick to the formula, I couldn't see why it can not be a success.

And of course, Clooney's sweet sexy smile would always help too!

Happy birthday Pinat!

2004-08-08T19:24:00.000+08:00

In the true traditions of August birthday babies, today IS another birthday for another dear friend of mine, Pinat.

I sent her a quick Birthday SMS text message, while were driving down to Fremantle for our Sunday drive, in this beautiful sunny and clear blue sky winter day.

On one hand, we had such a good time in Fremantle.

We looked around at the new WA Maritime Museum and then had a scrumptious English breakfast - I know, NOT healthy! Hehe.. - for lunch, which really set back on the amount of walking we had done earlier on.

Then, we continued our sightseeing, along the famous cappucino strip and also made a few stops to a few shops, including a small bookstore for a quick browse.

On the other hand, Pinat didn't quite have a great start on her birthday.

In her reply, she told me that she had another row with her mom, and for the umpteenth time she was asked to leave her mom house.. again.

I felt really sorry for Pinat, but considering my distance, there's nothing much that I could do besides offering her comfort and ears for her to share her problems.

Despite the unfortunate bad start to her birthday, I wish her all the best, hoping that things would get better for her from then.

Happy Birthday Pinat!
We wish you all our love.. And please take good care of yourself too..

Singing In The Rain

2004-08-07T23:44:00.000+08:00

Tonight for the first time in my life, I watched Singing In The Rain on the telly.

And I was surprised how much I actually enjoyed it.

Why my surprised? It was all because I wasn't really a big fan of Gene Kelly in the first place. You see, Cary Grant? He's OKAY! *drools a little bit there* But not Kelly.

Besides lacking in the good looks department, Gene Kelly also lacks that highly-desirable on-screen sizzling charisma. And his voice was a tad bit ordinary too. Lacking that manly oomph.

But if there's one thing I can salute him, it HAS to be his talent in dancing.

He could burn the dance floor any time he likes, and it would always be awesome. And Debbie Reynolds didn't do bad either in this movie.

And it's funny how we had only just seen her recently, making a cameo in Connie and Carla (starring Nia Vardalos and Toni Colette), which we saw in Singapore, and tonight, there she was, all so young and beautiful, singing and dancing her way into Gene Kelly's character's heart.

unfortunately, we didn't see the stage production of this movie, which were shown in Perth a few months back, or else, it would have been great to see how the great charisma between the original roles in the movie - and not forgetting those cooly-choreographed dance moves - being translated for live audiences.

Maybe next time..

Crazy/Beautiful

2004-08-06T23:20:00.000+08:00

Watched a little bit of the teenage love story Crazy/Beautiful, starring Jay Hernandez and the talented Kirsten Dunst.

Even though I only the last half of the movie, it wasn't so hard to figure out the whole plot of the movie, because it was pretty much a standard formula in which the rich girl meet and fall in love with the poor boy. In this case, totally unacceptable in the class conscious society, which had been used countless times in any Bollywood movie productions.

Despite the obvious, this was still a beautiful movie, made even special by the convincing acting of Kirsten Dunst and the oh-so-cute jay Hernandez.

As a matter of fact, I could just sit there and looked at Jay alone and I'd be doing just fine, but it would probably do nothing good for the movie at all.

So, yeah, it was a good romatic date movie to watch (at least for the last half of it that I managed to catch) and YES, Jay Hernandez is one helluva cute boy. :-)

Happy birthday Alfie!

2004-08-05T19:40:00.000+08:00

Ever since I sorted out the study thing at TAFE last Tuesday, I've also made myself busy doing a little bit of spring cleaning in the study, especially getting all my study notes and past projects neatly compiled and ready (for references purposes), and ensuring all my drawing materials to be found in its place.

However, with all these whole lotta stuff running through my head, I still remember the fact that today's my dear Alfie's birthday!

Unfortunately, unlike the previous years when I actually called him up in UK, and wished him over the phone, I missed the chance to do so today, and had to be happy with a mere SMS text and an email Birthday wishes.

Besides, he seemed to be very occupied lately too, based on his last email stating that he got a new job in Cardiff, and would be moving there too, from his old place in Birmingham.

I hope Faris (who's in London at the moment, for work) would have better chance in celebrating and wishing Alfie's Happy Birthday there in UK personally..

Happy Birthday Alfie!
Wishing you all the best and lots of fun *wink wink nudge nudge* in this special day of yours!
;-)

All Saints' The Videos DVD

2004-08-04T17:02:00.000+08:00

I've been watching and listening to this DVD over and over again the whole morning, and I still not fed up with it!

Hehehe.. :-)

It was just that I've always LOVE the last album of the group titled Saints & Sinners, with so many great tunes such as: Pure Shores, Black Coffee, and All Hooked Up, and the fact that William Orbit was involved with the production of the album just made it even better.

So, naturally, I would also inclined to like the videos which come together with such great music, and this DVD really satisfies that lust!

With a few addition from the older songs (from their previous album), the whole videos collection simply portrays and treasures the girls' musical talents (and great looks too) at their best.

Happy birthday Norzeen!

2004-08-03T23:47:00.000+08:00

It's Norzeen's birthday today.

I haven't seen her for a long while, the last time being in KLCC in late 2001, when I asked for her favour to use her office's photocopy, when I need to make copies of some documents needed to be submitted to the Aussie High commission in KL, when I was applying for my student visa. Old story.

Anyway, the last news I heard from her was when I was in Madrid for our Christmas holidays last year, and that she was quitting her job and moving to Germany.

And I haven't heard from her ever since.

Midnight last night I sent her an email wishing her Happy Birthday (and crossing my fingers that she actually reads them!) and earlier this morning at TAFE, sent her a Birthday SMS text message to the Germany handphone number she last gave.

And my efforts were not wasted at all. :-)

Later today, I received a reply from her via the SMS, and she said thanks and how she's been doing okay, ever since she moves and works in Germany. And we promised to catch up more over the emails too..

I really missed her, and Alfie, and Faris, and a few other people who used to be in the gang, and we were VERY close together back in Junior high school time..

Miss you all guys..

And.. Happy Birthday Norzeen!

All sorted

2004-08-03T17:44:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was a long day at TAFE, when I took some time to discuss with one of my tutor, trying to sort out the subjects I could take for the new term.

It was really worth the effort, because he really helped clearing up the mess in my mind regarding my studies, and also tried to get me back to focus on my studies.

Early today, I went back to TAFE to finish up with my enrollments, and thank God, everything went fine. Although it took more than a week to sort things out, all what matter now is that I can get back focusing on my studies.

My first class would start very soon, and with this all renewed energy and hope, I just can't wait to finish the Building Design & Drafting (recently re-named as Building Design & Technology) course that I've started for the past 2 years or so..

Just got to stay focus.. and keep up with the pace!

*PS: With the happy outcome at college, I went to the city after that all in high moods, and ended up buying a few DVDs which were on sale at JB-HiFi, and they are All Saints' The Videos and Victor/Victoria (starring Julie Andrews). Hehe.. :-P

Focus boy.. FO-CUS!!

Oz

2004-08-02T23:16:00.000+08:00

SBS Channel has been screening the TV series Oz for a while, and I've seen one or two episodes, but were never really got hooked into watching the whole show.

But today had been a rather long day at TAFE, with me still trying to sort out my subjects for the new term, and at the moment Neil's been surfing on the net. So I got nothing much else to do to unwind, so I decided to sit still and watch tonight's episode of Oz.

And boy, did I have a nice surprise!

One of the main factor that had caught my attention about this series, was the fact that Christopher Meloni, the actor from the other TV show Law and Order: SVU (Special Victim's Unit) also act in this prison story.

I've always impressed (and a little bit smitten too!.. Hehe..) with Meloni ever since I first saw him in SVU, with his great acting and dashingly good looks. What with those piercingly deep blue eyes, that strong chiselled jaw with those sexy thin kissable lips, and don't even get me started on his solid buffed to-die-for athletic body! Oh yeah, baby!!

*drool*

And tonight I wasn't disappointed, because it was also the episode that he appeared, and apparently stayed for the rest of the season.

Although I missed the infamous shower scene, where he did a full frontal, this episode is still crucial because this is when (in this 2nd season of the show) we would be introduced to his gay love interest in the romantic form of Tobias Beecher (by an actor Lee Tergesen)!

What made the whole thing even MORE interesting was the fact that this love story between the two hunky guys carried on into a few more seasons of Oz, so it would be definitely worth watching the developments of this two characters.

Tonight's episode was the one when Tobias first realized his crush towards Keller (Meloni's character), and how he'd been secretly admire Keller, while Keller knowingly keep flirting with the poor guy by flexing his muscles and exposing his crotch seductively while sleeping in his boxer shorts. (Yep, they also happen to be cell-mate too!) Yummy!

*drool*

All this flirting eventually climaxes in a scene when the two boys decided they couldn't take it any longer, therefore there started smooching (hallelujah!) in the laundry - aww.. so romantic, isn't it? - much to the disgust to their fellow prison mates nearby..

The episode ended with the boys being separated, and Keller being put in a solitary confinement for defying the order of the prison officers to behave (haha) himself, while Beecher were being left alone in his cell (poor guy!), pondering upon the consequences of his kissing and the exposure of his feelings towards Keller.

I was so charged up by tonight's episode, and I'm pretty damn sure, I'll be checking out the developments of these two lovebirds in the future episode of Oz.

Let's just say SBS just got another permanent fan for their Monday night's slot (and I used to be one too, back when they showed the last season of Queer As Folk).

And BOY, did I tell you how HOT Chris Meloni really looks, with that naughty glint in his gorgeous deep-blue eyes, and oh that totally buffed manly body of his?
I want more!!

Of prosperous suburbs and The Others

2004-08-01T23:35:00.000+08:00

Still in the spirit of It Feels So Good to Be Home, we went for a drive around Perth area, in particular the more prosperous suburbs of Mosman Park/Dalkeith/North Freemantle.. just to set our bearings back, especially after seeing Bangsar and Damansara Heights in Kuala Lumpur.

And well what can I say? At least here in Perth, the big houses are slightly more reasonable in style, with plenty of moderation. Nothing excessive nor yucky. Except for a few stray ones (which were probably owned by some Singaporean businessmen.. So definitely can't be helped there).

At night time, after dinner, there was the movie The Others starring Aussie's all-time-sweetheart Nicole Kidman, shown on Channel 7.

Since there was nothing else to do tonight, I've decided to watch this critically acclaimed movie.

For a start, the pace of the movie was so damn slow! I was on the verge of turning mad, just for the first one hour of the movie. So that instead of just sitting there on the sofa, getting excruciatingly bored to death, I decided to do a little of washing up the dishes, and cleaning up the mess in the kitchen.

And it wasn't a bad idea after all.

Not only I got to do the cleaning up (rather than wait later before bed time), the movie picked up its pace in the later part of it. And my attention was finally caught by it this time around.

As the movie unfolds further, there was so much twists and turns, that the wait wasn't a waste of time after all.

I wouldn't dwell further in the details of the plot, but let's just say that if you like the surprise bit in the movie Sixth Sense (starring that boy Harvey Joel Osment with his very famous lines, "I see dead people.."), then you'll definitely love this one too.

In the end, everything falls back in place, and all the boring bits in the earlier part of the movie, slowly unfolds and explained in the end.

All I can say is, I wasn't disappointed with the whole movie at all, except that if only they had edited it better to tightens up the earlier part of the show, I would have been even more happier.

Not bad for a Sunday night movie..

Plots With A View

2004-07-31T23:40:00.000+08:00

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

2004-07-31T20:15:00.000+08:00

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

2004-07-30T23:25:00.000+08:00

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

2004-07-29T23:49:00.000+08:00

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

2004-07-28T22:48:00.000+08:00

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

2004-07-28T14:46:00.000+08:00

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.

2004-07-27T13:44:00.000+08:00

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!

2004-07-26T13:43:00.000+08:00

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..

2004-07-25T22:41:00.000+08:00

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

2004-07-25T01:15:00.000+08:00

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

2004-07-24T18:30:00.000+08:00

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

2004-07-23T23:59:00.000+08:00

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

2004-07-22T23:37:00.000+08:00

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!

2004-07-21T23:34:00.000+08:00

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

2004-07-20T23:32:00.000+08:00

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

2004-07-19T23:30:00.000+08:00

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

2004-07-18T23:32:00.002+08:00

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

2004-07-18T23:28:00.000+08:00

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

2004-07-17T23:27:00.000+08:00

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

2004-07-16T23:27:00.000+08:00

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!

2004-07-15T23:24:00.000+08:00

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

2004-07-14T23:24:00.000+08:00

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

2004-07-14T23:23:00.000+08:00

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

2004-07-13T23:20:00.000+08:00

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

2004-07-12T23:18:00.000+08:00

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!

2004-07-11T23:19:00.000+08:00

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!

2004-07-10T23:17:00.000+08:00

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!

2004-07-10T14:00:00.000+08:00

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..

2004-07-10T13:45:00.000+08:00

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

2004-07-09T12:52:00.000+08:00

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?

2004-07-08T23:14:00.000+08:00

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..

2004-07-08T14:21:00.000+08:00

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

2004-07-07T13:22:00.000+08:00

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..

2004-07-06T17:39:00.000+08:00

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

2004-07-05T22:58:00.000+08:00

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!

2004-07-04T23:08:00.000+08:00

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

2004-07-03T23:13:00.000+08:00

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

2004-07-03T00:01:00.000+08:00

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.

2004-07-02T23:30:00.000+08:00

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.

One month blogging

2004-07-02T14:34:00.000+08:00

Hey, I just realized it's already one month since the first time I've decided to make an effort to do my own personal blog.

Gosh, how time flies when you are having fun!

Here's for many more months to go..! :-)

No more Thursday nite's blues

2004-07-01T23:01:00.000+08:00

Thursday night's no longer a drab!

And that's all thanks to the TV programmer at Auntie's (which is a fond nickname for Australia's Public TV Channel: ABC). They've finally got back to their senses and decide to made Thursday night a comedy-filled shows on telly.

Well, at least for the 2 hour duration during the prime time slot anyway..

First we have the ever sensational Absolutely Fabulous (a.k.a. AbFab for short) shown at 8:30pm. I think it's the latest 5th season they are showing now, of which the first two episodes, we had seen long time ago (in December last year, actually) while we were on holidays in London.

I've always LOVE the antics of Edina and her partner's in crime Patsy. Always hilarious, never failed to make me laugh. Tonight's episode was the one when her daughter announcing her pregnancy to her African boyfriend.

The end bit (aired during the credit rolls) are so typical of AbFAb trademark, which just made me craving for MORE!

Next in line was the Deadringers comedy sketch show.

For any first-timers living outside UK, this sketch-show TV would probably seem a bit irrelevant, depending on where you live of course. Anyway, if you are patience enough, you'd be surprised by some of their dead-realistic impression of some of the internationally famous characters, be it politicians or just plain TV/movie stars. Among other worth looking out for are the one of Tony Blair, George Dubya Bush and the best of all time (damn realistic I tell 'ya!) our good ol' Ozzy Osbourne. Even some of the unsuspecting people who were taped along in the show were fooled by this Ozzy in his usual antics. LOL

This current season (out of god-knows-how many-season-aired so far) starts with their Christmas special (it's always Christmas in July here in Oz!), and it seems that the comedy crew are getting better and better. As a matter of fact, they are far more superior in terms of believability compare to other Australian produced comedy sketch TV shows, with similar concept like Channel 7's Big Bites.

The Movie Show used to run on the other TV channel, SBS for a while, until the show's anchor-person decided to ditch SBS -- for whatever reason -- earlier this year, and joined the ABC production.

The show now re-named At The Movies still maintains its original concept with the constant bantering between the show hosts: David Stratton and Margaret Pomeranz. So besides the new location, hardly anything else was new.

Frankly speaking, I wasn't really a big fan of either of them and the show. Personally, I found that their reviews are merely their personal attempt to out do each other's opinion, rather than giving a straight forward comment (either artistically or just plain laymen's movie opinion) relating to the movies discussed. However, for a comparison, I think the other ABC show, called Critical Mass (aired on Sunday afternoon and night - one current episode and the other a repeat, so check your TV schedule) do a better job in in reviewing stuffs (which include art, books and movies).

Anyway, THIS show is better to filled the current Thursday night slot rather than any other crappy shows ABC had thrown in before, so it IS fine by me. Besides, hubby actually LOVE the show, so I don't really have a choice there, do I?! Hehehe..

To complete the set, ABC has decided to re-schedule Mondo Thingo into tonight's slot.

It doesn't really matter when they show THIS awesome programme, as long as they actually DO SHOW it!

I've always LOVE Mondo Thingo since the first time they aired in Australian TV. The quirky and funny host, Amanda Keller just made watching this particular show such a treat! And she's cute too! Haha.. don't worry, she's NOT converting me back to become straight! (Not that I've ever been a straight boy anyway! LOL)

(Apparently, Amanda was also the person who used to host the futuristic TV documentary Beyond 2000, which I grew up watching back in Kuala Lumpur -- Boy! Has it been THAT long time ago?!)

For the regular viewers, they'll probably noticed how the show keep changing and swapping the backdrop for this show. It could be the colour, or some furniture pieces shifted and move around, so basically every week, you see fresh show literally. And then of course, there's the interview, which is always FUN. Tonight's episode, had Amanda interviewing the sexy Puss In Boots actor, Antonio Banderas. *purrr..* I just can't wait to see she struts her stuff one day, when she'd finally able to live her dream and interview *drool* George Clooney (Sorry girl.. he's mine!) *Woof!*

Now that Thursday night is back in order, let's just hope that new seasons of other shows like ABC's Kath and Kim, BBC's Book Group and Coupling will be heading this way too!