LOST IN TRANSITION

something interesting is taking place in this country this weekend. the government here has announced that it is switching from a thursday-friday weekend to friday-saturday weekend. i guess they have finally realised that no man/country is an island and to be able to deal with other countries only 3 days in a week is a bit troublesome.

anyway, this transition will take effect on september 1st 2006. and because of this, some commercial companies (such as mine) are following suit. as result of THIS, i am getting this thursday-friday-saturday off (yay!). it feels a bit weird to be getting a day off due to this (due to technical reasons instead of celebrating an occasion). in any case - i'm not complaining. a day less spent in the office is never a bad thing! (my enthusiasm about my job is just so evident isn't it? ;P)

being the first long weekend here - i feel a little bit pressurised. i feel this need to do something special this weekend. just so that i can look back and say "oh... that three day weekend? i remember! that was the weekend when i (to fill in a very cool and exciting activity)!" but at the moment, it looks like that i'll be finishing off that sentence with a big fat NOTHING.

we (me and my colleagues - remember A and B .. and the housemate) had a plan actually.at first, a bunch of us were planning to go to this hotel on merdeka day as they are having a m'sian buffet there on the 31st. we thought that we'd be all patriotic and go gobble some m'sian food on merdeka day. but then, some of us had to back out due to .. ehmm financial constraints (my married colleagues are on 'economy' mode cos they're going back to m'sia for raya on self-sponsored tickets. plus, they eat m'sian food practically everyday cos their wives cook. so not so much appeal there). so the only people left are myself and my good-for-nothing housemate. due to the (sudden) lack of appeal of this plan, i've decided to bail out too (seriously, people need to pay ME 130 dirhams for me to eat with him.. eheh).

but i might actually be doing something after all. with my filipin* friends. eheh. don't quite know what we'll be doing, but my boss's secretary is coming up with something. will the cute filipin* guys be tagging along? not quite sure. but i personally am more than willing to accomodate them.. eheh. and i hope the 'something' that she's coming up with involves some opportunity for .. emmm.. bonding (eheh). j/k

and how will the change from thursday-friday to friday-saturday effect me? positively i think. it will be less weird - that's for sure. now, it'll just feel like i'm in kelantan or something. furthermore, i will be less compelled to be online on both days since a lot of my friends will not be online on saturday - most of them ym only from the office). this way, i can spend my saturday AWAY from my laptop and do some .. emmm ... soul searching.

yeah, right.

HAWT-NESS

sorry guys... this entry is about the weather. no hawt guys involved (unless if you count me in... hahaha)

the desert, contrary to what one might think, is not always hot. it can be pleasantly cool and breezy during some parts of the year. however, now is one of those times. nope nope nope. it's summertime at the moment. and ironically, although summer would usually bring some poisitve connotations in most part of the world - here it doesn't.

how hot are we talking about here? quite hot actually. in the past month, the temperature has been lingering the 35-40 degrees. but there are times when it will past 40 degrees. the hottest i've experienced so far was 46.5 celsius degrees. gila kan? but it's a different kind of hot as compared to malaysia. i think it's becasue of the low humidity level here. that's why even when it's hot. you don't sweat as much. you just feel burnt. well, at least now i know how those raya cookies feel like when they are inside the baking oven. ;P

the extraordinarily hot weather has affected me in more ways than one actually. it has restricted my activities (but it's not like i am a super outdoorsy person in the first place.. but still.. i COULD HAVE decided to go for desert safari or rock climbing if it wasn't so hot..;P) and restricted my ..err.. bowel movement (i try as much as i can not to do my toilet business in the afternoon. the water is hot - it burns the skin. ouch!!!). it has also affected me financially (the air-conditioning needs to be on ALL THE TIME. you cannot afford to have an air-cond breakdown. you'll just DIE. and because of this, my monthly utility bills has gone to a about RM600 a month. people in m'sia - stop complaining about your utility bills ok? hehehe).

summer is also the time when the occurrence of sandstorm will be at its most frequent (i read this somewhere.. so don't quote me on this). but you can only feel the real impact of the sandstorm when you are in the desert. the actual desert (not when you are in the city). last week, we went to to this factory that was located about 25km form the city. the plant was literally in the middle of a desert (due to the highly hazardous nature of the product being manufactured). we were in the middle of the plant tour when suddenly ...whoosh! (that's supposed to be the sandstorm sound). we rushed to get inside of the building. but the sand was flying everywhere and i hd to squint my already very small eyes to maintain visibility. when we finally got inside the building, i realised that i already had sand in my MOUTH. pteww! (i'm going crazy with the sound effects today... heheheh). i had sand on my face. sand in my hair. sand in my ear. actually, it was fun!

anyway, i wish it would go up to 50 degrees celsius soon... you know why? because it is the law here that if the temperature hits 50, all businesses/ offices must close. so here hoping!!!! (i am SUCH SUCH a motivated worker aren't i? my boss must be so proud... ;P)

I KNOW WHAT I DID LAST WEEKEND

my almost non-existent social life took the form of existence last weekend. driven from near-lethal condition of boredom on a thursday afternoon, i decided to call my boss's secretary. she is a 29 year old, single filipin* girl with good sense of humour (let's just call her J). i asked her what she was doing and she said that she was gonna go out to buy a new microphone for her karaoke machine. doesn't really sound like the most interesting thing to do... but at tht point - anything was better than staying in my room. so asked her if i could tag along. 20 minutes after that, i was already in a cab with J and her friend, K. objective - to find a microphone for her karaoke machine.

we decided (well actually THEY decided - i'm still not very familiar with the city i'm living in) to go to a departmental store located at this part of the city which i rarely go to. the place looks like jln masjid india in kl and we went to d*bai's mydin supermarket equivalent. mind you, the place was brimming of people. and 98.73% (heheh) of them are male. testosterone-charged, sexually deprived working class men. so whenever they see a member of the opposite sex, they would stop and stare (i'm not kidding). and they don't care how pretty is the girl as long as she is the girl. since i was walking with two girls that day, part of the spotlight was on me too (felt like a celebrity for a bit..heheh). i'm telling you - this place can do wonders to girls with low self-esteem :)

whilst shopping for the microphone, J told me that she was attending her cousin's birthday later that evening. and they will be karaoke at the party. my mind made a backhand flip upon hearing this (kemaruk nak karaoke) but i was a bit apprehensive about attending the party. being the highly introverted individual that i am, i'm just not comfortable being the odd one out in the party. but of course i'll be the odd one out in the party - i'll be the only non-filipin* around! so i politely declined the offer.

after getting the microphone, we decided to go to an adidas factory outlet cos i wanted to get some running shoes (yeah - i'm a cheapskate. but i prefer the term smart shopper better.. ;P). and i did get a pair (which by the way has not touched the soil even after 1 week cos i've been too preoccupied with work (read: LAZY)). and after that, we stumbled upon this optical shop that was selling designer shades at rm 100 a pair. yup - ONE-HUNDRED-FREAKIN'-RINGGIT (after conversion). the catch - you won't get the original carrying case for the shades. why ? beats me. but at a hundred a pair - who cares whether they come in the original carrying case or not!

after 10 minutes of scurrying the shelves of the whole store (yes- i am a wise AND fast shopper), i decided to get this pair of white-transparent dolce and gabbana shades. original price as peer tag - rm 665 (jangan jealous..heheh). the design actually screams PLU (well maybe not a scream.. maybe a strong whisper or a hiss) but whaddahell - a closeted plu needs to look good too sometimes right? hehehehe. whatever the case - it was a good buy. and making good buys always make me happy. i came out from the store with a pair of d&g shades in a speedo carrying case :)

and at that point of jubilation and elation, J asked me again if i wanted to join them to the birthday party. and i said yes (i was high at that time). she immediately called her cousin to inform her that i'll be coming (she actually called and said "oh btw, K is bringing a malaysian boyfriend" and giggled. i was like shit - matila aku. if there are any guys who fancies K at the party - this guy will corner me to the wall, grabs hold of my shirt and give me short, plausible warning). then i realised that i have just agreed to a night of possible awkwardness, discomfort and anxiety. crap! but it was too late to back out. so just to prepare myself, i stated asking J questions. how many people will be at the party (she said 15), what does her cousin do, is the cousin married, are there any cute guys who'll be at the party (wishful thinking.. hehhe)

so we were off to J's cousin's place. amidst all the anxiety, i was quite excited because i've never been to a filipin* house before. but before we went in, i said to J "J, if no one talks to me... please don't leave me alone at the party". she giggled. "don't worry - i won't". we rang the doorbell and J's cousin greeted us with this huge smile. god she could pass for a malay any time! but once she opened her mouth - she failed.. heheh. they immediately went on this high-speed conversation in tag*log. laju betul! as soon as i went in - i started to take off my shoes. K saw me doing this and stopped me - you don't have to do that here. she smiled. ahh..my girflfriend for the night was so sweet.

as i went into the living room, J introduced me to everyone. and i was flashing my best and friendliest smile to everyone while making a quick headcount. shit! they were already 14 people in the apartment - and there was more to come! "i'm gonna kill J for this".

we were immediately invited to help ourselves with the food after that. and J being the considerate friend/colleague that she is, asked her cousin whether there was any pork in the food. at first, her cousin had this puzzled expression on her face (maybe she was confused at J's sudden interest in pork because J doesn't eat pork). "no.. there's no pork in the food. why do you ask?". "because my friend here is a moslem and doesn't eat pork". the moment she said that, all eyes were on me (ok la ..not all. but those who heard the conversation turned to me. i guess during introduction J has left that bit of information out. ). "oh really? well dont worry. i got most of the food here from the chinese restaurant nearby". i was so thankful that she said that because the truth was - i was REALLY hungry. so after taking the food, i chose the most secluded seat available and dragged J to sit with me. she obliged.

everyone at the party was friendly. a few of them actually came to me to have a chat. i guess they find it amusing to find someone who looks like them but yet do not speak the same language nor practice the same religion. i felt a bit like a display item at the museum (but in a good way). and let me tell you - these people really know how to have fun! i don't know whether the booze played a part or not, but they were rocking and singing along for hours - NON STOP. the noise level was so high that i was constantly afraid if the police would come. i know i was going to be dead if the police had come cos i was the only moslem around and there was booze all around me. but luckily, they did not come.

one thing that i find so fascinating about them is the high five ritual. they were a lot of high-fives flying around all the time. after someone makes a joke - there'd be high-fives. after a song is over, they'de be high-fives. after a photo is snap. there'd be high-fives. so... hollywood movie-ish. and the guys would have a special handshake (which i still coudn't figure the routine out until the end of the party) and hug each other a lot (this routine i can adjust to in no time). so that night, i got hugged and touched cheeks with a few cute filipin* guys... hehehe. best best.
all in all, i think it was an enlighting experience. i realised that you can choose to be happy. it's an attitude. J's cousin and her husband does not live in a very big apartment. it's a one bedroom, one bathroom apartment with a single aircond unit (everyone was holding a paper plate on one hand fanning ourselves throughout the party). a small hall is shared for the living, dining and kitchen area. but they look contented with their life and genuinely happy. so did most of the guests there. there was so much joy, warmth, laughter and brotherhood among the guests - it was almost inspiring. if anything, i have learned three things from the party:

- happiness is an attitude
- money is not everything (actually i'm putting this to convince myself that it's not so bad if i decide to come back to m'sia sooner than intended..eheh)
- hugging (cute) filipin* men is nice ;P

DISCLAIMER: there isn't a single part of the story written that was meant to degrade / disgrace a particular nationality or individual :)

SHE'S ONE IN A MILLION!

ok, i know that the title is a little bit "out of character" for a plu blog. but i can't help it - she IS!!

i'm talking about dayanggnurfaizah by the way.

just finished watching the latest episode of one in a million on the internet (i hope they won't take this away from me by blocking bluehyppo). and she ROCKED, baby!

oh before i proceed, let me just declare that i have always been a HUGE fan of dayanggnurfaizah. check my friendster profile if u don't believe me (hehehe). in fact the only time that i stepped foot into planet hollywood was to watch her sing (not that there is anything wrong with it). i still remember the first time she appeared on tv. it was the golden teen search competition or something. she was this plump girl with not-so-flattering dressing (who could blame her? she was still young). but i remembered her. i really did. but it was only after watching her mindblowing performance during anugerah industri muzik did i start to fall in love with her voice. now, i am a proud owner of four of her ORIGINAL albums (i didn't get the first album cos i just didn't think that it's fair that they were giving it for free when you buy some makeup from ZA. TOTAL gender discrimination ok?)

when she tried out for the OIAM audition, it got everyone talking. a lot of (not very smart) people were saying that it's not fair that such accomplished artiste is entering a competition together with a bunch of amateur and semi-amateur singers.that it was a bad career decision that might really backfire. but they do not realise that THAT was the whole point of the show! apart from uncovering new talents, it is also intended to allow established singers to further expand his/her career. now at what point of her entering the competition is not fair?
but malaysians being malaysians (or rather malays being malays), we are not very receptive of new ideas or concepts being thrown at us ("what? a singer with 6 albums is competing with newcomers? INI TIDAK ADIL!!! JOM KITA KOMPLENNNNNN!!!!!"). and it doesn't help that most of the local malay entertainment journalists have the same backwards mentality. and as a result of this, the same question has been thrown at her again and again.. sigh .. "cliche sangat" (i'm quoting the words of the quite-cute zainallalamkadir who was the guest judge of last week's show)

to me, what she is doing is admirable to say the least. she's risking a lot by entering the competition.and she knows about it. if she loses, she'd be the 'that accomplished singer who lost to that newcomer'. but she is going through with it. clearly she wants this really badly for willing to risk it all. and that shows determination. and passion (macam poyo pulak but nvm). i can feel how much does she want to expand her career overseas. i can safely say that anyone who is a fan of malay r&b is already a fan of hers. whoever who is not already a fan will never be a fan. so the next logical step would be to geographically expand her base. indonesia ke, papua new guinea ke, solomon islands ke. but to do this, she needs money. and i assume with the things that has happened to her in the last couple of years, she has financial constraints (legal fees, previous self-financed album etc). then OIAM comes along, providing her with the opportunity to realise her dream. and what does a smart person do when she sees an opportunity in front of her? she GRABS it.

but as much as i adore her, i do wish that she can answer questions from the media better. smarter. cleverer. i wish i can let her borrow my brain and eloquence (kekekek) to answer the question. dayangg, the next time a reporter ask you the same question - please answer like this ok:

pbbtthhhh!!!!

hehehe.. just kidding

ok ok, maybe this would be a better advice:

"sebagai seorang artis ( this is again a cliche .. but we cannot run away from this one... nanti reporter boycott if she doesn't start her answer this way... heheh), dayangg memang berharap dapat mengembangkan bakat dayangg. dayangg nak menembusi pasaran antarabangsa. nak harumkan nama negara (oh we should never EVER leave the part about wanting to make the country proud bit out). tapi untuk dayangg mengembangkan bakat dayangg, ia memerlukan perbelanjaan dan pelaburan yang besar. mungkin dayangg kurang bernasib baik sebab kurang ada pihak yang dapat membantu dayangg dalam merealisasikan impian dayangg ni. tapi dayangg rasa dayangg tak patut diamkan diri. dayangg perlu cari jalan. dan bila munculnya rancangan ni, dayangg rasa dayangg tak patut sia-siakan peluang ni. inilah kali pertama ada pihak yang memberi peluang kepada kami artis-artis rakaman untuk mendapatkan apa yang kami perlukan untuk mempertingkatkan lagi kualiti industri muzik negara kita. dan di sini, dayangg ingin mengambil kesempatan untuk mengucapkan ribuan terima kasih kepada pihak eighttv di atas kesempatan yang diberikan (humility and gratitude is always key..heheh).

mungkin ada pihak yang mengatakan dayangg cuba menutup peluang bakat2 baru bila dayangg menyertai pertandingan ni. dayangg betul2 tak bersetuju dalam hal ini. pertama sekali, kita perlu lihat apakah objektif eighttv menganjurkan pertandingan ini. jika ianya adalah semata2 untuk mengetengahkan bakat2 baru, tak perlulah pihak eighttv membenarkan artis2 rakaman sedia ada untuk menyertai rancangan ni. apa yang dayangg lakukan ini MENEPATI objektif rancangan ini. tak patutla ini dikatakan tidak adil kan? dan lagi satu, kalau kita betul2 tak mahu untuk menyokong dan tidak menutup peluang artis2 baru, dayangg rasa dayangg tak bolehlah buat album baru kan? sbb bila dayangg keluarkan album baru, pastinya album itu akan bersaing dgn album artis2 baru ni betul tak? (pas tu buat muka sarcastic sket) yang awak ni encik wartawan - boleh tak tanya soalan yang cerdik sikit? dulu belajar kat mana?" (ok ok please ignore the last part)

yeah ....i know ... i'll make a GREAT local artiste kan? hahahak

anyway can i just say that i love the show? I LOVE THE SHOW. first of all, i feel that they finally found a match for that "oh i couldnt make a living being a musician in new zealand so i decided to come to malaysia where they listen to white guys like me" or "oh i only came to this country a couple of years ago but i TOTALLY know what this country wants" paullmoss. syafinazzselamat is one of the most outspoken local artistes around (and she has the self-confidence to match it). it's really great to see they go neck to neck with each other. and i do think syafinazzselamat makes more sense than paullmoss most of the time. the show also boasts the best group of contestants i've ever seen (i've been following local singing competition religiously since ramlahhram won bintang rtm... so i should know what i'm talking about ok?) they are a few contestants who are less talented than others. but what they lack in talent, they make up for it with their cuteness (ehehe).

but sadly enough, i don't think dayangg will win. not her, not the cute guys either. why? because i think it's going to be malaysian idol 2 all over again. sigh...