in the midst of insignificance...

Just one of those insignificant events - I parked my car, went to settle some matters/work, came out, approached by the parking attendant, he charged me, I paid, he issued me a receipt, and I was out of there.

But that day was quite different.... I was greeted by this much older man... Very old, his frame looked fragile. Very old you would imagine he would prefer to sit at home and relax in this golden years of his. Instead, he was all energetic and lively and seemed to enjoy his job. When he first approached me, I didnt know he was the parking attendant. He had the "friendly-neighbour" aura...

"Helllo Miss... going back already?" in a happy, joyful tone.

I was like "ermmm......" didnt know how to respon, huhu... a bit weird for someone u didnt know to be that friendly out of nowhere...ritee? to top that, I can't see his face clearly at that time.

"Going back? Do you have your car here, miss?" and as he asked and came nearer, I saw him taking out the parking ticket book from his small sling bag. Oooo.... parking ticket rupanya...

"Ooo just here... haa there..." pointing towards my car, 4-5 metres away. He followed me and took the yellow ticket and gave out a small laugh, "Haha, not very long...Hmmm, ok. that'll be only 30cents, miss"

uncle ni.... friendly and speaks english in a very polite manner..I handed him the coins and said thank you.

"Wait a minute ya, miss.. I will write you the receipt" wrote and gave it to me "Okeyyy, done...here is your receipt... Have a nice day, miss..."

"Same to you, thank you....thank you yaa" went into my car and lifted my hand as a gesture of appreciation and he waved back at me and then to the next car behind me, stopping the fella's car, to issue the ticket.... all with smiles and the consistent "friendly, happy" face :D

That uncle, he reminds me of the good old days... 15-20 years back, when people are friendlier... Well that uncle actually brings me back a lil more to the past, through colonial times, clearly shown from the way he speaks english which is different from our generation these days :P But above all, worthy of note.... is how his positive attitude made me smile that day :-)

From this so called insignificant event, I learn that if you are happy with what you are doing, or stay positive, you project positive energy to only to yourself but also people around you. Memang betul lah bak kata pepatah,

1. Senyum itu Sedekah
2. A smile is a curve that sets everything straight ~ Phyllis Diller

  

What was I doing in that post office?

Event: Very Recent
Location: A mid-east products stall in campus
Scenario: I wanted to buy a bottle of apple juice and ask about the mango juice that looked like concentrated but most likely it might be fresh juice. Hmmm let’s verify wokey?

Excuse me, How much is this? (showing the small apple juice bottle)
~ 2 Ringgit
How about this one, is this concentrated or can we just drink straight away? (showing the mango juice)
~ Yes, straightaway
Ooh… It’s ok, I’ll just take this one (putting back mango juice and holding on tight to the appley bottley)


Then another customer, a mid-east, asked me "are u from here? a local?"
yes... why
" u speak good english" (he sounded surprised)

(Hoho... okay, u should hear me Manglish-ing English…)

Instead of saying that, I said
"what's that suppose to mean? Many malaysian speak good english... " sambil gelak senget-senget hidong…

we were both on a bright mood although I am quite defensive :P Both smiling diplomatically, haha.

" no .. no .. malays dont speak good english..." (I was not sure whether he said Malays or Malaysians, but either one, for me it’s still a fallacy)

"that's an insult, you cannot make..."
He continued "i've been here 3 years... no, no... they don't" He laughed gently not wanting to fire things up kot, then started to walk away.

"come on… that’s insulting" I echoed…. sambil gelak bibir sebelah aja.

3 years here and he didn’t come across malay/Malaysian who speaks English better than me? U gottah be keding me! Lawak sepanjang zaman nih! Huhuhu… I don’t even speak the perfekto English per se. Grammar suka-suka hati jer taruk tau. Then, Manglish some more kan.

Oh ya, but with foreigners I tend/try to be accent-less. Or maybe he come across with too much Manglishness and had hard time decoding, you know, like to filter out all the “lah”, "yek", "kan", “maaaa”, “hoh” “erk” “eh” “aaar". Ok, now it does make sense a lil! But for him to generalize like that, it’s still faulty. His qualitative analysis has insufficient data :D Period!

--------<-- div="">

Event: Few years back, I had kinda similar scenario.
Location: Post-Office, campus (ahahha.. forever in campus nih!)
Scenario: Eeee.. what was I doing there?? Can’t remember… must be some PosLaju delivery kot! I was sitting on a small bench when a white lady around 55-60 of age, came and sat beside me. Okay, I am confused… why was I sitting on the bench in that kucifat post-office again? Hmmm? *blur... Her husband was in a queue, accompanied by a Malaysian. She was friendly, can’t remember who started the conversation but we had a pleasant chat.

~ we yadda yadda~ she’s from Australia ~ vacation with husband ~ retired couple ~ have friends here ~
~ me ~ a penangite who has been here far too long until she can predict bungee jumping from penang bridge is gonna be next thing to look out for~ errr..

“U speak English very well”

Ok.. wait... is this an issue… like local issue ke global issue ke? Or is it because I have the ‘haaa, wat u talk yer, I zonno Englis’ expression eh? that i surprised em even with my intermediate english?

Or is it because we are from a country that doesn’t practice English as our first language, so having a good/fair command of it is almost impoh-sibley? :D

“I was told the locals have hard time with english” She was a dear, the way she put it, it did not sound offensive but it made me think (Okay, who told her that aaar?) and I speculatively looked at the Malaysian accompanying them… adakah dia memberi info tersebut? “some students in the universities too, I believe…?” she continued.

Of course, yours truly tried to clarify. I said that’s merely generalization, not depicting the real picture. I talked about diversity; I talked about the different school systems hence the different background people have. I talked about languages and English as the second language, and it’s not mastered by just one group of people/race.

If you are wondering… Yes, her hubby was in a veli long-long queue, imagine, even after that clarification thingy, we had time to spare, and she talked about her kids. Then again, brings us back to this question: what was I doing sitting on the bench for so long aar?? Aiyoo Lupa lah…


So, anyways…

I don’t see why we should think toooo highly of English to the extent that we think not having a good command of it is a disgrace. Yes, it is an important language, and it is important to be able to convey the rite messages, to your interest group. It’s just a language, doesn’t represent our level of intelligence. On the other hand, our effort to learn a language is also a part of exploring and widening our knowledge, rite? So it kinda reflect on the effort part :-)

As we know, the significance of this particular language varies. In some part of the world, (countries where English is not first language) it’s not at all crucial, as they believe their own language has strength of its own, whereas in some other parts, it’s all about survival in the global market. For some, English is a symbol of status and class.

We/our country… seem to have a rickety stand on this. One day, it’s all about mastering english from early age to ease your way through tertiary studies. The next day, it’s all about placing the national language as priority before any other language. Confusing sikit eh? Advice? Just try to master both languages lah :-)

P/S: My Ultimate Choice of verbal communication: Malay Language ;-)

Akhir Kata,

Where's My Uncle Tobys?

Tarian Hujan musim ketiga

On our way to dinner, it was raining. SuperBB and I entered the restaurant. Wow… full house! Only the tables at the last row were empty. Rain had ceased, so we didn’t have to worry about getting wet. Halfway through meal... it started to downpour again, thunder and lightning dancing in the sky. Even after we moved the table slightly inside, the rain still sprinkled on us. SuperBB said: “Takper, let’s finish eating… control macho je”

The drizzle tickling my face and SuperBB’s macho expression made me laughed. I concluded my meal with a cup of hot Nescafe, which I guess had extra ingredients of acidic rain water. Gagaga... Still raining heavily; we decided to battle the rain to the car, parked not far away, under an overhead bridge.

Our side of the road was somewhat flooded with rain water (slightly above ankle length jer) and we had to cross over to the opposite side. SuperBB: “Redah jer… kita pun dah basah”

1, 2, 3…. Run!!!

SuperBB victoriously crossed over… but I… Waaarkh… one of my slippers is missing! Gone! Tenggelam, Lemas di bawa arus! Half shoed, I looked for the other half in the water but the 'current' must have washed it away. Both of us tried to look for it by meraba-raba-ing the not-so-deep water, and peeping under a car parked there.

After 10minutes demonstrating Tarian Hujan around the car, decided to follow SuperBB's advice to come back at day light to look for it. Uwaaaa…. :-( I went back to my room disappointed, smelling like drain or rain water… not sure myself.

Next day, Yes… I went back to check. But it wasn’t there.

I’m sorry dear… I drowned your twin!!!

I can get a new pair, I know… but it won’t be its twin partner la kan. Hmm... maybe I should buy the same slippers with different color, eh? Then, I can wear it as same color pair or as mismatched pair with this now solo slipper… mix & match is trend right??

* I keep having dramatic experiences with shoes sandals, slippers @_@
Lesson Learned: Pakailah selipar cap Tat Seng...


Akhir Kata…
Sediakan Payung Sebelum Hujan,
juga sepasang selipar tambahan.

Tak Kenal Maka Tak Cinta...

• A: Can you believe this soap? Why is that woman wearing such a heavy make-up going to sleep? =Looking at the TV=
• Z: Isk Isk… dramatic sungguh…
• A: Eh... wow… the Waja’s sport rim super cun lah! =Looking at one of the cars parked outside the restaurant=
• Z: Hmmm… I’ll save some money and have mine changed too next year.

Look right, Look left… front... nothing interesting at that moment…

• A: Should I start writing that letter tomorrow?
• Z: You should... and also finish up the photo-editing, and also start compiling your literature reviews. Keep that in mind.
• A: Ouh.. so much work need to be done, Haishh….
• Z: Dun worry, be positive… Slow and steady wins the race =smiling positively=
• A: Weeee, here comes my Roti Pisang
• Z: uuu.. still hot… where’s the fork and spoon eh?

…….

This dialog can go on forever. A and Z are the same person = me! That’s me and an example of a dialog I have when I’m dining alone. When I dine with someone, its 2 ways communication therefore I make way to listen. On the other hand, eating alone, I talk and talk... non-stop. The difference is - no one can hear my inner voice.

What is wrong with eating alone? Haha…

Some people prefer to ‘tapau’ (take-away) food rather than eating alone in a public place –restaurants etc. I used to be like that, until recent years. Undeniably, I prefer and love dining with friends, but sometimes when no one is available at that time, and I am sooo hungry I could eat a dinosour (sambil perut menari2 dangdut gerudi)… I will just hit a café or a restaurant and eat alone (but sometimes I tapau too).

But Yaaah… eating alone is kinda tricky… I can entertain myself to the extent I can be very close to laughing out loud; or seeing interesting things around, I have a tendency of changing my facial expression according to that. Euwww… creepy and so weirdo ok! Never do that in public wek! I’m getting good at controlling it… haha… (takut kena cop psiko)

Yesterday nite… I ate alone… at this mamak restaurant nearby campus. The humongous TV was playing yet another soap drama, about some hantu keliwon kot. I ordered pasemboq and waited for my food to arrive, emptily watching the TV while I was having my usual az-to-az chat.

Suddenly a man around 40+ of age came to my table and held on to the chair diagonally opposite of me.

• A: Ohh.. he wants to take the chair…
• Z: Erkk.. but there’s so many empty tables around.

Then, he pulled the chair and sat.

• Errr… excuse me… why is he sitting here?
• Omg… is he going to lecture me for something I did? What did I do just now? =Usual paranoid attack=
• Nah... he won’t attack… this is a public, open place.

I looked at him… he looked back.

He looked relaxed.

I looked back… he looked at me blankly.

• Z: Ok… this is scarryyy…… Atta… help!!!!!

I looked back at him , my face expression all distorted with confusion and some hints of fear. He looked back and snapped

• Encik Konpius: Ehhhhhh…. Alamakkk!! Ehh...Salah meja!!! =Looking shocked and startled=

me =terlopong luas=

• Encik Konpius: ...saya ingat bini saya…. Ehhh! bini saya kat situ.

He thot I was his wife?? He quickly stood up, pointing to where his wife is seated; two tables away, behind me.

• Encik Konpius: Errr.. minta maaf.. minta maaf… salah orang.
• Me, Dazed: ha… err.. oh… takpa-takpa…. (its ok)

He quickly walked back to his wife. Behind me, a table with a group of girls, giggling “Dia salah meja ka… hihihi”

I sat there, didn’t want to turn around. I was confused for a while... and then I wanted to laugh... I wanted to laugh out LOUD… but how could I??? I am eating ALONE!!!! Haissshhh…. These are some of the challenges of dining all by yourself!

I finished my meal. Then walking to the counter, I passed by the couple. Both of them smiled coyly. They were going back themselves, and were getting in their car by the time I came out.

• Encik Konpius: Sorry naa tadi.. tersilap meja. terkejut ka tadi
• Missy Dazed: =smiling politely= Ha’ahh.. errr takper2…
  Isteri Mithali (wifey): Hehehe… Mintak Maaf naa.. dia terkonfius tadi
  Missy Dazed: Hihihi.. takper2.. terkejut sikit je tadi…

I smiled and waved my hands before heading to my car.

Ok… Lesson Learned!

Next time I eat alone… I should put a signboard beside me

“Saya bukan bini anda, sila cuba meja sebelah”

Akhir Kata...
"Tak kenal maka tak cinta, tak kenal maka memang tersentak"

Keracunan ubat gegat

UWaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa :)) + :((

Tak sabar-sabar untuk menyahtoksik diri saya


p/s: peristiwa no.1 adalah kesilapan teknikal...
note: jangan menangis kekaguman ya melihat bakat melukis saya yg lama terpendam... ahaks

Akhir kata....

Air yang tenang jgn disangka tiada toksik

watermelon shield

a friend once told me... that i'm like a water melon

"hard outside… soft and sweet inside..."

Waa.... gambar ini sungguh la makes me wanna eat watermeleng now!

Ouh... about me and the watermelong thing... u peeps know me well enuf... ye dok? Luarannya nampak ganas but hatinya begitu sopan... kuikuikuikui... yeker? :))

Btw... generally... Usually, these so-called ganas/macho girls can be more sensitive, fragile... Vulnerabilty of the softer side being attacked, being ganas applies like a shield for em. ekehekeh... But as the watermelon ages... does the shield get softer? Hahahaha... soalan bak Discovey Channel ni... jawab jgn tak jwab... ahakss...

When u say "Sweet Dreams", make sure u don't use numbers

I'm a dreamer.

Some people have dreams occassionally, some just once a while, and some rarely. Me? I Dream! I dream almost everynight... I know, some of my close friends who I at times torture with my dream stories are rolling their eyes right now. Mwahahaha.... Like "No, not about your dreams again" Hahahhahaa.....

I dream sooo much... most of the times, I don't pay attention to em. But if the 'storyline' in my dreams involve some friends or sound interesting, they will be victimised with my stories.

I can recall back my dreams from as early as I was 5. What can a 5 years old kid's dream be like? Some 3-4 monsters circling around the dining table. Round and round... and round and round... and... round and... Ok... I think they get the point!

There's one dream that has been bugging me for quite some time though. I just dreamt about it again a few days ago. A dream where I'd be back in secondary school, in Form 5. I love it when my dreams transport me back to the memories of school days because at times, they just felt so real (revisiting places I used to hang out, joking and running around with friends). But sometimes, this dream would be interupted with an anxious feeling.

I would have a feeling that I have not prepared anything for my SPM, specifically for Add Maths. Suddenly, towards the end of the dream, I would be feeling worried-sick that the big exam is just around the corner and I have not studied a thing, especially Add Maths. I dunno how to put this feelings into words... Like "u start to feel butterflies in your stomach"-kinda feel. It feels like my whole future was at stake and I was not ready. Yalaa.. big exam kan.... and it was as if I was totally clueless and unprepared. I'd be awake after a while, feeling a bit anxious. By then, I'd realise it's just a dream and boleh tarik nafas lega.

I don't dream about this very often though. But I have this dream like from time to time... after a few months or years... but the feeling is the same = worried and Not prepared!

Hmmmm.... but why Add Math? This has to go in X-Files.... kan kan....

Since it's a repeating event, I had some time analysing this X-Files of mine. I've thought of some possibilities:

1. I was a lazy student who never did her Add Math homework. I used to leave my homework blank until the following lesson, I'd be the one asking most questions when Mr.Lo announced to the class "Any questions you want to discuss?" I'd fill in the blanks when the answers were discussed and written on the blackboard. It's weird... I'd do all other subjects' homeworks except for Add Math...Could this be the reason??
2. I never liked tuitions. But the only subject I chose to enrol for tuition was Add Math... I'd be listening to what Mr.Rao taught and tried to remember and understand them. But.. again.... I never did the homeworks.
3. For our debate team, we each had our "so-called bombastic" introductions. Elena, first speaker "As long as Titanic remain sunk, and shall never sail again, I will stand affirm with....." Prema, second speaker "As long as the electron....bla bla bla..." and mine was, "As long as the formula of the roots of quadratic equation is negative b plus minus square root of...bla bla bla" (LOOK at the FORMULA wehh... damn long....) Why on earth did I use that as my intro? Never did AddMath homeworks... got guts to use it for some literature purpose some more!
(maybe I should ask Elena if she has dreams of Titanic ship or... Leonardo di Caprio, maybe? :P)
4. SPM revision? I would do some exercises from revision books, just to get familiar with the structure of the questions and answers. A few days before the paper, I memorised the important formulas for every sub-topics... so even there were certain questions I couldn't answer... I wrote down the relevant formulas and fill in any numbers I'd see in the question, just to bag some marks from my answers... Maybe my method of studies/ answering had violated Pythagoras' theorem or some algebra ethics?? so.. i'm haunted?
5. Maybe Mathematics keep haunting me because I was supposed to take up Math course in my tertiary studies??
6. Or... maybe my Soulmate will be a mathematician?? :P:P HAHAHAHA.... oppss... lari topik!
7. Or is it a sign or a reminder not to take things for granted?

Added: Truth be told, as responded in the comment, I was very playful and kind of carefree during SPM (teruk rite :P). When the whole class would be intensely doing their own revision, I would jump around finding people who I could entertain or sembang2. At home, my sis would be studying for PMR and I would be on TV... Hmmm... Maybe I was too relaxed last time, that the anxiety had been diluted and dispersed into my dreams... possible, no? :S :S but still... why addmath?

But if the Add Math-phobia is a price to pay in order for me to get dreams of beautiful memories of my school days... I'll write the cheque... But then again, I don't really have a choice of what to dream when I fall asleep rite? HAHA....

With That....

GOOD NITE u ollss....

SWEET DREAMS... (or should I say sweet-non-mathematical-dreams) Ahakss....
Sleep tite... ZzzZzzZzzz....

dancing to the throne

This week I did 2 unpredictable things...

1. I went to a camera shop to trade in my flash lite... I end up trading my D60 camera for a second-hand D300. My D60 buyer happened to be one of my friends I brought along to survey camera in the same shop. I misssss my D60 soooo so very much now...

2. I bought something from eBay.

Number 2 is a norm to some people... What is so unpredictable about buying things online? :P Well, it is for me. I am a very skeptical person. I don't think I can buy things I don't physically see. What is happening to me? Doing unpredictable things lately? Ayyaa....

Btw... I bought THIS!






HAHA...

I went to Forever 21, where Jane bought a tiara crown a few weeks ago. Found it. RM39.00. Nice... I liked it. But then, the tiara is not tudung-friendly. For someone wearing a tudung (hijjab), it will be impossible to keep the tiara still.


Since my "expertise" is on Malay wedding, and most my clients wear tudung, I needed a tiara that can fit them. Was not able to find it.

I need a Tiara to cater for outdoor shooting, in case the couple have returned their accessories back to the bridal house.

So I tried eBay. Found a few nice sites with some interesting tiara. I prefer something more simpler, but then I don't think too-simple will look outstanding for tudung, so I went for this one. I really hope it looks nice in real life... ?Need to wait another 1-2 weeks to verify that.

RM 20.00, plus shipment and insurance = RM52.00. Ok laa kan...

I wanted to buy this one. If you notice, there's a heart shape in the middle. It is also simple and fancy at the same time. Eh.... wait!! Why didn't I buy this one??? I am confused! I think it's because it was still on bidding, I didnt want to risk losing it in a bidding... so I went for the one I bought. Huhu....


I like this one: SIMPLE! But looking at it a few times.... it looked more like a hairband than a crown. But I like it... simple and clean. Will look perfect on elegant/contemporary hair-do.


Hehe... was one of my considerations. It has a classic look, but then it won't fit with Malay attires very well. A bit too medieval and too fancy.

Then I saw this... A butterfly? I hope no one wears this for a wedding photoshoot... hihi...

There are some pinky stuff that caught my eyes... I like this one. I think this one is cute, it'll look sweet on a soft/classical hairdo and also will suit garden concepts.
I get so carried away.... tsk tsk tsk....
Weihhh..... Crown shopping is FUN lah !!!!

:D

Klik Klik * I gotcha!

i LOVE photos… digital or printed… especially if a photo has a story to tell.

Since I was small kid, I loved to look at photos very much. Growing up, I’d still be looking at photos of yesteryears and remembering the times they were taken… I dunno, maybe this has helped me in keeping the memories fresh in my head.

In my teenage years, I remember I was always nagged at, by my elder sister, if the photos I took did not have nice angles. Especially when she was in Form 5, I had to take a lot of her self portrait (she wanted to put on friends’ autographs). Her complaints had me on guard everytime I took pictures of people. Center! Balanced! Focused!

I also started to develop love for photos from hi-definition cameras. At that time, manual SLR. Alisa used a SLR since she was 13. Looking at her developed photos, wow… admiration. I thought “hmmm.. bila lah aku leh amik gambaq cun macam ni aaa”. Then, I came across bunch of photos Jessie took, I was mesmerised, which led to, me chasing her for editorial board… hihiihih… I really admire their photography.

For my sis’ matriculation’s graduation, my dad borrowed his collegue’s SLR since our camera was out of order. I was salivating over it, and immediately took control. Hihihi.. konfiden je lebih… But, not all the pictures turned out ok. Malu jek.. hahahaa…

Jump a few years… while I was doing degree, in midst of completing programming assignments and chasing project dues, I found myslef glued to the computer, creating super-imposed photos. Yaa.. talk about spending too much time on computers! :P I nearly got in trouble because of that. After that, I became more sensitive on editing people, because some people may get hurt if we simply brush off or brush in certain things. On the other hand, that gave me a head-start for photo editing.

Then, digital cameras came in the market, but not many owned it yet. I remember Dindi was among the first one having this gadget so we had some digital photos of degree year… thanks to her camera and also bukh’s desa harapan’s camera :P~ Remembering it now… ahaha.. even most of my convocation photos were taken using film-roll camera… hihihi..

After working for about one year… motivated by Alisa’s , I bought a semi-SLR (Sony-H1).

My very own camera… I was sooo excited. Tak henti-henti klik sana klik sini… Never have I planned to do wedding photos. At first, I was only a tag-along photographer, usually providing company to Alisa, who started doing wedding shots using her manual SLR and semi-SLR.

A few months later, Kak Haira gave me her trust to cover her wedding as the official photographer. With my semi-SLR, I took the challenge. From the feedbacks I’ve got, I started to take more challenges, covering weddings even from people who are not in my networks.
At first, I felt stiff, at times a bit shy. I was more gabra than the groom for nikah ceremony… worried if I might missed the most important shot, the akad itself. After some time, I gained more and more confidence. Although, I tend to have gabra-ness every now and then… i’d be recovering fast.

Editing is more tiring than shooting. It involves time and effort… and that can also mean taking away some of the precious times allocated for other things. Perfecting the skills is a must… therefore, I am still learning… As for photography, my Lighting still needs a lot of practise n learning.

Maintanence is also high. Switching to DSLR-Nikon D60 which I currently shoot with, took months of saving. Since I don’t charge as much as professional photographers, I do not earn that much. So maintanence and upgrading has to take months of saving. Yaa.. like many people say, Photography is an expensive hobby… yeahhh.. IT IS! I can buy a big new fridge for my family at the price of a new lense. Hard labour u see… heheheheehe…

But… why I am taking all these trouble… I should say challenge… Trouble sounds so negative lak.

It’s all in the name of Love and Passion :D:D


I quote my sis “Tu la pakwe dia sejati, bawak ke hulu hilir” refering to my camera… hohohoh..oh ya pakwe lama, Sony masih dihatiku… tak sampai hati nak jual balik.

No, Uncle... I don’t love you :P

Have u been in situation where u find urslef lost in translation? it happens a lot i guess when ppl talk in languages that u dont master and u really feel lost... especially when u desperately need the information that's passing thru... frequent huh? hmmm... and have u even been in situation where u are "caught" in between translation?

Here is my intepretation of being Caught in translation :P :P

It was last day of convocation festival. I was so busy at the gift shop, helping with the sales so I didn’t have the leisure to go around the convo site. Shops and stalls were supposed to be closed before midnight so I used the few hours left to go around and look for something worth a purchase.

I stopped at the book stall, they were from Saba media. They sell Islamic books and journals and most of them were in English. My original intention was to get a copy of al-Mathurat, but browsing through; I found some page-turning books.

The owner and his staff conversed in Tamil when they speak among themselves. I was going through 3 books when suddenly an elder man whom I guessed would be the boss; he was around 50 years old, condemning his assistant for giving the wrong price to one of the customers beforehand. The younger guy had certainly hit below the margin and he was apologizing for the mistake. It was not a serious argument as a few minutes later they were chatting and laughing over some other matters.

I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but I couldn’t help it, I just understood every single thing. From one look, slalunya people tak bajet yang i can understand or apatah lagi bercakap dalam bahasa lain slain bahasa kebangsaan. but seriously, nowadays mmg takleh bajet sapa bleh cakap bahasa apa kan... sudah rojak maa.

By the way, back to the story, I thought I was being rather mischievous, thinking the information would be pretty handy for me to bargain later, heheh.

The boss was in front of me and upon realizing that I was somehow glued to the books, he approached, speaking in Malay and English “Good books, just choose which one, harga boleh kurang”

I was laughing inside; yes I know can kurang sampai mana. The uncle explained about the books that I was flipping through and finally I made my choice. He stated the price and with the information I had earlier... now, it’s the time to bargain, I decided.

“Tak boleh kurang ka?”

Oh nooo… What I said was fine but my tone was, if I heard myself correct, sounded a bit seductive. Euuuww… didn’t know where that came from… :P

The uncle choked and turned to his assistant, speaking in tamil

“Pochida, kadhal udherangge”Translation: “Alamak, she’s trying to seduce me”…

Ohh tidakkk…. He was about the same age as my father and no way that I would have any intention to be funny with him. Tidakk!! My face turned hot out of embarrassment and disbelief. Usually when ever I caught up in a situation where I understood what people say and it was about me, I just kept quiet. But that night was not one of those, I had to clear my image :P

Therefore, I gathered my courage, cleared my throat and said clearly

“Anthe mari kadhal kadhal la kadiyathe”
Translation: “No such lovey dovey thing going on here”

Hence it was then the uncle’s turn for embarrassment and disbelief. He looked over to his assistant again and that guy was already half way exploding with humongous laugh.

In just a blink, the sheepish man jumped out of the stall and couldn’t hold his own laughter as well. I stood there not making an inch of a move and I was posing a macho stature because I knew I was at the winning side.

After he was somehow composed, he came back in and asked in tamil “speak tamil?” I just nodded a macho nod. He kept apologizing and said he was just joking. I knew it was a joke but I manipulated the situation to make them feel guilty ehehehe… well, with the hope I get extra-extra discount for the book.

I spoke as monotonous as I could sound, and stressed the word uncle so that my intention would not be misinterpreted again. As a result, I came back buying the book with a good discount and feeling very fulfilled, like I won some match or something… Ahaks…

So… what have u learned from this incident?

Don’t judge a book by its cover

1. Marilah kita belajar pelbagai bahasa
2. Control your intonations and gestures when you speak, people can get the wrong ideas okay…
3. Kadhal means Cinta/Love
4. I am seductive after all… hihihihihie

= This story happened back in August 2006 =]

Cicak yang Durjana

Semalam Emme ajak melepak di persisiran laut Queensbay Mall. Bes la makcik ni, sebab hobi dia makan, dan hobi aku pula makan bila diajak makan. Petang tu mmg indah la, cewah… bukannye wat apa pun, makan kuih2 dan ayaq kat batu-bata tepi laut queensbay tu jer, bersama rakan-rakan lain – nando, kak ilah, rash, dan adikku. Semakin lewat, smakin banyak angin-bayu senja lah tu kot.

Hmm sebenarnya aku pun tatau apa yang aku nak tuleh… haha…

but.. sbnarnya melepak tanpa tujuan selepas sehari bekerja ni mmg bes… sbb merilekskan diri serba sedikit lah. So kami pun bersembang, merepek,ketawa2 dan menyakat sesame sendiri. Bila dah konpem senja… berlari-lari anaklah kitorang ke queensbay mall itu dan menjalankan rukun islam yang kedua. Selepas puas melepak dan memenangi tmpt pertama di racing circuit Daytona, pergilah kami untuk makan malam di gold coast (bayan bay).

Bertapa di pondok feveret, dan waaaa angin pantai dia sunggoh lah bes. Ramai pulak malam itu, rupa2nya budak2 matrik kmpp… waaa ini sudah kira junior cycle ke berapa ntah :) sebelum pulang smpt lah kami interview bdak2 yang melepak bermain pasir pantai berdekatan pondok kami itu. Kelab bowling kata mereka… waduh2 , kmpp sudah ada kelab boling gituh, wuuu… gitu skali.

Setelah di drop kan di skul, daku bawak kete… dan bersama kak ilah dan adikku menuju ke tekun. Rancak aku bersembang dengan kak ilah, tidak ku sedar adikku menyebut “macam bee movie” berkali-kali…

Tiba-tiba aku terlihat cicak durjana muncul di hadapan bonet depan kereta ku, membuatkan aku terjerit kegilaan… kerana aku sememangnya menci dan takut dan menyampah dengan cicak – cicak sedunia.

Mereka berdua pun sudah ke-gabra-an kerana aku masih menjerit2 tanpa memberikan konsentrasi penuh pada pemanduan aku. Mencii!!!! Aku geliiii…. Menulis di sini… mengingat kembali juga buat aku menjadi geli geleman semula… berani itu cicak! Boleh dia memandang muka aku apabila dia sampai ke cermin depan itu.. berani sungguh ya! Akhirnya kerana kekeliruan yang melampau, cicak itu kamikaze lalu melompat dari bonet depan kete tersebut. Namun aku terus juga pull over dan turun untuk memastikan cicak itu betul-betul sudah kamikaze… syukurlah dia dah takdok…. Huuu.. mengggeletar aku dan hamper mau menangis aku di situ…

Sampai ati ko cicak.. hari ku yang indah diakhiri nightmare yang terbawa-bawa sampai ke mimpi selepas ku pulang untuk tidur… tidakk!!! Jgn ganggu idop ku lagi, cicak… !!!!

mesej ini disampaikan khas kepada cicak-cicak sedunia...

~ sekian terima kasih ~

B.L.O.G

Ppl have different reasons to blog. With or without clear motives, this blogging thingy has become a chic... more and more people blog or merely blog-hop. I’ve read an article in The Star few weeks ago by one of their senior journalists. She was criticizing on the blogging trend, some that I can remember are as follows:

• Everyone wants to be a writer
• The extent of personal life being revealed. Most alarming is those by the teenagers
• Trying to seek attention

Hmmm can’t remember di… but the issue caught my interest. Well I am among the people who blog, ain’t i?

By the way, if you are a blogger, why are you taking all the trouble to register, log in, customize ur blog kasik bunga sana bunga sini, keep on posting, cracking ur mind to post something… Why take all this trouble lah? Well… after some surveys and so-called experience in this bloggy world, maybe this list may help you to identify your initial reason why you wanted to blog… (in any language) Adakah anda:

1. Love to write and secretly think that you have some hidden talent in writing
2. You think your writing sucks big time, and thought blogging may help you to improve
3. You think your life is great that you want everyone to know… or nicer way of putting it… you thought by sharing your great life stories, you’re doing ur readers some kind of favor
4. You need to be a public figure, don’t you?
5. You want people to feel what you feel, you want to share your secrets or problems, and show them that… It’s not easy to be me!
6. You blog… write something, post it, and read it over and over again until you have an idea of what to write on your next blog post
7. You want some second opinion… be it on your style of writing or the contents of your blog or on some issues that mocked your head…
8. You are such a divine; you write things that can help people to have a better life
9. You are so damn bored… and tadaaa…. Ur blogging dearest saves you yet again from dying out of boredom
10. You want to impress people or certain someone with your thoughts and writings… so that people can see how matured/knowledgeable you are.
11. You want to feel good about yourself. The blog post sounds good --> good enough = Life’s good! (Human arithmetic!)
12. You hold on to the motto that brags as “Aku nak blog ka tak blog kaa, suka ati aku laa”
    
    

Aiyooyoo.... what kind of list I came up with nie? Most of them are negative, sarcastic huh? Kwang3x… I am brainwashed by the Star journalist it seems. Of course she must have carried out some research before coming out with the article; as a result, most of her points were quite undeniable.

At times when I get super duppa busy bored, I blog-hop too… and ya lor… some of these blogs are way too scary. Nampaknya, ramai sunggoh mahu menjadi cool dan ya-ah-auw(seperti kata Toophat) gitu… waduh2…

Your blog represents your identity… your personality… and the way you write it, and what you write in it will determine how much details you are giving out about your self.
Some people think, blogging is like having an open diary, so it’s a violation... because diaries are meant to be kept personal and as a secret. But you see, blogs don’t have to be diaries… they can serve as journals as well.

Anyway, which category I’ll put my self in, huh?
It’s likely to be 9 and 12… and who knows… maybe my secret agenda is number 4… That’s gonna be a pick from my unconscious mind, because I’m such an attention-seeker maa…