Jika diberikan peluang, saya mahu strangle seekor ayam di kawasan perumahan ini. Ayam ini, walaupun hanya seekor, mampu mengejutkan seluruh kawasan jajahan DAP ini dengan kokokan-nya (?) yang nyaring - jam 5:30 pagi, setiap hari. Sometimes i feel like ayam tu sebenarnya tidur di balkoni aku. Or under my bed. It’s not fair okay! I need my sleep! You know how tiring it is to be solving riddles and battling demons in my dreams? Pffth. If i dont get the ayam to shut up then there will be blood soon!

I won tickets to see Backstreet Boys tonight. Tiket tu adalah sumbangan dari the investment team here. Alangkah malunya bila satu Company mendapat email pengumumam bahawa aku telah memenangi tiket tersebut (yelah selalunya email untuk all staff adalah berkenaan market indeks atau berita2 hangat dunia kewangan). I cant walk anywhere without anyone singing a BSB tune today. Haha very funneh guyz.

It’s so hard to get up in the morning today. My snooze normally goes off twice before I get up, shower, make coffee, catch the news on CNN and then perhaps watch a bit of CSI. On Channel RTM2 normally ada rancangan ‘Jom Minum’ (I still think the name of the show promotes alcoholism LOL) yang selalu membuat saya rasa lapar dan ingin pulang ke Kota Bharu for a bite of roti bakar di White House.

Speaking of which, don’t believe all the crappy stuff they’re saying about Kelantan. I know it’s the election fever and all but please, seeing is believing. Poverty is poison. But who am I to say this, all I can do is switch the channel and pretend that Obama will rule Malaysia instead. Yeah. Hillary pun takpe, I tak kisah.

Last Saturday di Annexe, Amir Muhammad launched his New Malaysian Essays 1 and Sufian Abas dengan Kasut Biru Rubina-nya. Suf, terima kasih di atas kata-kata perangsang tersebut and-of-course-i’m-being-sarcastic-here. But since i am a wonderful friend, here’s the book promo: Get yourselves a copy of these books. Sangat best! Tolonglah beli! Feed the starving artists! Hack the planet! :D

Saya juga berasa amat gembira kerana dapat bertemu teman-teman lama pada malam itu. Walaupun gaya hidup baru (bebas tanpa unsur hedonisme) sedikit sebanyak menjarakkan kita, namun jelas persahabatan kita semua masih utuh! Apa-apa hal, Sabtu ini kita jumpa di The Loft ok! Hehe.

Di Annexe, aku telah memulangkan sesuatu pada Saharil:



This is why you all should lend me money! I always pay back (er, well, most of the time), I always return things that I borrow! In this case, after 7 years, Jukstaposisi dipulangkan ke pemiliknya.

Gotta run. Starbux is giving out free coffee here!

Kasut Biru Rubina! 16 FEBRUARY 2008!

Kasut Biru Rubina! 16 FEBRUARY 2008!
Originally uploaded by sufian_abas

I'm such a bad friend! Anyway, my greatest critic (no, actually he's just that mean and sarkastik to me - dia umpama personifikasi budak2 Mean Girls tu, minus the boobs), hey apa aku rambling ni, so yeah anyway Sufian Abas is out with a new book! Aku tak marah walaupun my face didn't make the cut for the cover (ini bukan cerita dongeng) but yeah, he's awesome! Filosofia terulung! Dia rawkz!

(Annexe tomorrow, 8:00 pm. Jemput datang ye)

Demam. Well, slight fever. So tak boleh lah nak mengada sangat.
Bukannya tak boleh bangun, bukannya tak boleh berfikir.
But after 4 days break baru nak demam? Itu yang agak upset tu.

Bertambah upset apabila pergi ke doktor panel,
Doktor panel mengesahkan bahawa ya, you have slight fever
Tapi you tahu ubat apa dia kasi kat I?
Panadol & Clarinase
Like hello, kalau setakat bagi ubat2 macam ini,
I pun boleh jadi doktor okay!

In fact, i take Panadol and Clarinase all the time
Sampai sudah tiada effect dah. Like coffee.
Which is why i go see a doctor!
Grrr, geram sungguh.

Anyway, ketika cuti CNY i took my nephew and niece main layang-layang di Taman Metropolitan Kepong.
Angin sangat baik sekali, walaupun in the 1st place i was more interested in going home, layan America Votes 08.
Tapi bila layang-layang (Pocahontas kite, mind you) sudah tinggi, wow, syioknya!

Here’s a tip, di taman tersebut, untuk mengelakkan dari layang-layang tersangkut dengan ratusan layang2 di ruang lapang itu, go fly your kite by the lake. The wind is better there, and tiada gangguan! Manyak syiok!

Speaking of my nephew, he is 15. Muka sudah berjerawat, suara sudah pecah, maklumlah dah adolescent.
Gemar memakai baseball cap dan berbaju warna hitam.
Kemahiran utama adalah menari ‘shuffle’ walaupun dia selalu kena maki ngan aku:
“Why can’t you dance like Usher or Solja Boy instead!!!”

Anyway ketika kami di Jusco last Saturday, ada minah gedik ni (around his age) usha anak buah aku.
Amboi adik manis, tengok saya punya anak buah macam nak makan ye! *roll eyes*
Aku tengok anak buah aku sama control macho, sambil memberikan jelingan tajam dan senyuman ala Peter Petrelli pada awek tersebut.

Pergh, boleh tahan playa jugak anak buah aku ni. Ikh, budak2 zaman sekarang.
Makcik is very proud of you Danial! Hehe.

Suddenly I feel very old.
But harap2 Danial akan terus membesar menjadi seorang lelaki yang menghormati wanita.
I dont know, we’ll see about that.
Jangan dia mengurat awek rempit macam kat Jusco hari tu sudah.

"kelate rock"

"kelate rock"
Originally uploaded by [n.]

I'm going back to KB tomorrow for a haircut and a meet-and-greet session.

Altogether now,
"I think I’m drowning, asphyxiated…"

Photo by [n.]

OK selepas menjalankan kempen makan ayam penyet dengan jaya sekali setelah pertama kali menikmatinya di Kota Singa, i finally went to the Waroeng Penyet located at Cik Nate’s pasar ahad: The Curve. Gaaahhh it’s so good! Sehingga menjilat jari pinkie! If only i could learn how to make ayam penyet (no wait, first i have to learn how to cook huhu). I’m not a big fan of the Teh Botol but it was a delight to discover Jus Gembira (it’s like air bandung, with soda). Sambil munching on the crunchy chicken with Girl hari tu, tiba-tiba kami teringat, it’s been a year since we last menjejakkan kaki ke Bali. Tahun ini tak tahu lagi bila masa sesuai untuk pulang ke sana, kalau Amerika Syarikat dilanda recession, kalau Barack Obama asyik kalah kepada Ms Clinton, kalau Indeks Han Seng terus jatuh, kalau ada lagi artis Hollywood mati tergolek disebabkan drug overdose, you think i have time to spend my money on a tiny holiday?

Perhaps i do. I just need some excellent time management to execute.

This weekend (25 & 26 Jun) ada persembahan Mak Yung di Istana Budaya. Jemput mari adik kakok! Should be good. Kalau si Endeng Tejeli (yang telah dipasung di Gua Tegayung kerana rupa parasnya yang tampan) tidak kacak, I want my money back weh! ;P

* entry deleted. Aku malu tengok muka aku sendiri! *

Satu Penghijrahan.


Click to enlarge

Datang sini malam ini bagi pihak aku (because I got fancy schamcy dinner with bankers tonight – honestly, I’d ditch my bareback red dress anytime)



Appearances by:
• Funky Doryz,
• Duniya,
• Nazar & d'extensions,
• Infinatez,
• Najwa,
• Imran Ajmain, (woot!)
• Radiostar,
• Otam, (kroni!!)
• Noh &...,
• Tongkat,
• Bard Layarjiwa,
• Pash,
• Fynn,
• Roy a.k.a. Fairul Nizam (kroni!!)
• Arus Pelangi

Booths and brands: PopRina, Super Sunday, Click a Child etc. (mana Ricecooker? Pop Malaya? Our Happiness?).

[Happy Birthday Mike]

After having pre-birthday supper with my girlfriend (it’s her birthday, not mine) at Palate Palette last night, i casually said to her “Let’s be Melayu and go to Dataran Merdeka for a change”. It was meant as a joke but as if i was on auto-pilot, i drove to Dataran anyway. HA ha! Rupanya ada raptai some New Year concert going on, and M Nasir was singing. Then Mawi was singing. Sigh i wish i have something sarcastic to say about him right now but i’ve been sleeping half of the day today so yeah, kepala agak blur sikit. Been reading John Fante (aku masih tidak faham kenapa lelaki2 Melayu mengagumi Bukowski – oops jangan marah Sayang). We left 15 minutes later, kerana the ppl there were starting to look scary. In fact mawi’s voice was so loud, i had to turn up some drum n bass music kasi full blast sikit to block out his voice from ringing in my head. And to block out lagu tema Sembilu Kasih yang tiba2 menyesakkan minda aku.

To the kids di meja Our Happiness di Kurasa Something ‘do last Saturday, i like my tee shirt very much thank you. Keep up the great work!

I swore i saw Lacoste Posterboy di Neraka on that day tapi by the time I turn around, dia sudah hilang. Magik betul.

Selamat Tahun Baru. Kalau jatuh, bangun sendiri ok.

Dalam bahasa Kelantan, this facial expression is what we call ‘ma-seh che-toong’. I barely passed my phonetics-and-phonology masa kat uni dulu so dont ask me how to show you how to pronounce it here. So what is ‘ma-seh che-toong’ you may ask? Tu, tengok muka suami aku Ahmad Dhani tu, masam mencuka. Keh keh.

Photo stolen from Azman. (Bro if you’re reading this, gw mmg pencurik! You rawkz! Ayuh kita ke Bandung!)

I was trying to sleep on Tuesday night dan gagal (anxiety ni) lalu aku telah mendengar radio. Then a female voice came on, lirik-nya terlalu familiar: “Hawa tercipta di dunia, untuk menemani sang adam..”. The voice sounds familiar too.. hey wait a minute, this is Ella singing ‘Dua Sedhjoli’!!!

WTF. Ella, you fail at life. Stop singing covers. You have no right.
Ohh, satu lagi. An email from Suf:
"Meet Uncle Hussein macam bapoks. Who the fuck says akue, miu, bowneka, ciukuplah?"

Bwahaha. (Kudux jangan marah aku my friends say the darnest things all the time)

Oh Lupe Fiasco, album terbaru-mu sangat best sehinggakan aku telah berjaya menyapu seluruh rumah dengan penuh diligent sekali walaupun aku allergic pada habuk (alasan wanita urban terkini). Funny how I got myself geared up for a rock concert dengan mendengar lagu rap. But i made peace with myself, kali ini i’m gonna go to the concert, sit back and relax.

So yeah, the Dewa 19 concert yesterday. First of all, sedikit disclaimer, segala komen di sini, are of my own. One’s meat is another’s poison yada yada yada. Kalau ada spelling error, that’s because i’m typing in semi-darkness. Aku terlalu gayat untuk menukar lampu siling dengan sendiri.

First of all, I met Pierre Andre. Kami sama-sama berbaju merah. Sama-sama duduk di tepi jalan. Walaupun era fangirl-ing aku terhadap PA sudah tamat tempoh, but i just had to mention it here lah. He has nice ass. Tee hee.

Second of all, aku beli mug Dewa 19. Tahniah kepada entrepreneur2 Malaya yang bijak meng-print ‘merchandise2’ Dewa 19 untuk kami baladewa yang sanggup membeli apa sahaja ini. Workmanship begitu teruk sekali tapi aku tengok sales mereka begitu brisk. Syabas! Apa kata you allz tahun depan jual figurin Dewa 19 pula eh?

Third of all, all you ugly Malaysians yang tak gheti beratur dan pakcik-pakcik RELA yang hangat2 tahi ayam suruh orang beratur macam di kem Auschwitz, aku tak maafkan sampai bila-bila.

The concert itself was great (yes of course i’m bias but still!). If we put aside the endless Xpax commercials, the completely useless Dollah Cantik whoeverhemaybe and the 1and a half hour wait (why does Dewa 19 always have this knack of making you feel like they’re never gonna perform?) the next 3 hours seemed like a nanosecond to me. Our view was great, facing Andra and i think Once was on our side most of the time so that was a double bonus for us.

Dont ask me what song they played because i think they pretty much played most of their hits as opposed to their ol’skool playlist ketika di Stadium Merdeka sebelum ini. I pretty much started crying the minute *cough* si khalifah *cough* Ahmad Dhani started singing (that would be ketika his intro to Sheila Majid’s version of Aku Cinta Kau & Dia). Girl sudah mula menangis ketika start lagu pertama lagi, tetapi dia mmg emo macam tu. Hehe.

Their collabo with SM and Rabbani jived well (really well actually) until that little pijat in baju ala Gwen Stefani muncul – oh Mulan Kwok why do we even breathe the same air. She cant bloody sing, she cant dance, her legs are too skinny, her new single sounds too much like a Dewi-Dewi track (sorry Ahmad Dhani) and who one earth gave her the green light to sing Andra & The Backbone’s Musnah! Memang MUSNAH lagu itu. Aku rasa sel otak aku mati sepanjang ‘pencemaran’ Mulan di atas stage. Nggh.

Sedikit distraction sepanjang concert adalah courtesy of the Indonesians fans (no not you rich ones, the other ones – the headbanging, banner waving topless ones). No, this is not a racial/country profiling here because as we know, Malaysian (legal) concert-goers most of the time are passive. Kami tak akan robohkan benteng besi, kami tak akan lompat benteng besi. In future concerts, please dear Indonesian concert-goers, please have some respect for our RELA officers and the concert crew. Half of the time i was worrying about the older RELA officers, what if things go wrong, what if something happen to them, who will be held responsible for the mess?

I woke up early this morning feeling like baru lepas kena brainwash. Was i at the concert of the year last night? Then why do i feel like baru lepas ditinggalkan oleh seseorang yang aku cintai? Ok ok fine, kejiwangan tolak ke tepi, I hope Ahmad Dhani will come again next year! And years to come! So that my kids will get to see their Mommy’s madness!

Made a last minute decision not to see Andra & Backbone tonight. Am too tired. Have i not learnt my lesson from the previous Dewa19 gig di Planet Hollywood?

Photos of the concert will be directed later to my friend Azman’s fotopages who had photographer’s pass last night.

Shine on!

(kenapalah aku tak ambil cuti sahaja esok)

kenapa aku tak jadi tea lady sahaja

bloomberg training
Originally uploaded by natinski

Sometimes i secretly wish that i’m a tea lady. Semua orang baik terhadap tea lady. Gosip rumah tangga, putus cinta, kisah artis pop malaya, semua dikongsi bersama tea lady. Hey i have skills in buat air yang sedap, i say to myself. Why am here, in the pantry, nodding to the tea lady, wishing for one second aku boleh jadi tea lady. Kenapa harus aku risau tentang krisis sub prima yang melanda Amerika Syarikat? Bank mergers? Sukuk? Kenapa? Kenapa?!?

Emo kejap. Takmau lah jadi tea lady. I love my job too much at the moment to be wondering about how manis my coffee is these days.

i want one (maybe not)

i want one (maybe not)
Originally uploaded by natinski

Di office lama, i’m known as the walking dictionary. Tapi kini, dah lain pula, i am the walking thesaurus! Not sure which one i like the most but mana-mana pun okay. Nobody speaks Malay here. Oh well. Hey, if i can charge 50 bucks per word, i’d be rich by now! Namun begitu, i am still getting emails from my ex-colleagues meminta jasa baik aku betulkan grammar mereka and whatnots. No problem. Super Cik Nate sedia membantu! Cik Nate juga sedia membantu si budak trainee yang half-British itu dengan masalah bahasanya. :)

The girls here would hum “Aint no mountain high enough’ apabila mereka terlalu banyak kerja untuk disiapkan. Memandangkan i cant sing for peanuts, i just crank up my rap tunes on my iPod haha. Release tension sikit. Phlowtron pun layan juga because rap Melayu best juga apa? Tak pun i just go downstairs dan melihat sekeliling dari perspektif seorang wanita yang bekerja keras(!) demi masa hadapan-nya (!). Tak pun kalau rajin aku melangkah sedikit ke Starbux kerana jika Shak ada sana aku akan dapat 30% diskaun. Or some rubbish like that.

Have a great weekend. Kita harus jadi baik minggu ini. Harus!

(not my boobs)

Semalam di persidangan Baladewa di Suzi’s Corner kita telah memutuskan bahawa we will not make the same mistakes we did (non-mentionables) the last time Ahmad Dhani and his soldiers of lurve datang ke Malaisia. Instead, careful planning shall be made to ensure that I we will get the best of him. Hehe.

Am feeling a bit sick today. Semalam apabila i got home, i raided my [nearly expired] collection of medicines (yang disimpan dalam kotak cokelat. How convenient – let’s give them to kids!) and took a spoonful of Breacol and pil yang ditanda ‘demam’ dan ‘sakit’. I slept like a log last night. Woke up, got ready and drove to work. Rasa seperti melayang.

In other words,

I’m high today ok.

Ohhh i thought i was going crazy for a while tadi. I hate being on dial-up.

So yeah, what Cik Nate want Cik Nate always get! (mind the grammar) Managed to reach Zouk last Friday walaupun I was cursing all the way dari Sierramas ke Jalan Ampang hehe. Terima kasih En. Transformers kerana sudi menemani (well i tricked him into believing that I will introduce him to hot German girls - which i did eventually thanks to Ira & Jazmine).

Rasa macam bermimpi apabila dapat berhibur bersama Tompi dan Malik & d'Essentials. Time flew so fast and they were fabulous! The next thing i knew, we were already partying the night away di The Loft (it was Led Zep night) where i bumped into Zedeck (ikhhh kiyoot-nya dia), Sunder, that crazy guy from Ciplak and even my geeky cousin pun ada, haha. Tiba-tiba rasa macam di gig Hujan pula because there were so many boys looking like ppl who would be seen at er, a Hujan gig. Many thanks to Chee (and Sunder) for everything.

I think dah banyak kali I keep forgetting that I'm already 30. I need to stop being reckless wehh (tapi Cik Nate tak puas enjoy lagiiiii!, jerit batin). Am not getting any younger and I'm sorry for hurting the one I love because of that.

Esok ada induction the whole day. I hear the food is good. In case my stupid Internet connection buat hal lagi esok, Happy Birthday to Farrah, Ame and Elin! Love you guys!

My beloved Tompi and Maliq & d’Essentials will be performing at Zouk tonight! Jemput datang ye!

Badabing! Kerajaan Malaysia 1 - DBP 0

Rais tells DBP to stop borrowing foreign words

KUALA KLAWANG: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) has been told not take the easy way out by borrowing words from foreign languages to be added into the Malay vocabulary.

Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said such a regressive attitude would not benefit the Malays, who have a rich heritage.

“What I don’t understand is why should we borrow words from other languages when we have our own. A fine example is the word iklan (advertisement). I have been made to understand that the DBP dictionary no longer uses the word iklan and has changed it to advertansi,” he said.

Dr Rais said there were many other examples and the DBP had to stop this.

He was responding to a comment by Grik MP Datuk Dr Wan Hashim Wan Teh who claimed that DBP had run out of ideas and failed to do proper research on Malay words.

Wan Hashim said DBP also used words such as bajet (budget) and konsultansi (consultation), although there were words in Malay that denoted the same meaning.

“DBP should borrow foreign words only after it has exhausted all options in looking for a suitable word in Malay,” said Dr Rais at the opening of a RM3.5mil public library by Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.

So fine, I only read comics for the sole purpose of liking the plot or illustration like Scott Pilgrim (baru baca semalam hehe), Summer Blondes, Blankets, Ghost World, Death: The Time of Your Life or whatever thrown my way but it’s time to pimp something new and local: Komikoo.

It’s only 4 bucks! Out now in stores, y’allz. I like it a lot!

p/s: Come on, when was the last time you read a Malay comic that uses phrase like ‘ubermensch’ eh?

Ketika sedang menikmati cupcake di D'Lish Bangsar bersama teman-teman termasuk Nasrullah yang singgah ke KL dari Jakarta, I-do said the most spot-on thing last night. She said that i totally deserve this job for the 2 years and 2 months that I've suffered from my previous job.

She is right. I think I am much happier now. Of course there is no such thing as the 'perfect job' and I am doing my best at the moment to cope with the new job but yes! i am heppi! la la tally ho and all that.

Cuma agak tertekan bila teman-teman baru di office berkata "But you're an experienced writer, that's why the management hired you!". Experienced, maybe. But an excellent business writer?
Brrgh gerun aku dibuatnya.