Papa + Dom = Papadom

Adoiiii.....letih jgk aku arini. Br jer lps conference, and kene present. Dh la lewat dh ni. Tapi nk buat mcm mane, dh keje kan.

It's been a while since I last blogged. Tapi nak buat mcm mane, tahap kesibukan yang maksima. Dh la budak2 nak final dh minggu depan. So, bertambah la lg sibuknye aku ni. Tu belum campur grading, training, teaching, dan ape2 '-ing' lagi la. Sabar jer la....

Tapi last week aku berjaya la jgk mencari sedikit masa lapang dengan menonton wayang dengan tunang aku. Our choice of movie?......Papadom. Cite ni actually dh menang anugerah a few months back, even before it was shown to public. Memandangkan cite ni dh menang something, elok la jgk aku g tgk.

Well, one thing is for sure, Afdlin Shauki berjaya la jgk membebaskan diri dari kepompong norma dia sendiri. At least xder la nampak muka Awie ker, AC Mizal ker, Hans Issac ker.....not that I'm against them, tapi skali skale nak la jgk tgk a set of people different than the aforementioned above. Mcm la xder orang lain kan?

Tapi aku agak respek jgk kat lakonan Liyana Jasmay tu. X la kaku. Not bad for someone who's just been in the industry (ye ke? Ntah2 dia dh lama kot....aku jer yg xtau ni). Cite ni ader la jgk part yang serius. Tapi biase la Afdlin, mesti ader klaka punye. And aku boleh kate yg aku agak enjoy la jgk tgk movie ni.

Actually, aku skg ni ader kat Surabaya. The conference that I just attanded tu mmg kat sini. In fact, I am already in Surabaya for 4 days now. Bukannye aku xnak blog pasal conference aku ni, tapi aku ni jenis nak letak gambar2 aku kat sini. Problem is, the internet at my hotel sucks real bad. Konon la ader broadband, tapi more like limited broadband jer. Download punagak slow. Rupenye mmg hotel ni bagi limited bandwidth pun. Kalau nk faster access, kene la bayar. And memandangkan diri aku yang mmg tahap 'taik hidung masin' ni, aku pun terpaksa la bare with my current crawling pace. Tunggu jer la aku balik ke Malaysia nnt, I'll tell more about it in my next post.

Tonight is my last night here in Indonesia. Aku baru jer buat major packing. Nak tgk mcm mane aku nak stuff barang2 aku dalam beg aku. Nasib baik la aku dah supersize luggage weight aku. Btw, ni la 1st time aku akan naik Airasia as my choice of flight. Well.....bukan choice pun. Mslhnya flight balik ke Malaysia cume sehari sekali jer from Surabaya ni. Dh la tu, siap penuh sumer flight back to KL sampai la ke minggu depan. Jangan harap la aku nak stay lg selama tu. So?? Airasia la jawabnya aku.

Tapi kalau nak ikutkan, pandai betul diorg ni dalam bab nak mengainaya org. Dh la kene plan travelling aku, siap kene xtra charge lg kalau nak ubah apa2 at the last minute. Masa aku supersizekan baggage aku aritu, aku kene baya tambahan RM75 jer. Tu pun after travel agent dh buat booking. Tadi masa bos aku try tanye Airasia untuk nak supersizekan luggage, diorg kate kene bayar RM97 and kene bayar sebelum kul 4 ptg ni, which is 24hours sebelum flight kitorg. Kalau la tetibe besok x cukup 15kg yang mmg diorg dh setkan, gamaknye brape la kene bayar nnt. Tu yang aku nak tgk tuh.

Well, anyway, to be frank, flight MAS aku ke Surabaya ni actually lagi murah dari Airasia. In fact, it's about 66% more than my MAS fare. So soalan aku skg, betul ker now everybody can fly with Airasia? Hehehehe

Ok la, aku pun agak letih jgk ni. Besok kitorg akan bertolak from hotel about 10am. Tapi subuh lak kul 3.50+. Gamaknyer tido la aku lps subuh nnt. Dh la sepanjang aku kat Surabaya ni, mmg aku xdpt nak tido lepas subuh. Asek bnyk keje la genggggg.

Saje bagi sneak preview of my next blog. Tungguuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

One Busy Week

It has been one week since I got back rom Sabah. And boy, was it an amazing experience. Even though I didn't flex my muscles in hiking to the depths of Sabah's rural areas, but I heard that it was a blast. Thanks to my colleague, I have some great info on what it is all about. Maybe one day when my back is a bit better, then I will be trudging into the great, God given wildlife and having my own stories to tell in the future.

Well, I reached KLIA at about 10pm last Sunday, and my housemates were already waiting for me at the main entrance of Peninsular Malaysia. However, we didn't go straight home. In fact, they were actually enticing their charms in making me stay for the night in Mantin for a karaoke session (which I believe will go on till late at night). However, due to my state of being lack of sleep and rest, they finally ceased their efforts in luring me on the mic, as I believe that they know would be a losing battle. Therefore, we finally reached home at around midnight and I went to bed almost immediately.

Didn't get much sleep though. In fact, the same goes for the night after. I only had a good night's rest on the third. Maybe it's because I am already back in reality......and it sucks. I am already 4 days behind on work, and it's gonna be even more when I go for my conference next week. Therefore, I have been straining my eyes and hand on the computer, preparing for my conference, class notes, final paper, and not to mention my paper for another conference (it's in December, but the paper's due this month). And not forgetting that I have tonnes of meetings that I need to attend this week.

Oh yeah, I also took the role of a PRO (PRO.....not GRO) for an Intel speaker who gave a talk to the students on their elite program. On Thursday, I attended another meeting for a collaboration between UKM and UEM for a school program in Gelang Patah. Somehow, I managed to screw myself up by accepting the role as a mentor for this program, which requires me to be in Johor every month. But hey, at least I'll get travelling allowance for my efforts, right?

Well, at least I got my pay this week. Maybe it's not exactly a good thing, since I need to survive for 6 weeks plus before my next paycheck comes in. Therefore, I wasn't actually much of being in the 'getting-your-pay spending mood' this time around. Plus, with the money I spent in Sabah, and the one I need to spend in Indonesia next week, I don't have the luxury of being in my usual financial state just yet.

However, that didn't stop me from having some kick-back time of my own. Managed to go for karaoke with my Uniten gang on Wednesday, after taking a break during Ramadhan. We even had a catchy theme for our night out: Rise of BBCS - with or without Dass. But in the end, we spend almost half our time on Raya songs rather than ruining our vocal cords on songs that are usually the choice of Dass - Indon songs. And as usual, it'll be 5 guys on Sanisah Huri, Fazidah Joned, Saloma, Aishah and other male Raya songs.

After work on Friday, I took my fiancee to Downtown Cheras for a foot massage. She's been complaining about her sore feet and regular cramps that she's been getting. Once, she even had a cramp while driving. It was her first time for a massage, and I can imagine how painful she must be in when the pressure points of her feet are being pressed upon. But thank God she felt much better after it, and I'm just happy to see that she was okay and well.

Yesterday wasn't so relaxing. In fact, it was a total opposite from relaxing. Washed my clothes early in the morning. Then went to KL to get my HTC phone. One nice thing that they did to my phone was to repair my screen from the Newton Ring effect. For those who are actually trying to push the limits of their mind in figuring out what I said, the Newton Ring occur on phone screens when too much pressure is applied on it. Probably it was during many occasions when my car keys and the phone are tightly pressed against my pockets. Initially, the service center said that it was not covered in my warranty. But since it was a minor problem, and that my initial problem with the phone was because of the screen, they rectified it anyway. Hooray for HTC (but I still think that slide phone sucks, though)

Reached home and 'express packed' my stuff before going to Bandar Tun Razak for a wedding. Met my family there, including my mom (who tagged along with my uncle and aunt from Pilah), along with my brother and his wife. After that, we went to my cousin's house in Ampang to see his 1st child (he's 4 1/2 months old, FYI). It's nice to see him after years of absence. In fact, the last time I saw him, he still hadn't plunge into the world that we all mere mortals define as 'marriage'

Nice pelamin

Then we headed to Shah Alam to another cousin's house for a Raya-BBQ-potluck thingy. Had our usual BBQ menu - lamb, chicken, potato salad, hotdogs, garlic bread, etc.

Hotdog! Who wants hotdog?!

 

Chef Podek at work

Bon Apetite

So I'll be sending my bill later, k

Would've stayed longer, but I know what my limits are. After a tiring week, plus a not so kind Saturday, I simply could not have stayed much longer at Shah Alam, and drive back to Pilah soon afterwards. So, me and mom left at 9pm, and we reached home at 11pm (wow......that was fast).

Today, at last, I have some rest before another cruel and non-forgiving week ahead of me. But that didn't stop me from getting my haircut, doing some work and getting my cash polished. And tonight, going to do some more work before I call in it early for another Monday blues.

Oant sjen

From Across the South China Sea

Just a small note before I begin. I received an SMS from a 'fan' about my blog. I just want to say that as little as that SMS might be, it gave more of a purpose for me to write here. However, as what I intended my blog to be, it won't be a total English blog. But I promised that I'd write more in English in future blogs. Thanks, mom!
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Taktala hujan agak lebat di persisiran Pantai Timur ni, aku pun bersantai la di lobi Borneo Paradise Resort kat Kota Kinabalu sambil menikmati secawan Sabah Tea. Bukan ape, aku agak boring la jgk melepak kat bilik je. Plus, couldn't get any Internet from my room. So, terpakse la aku datang ke lobi ni kalau aku nak buat something productive, other than watching videos and playing games.

Some of my close friends agak terkejut la jgk bile dapat tau aku kat KK. Lgpun keje aku ni bukannye involves bnyk travel pun. But in my humble defense, aku sendiri pun terkejut jgk pasal aku kene pegi KK. Aku dapat tau pasal ni x sampai 2 hari sebelum trip aku ke sini. In fact, mase boss aku bgtau pasal trip ni, aku tgh dok hantar handfon aku kat HTC Service Center kat KL. Nak tau lebih lanjut, bace la blog aku yang sebelum ni.

Why am i here? To sum it up in one word.......BABYSITTING. Sounds like a needless plus pointless cause to be here, but that's what I'm basically doing here. Actually, aku ni jadi pensyarah pengiring untuk students dalam pertandingan sponsored by DIGI. And to frank, aku sepatah haram pun xtau pertandingan ni utk aper. Mmg aku x involved pun from Day 1 lagi.

So, one might ask, apsal lak aku yang pergi ni. Mmg patutnye bukan aku yang pegi. Ye la, mesti la pensyarah yang involve dengan projek ni yang patutnye pegi. But since they themselves got the news at the 11th hour tu ikut kata diorg la), maka mmg kena ada penyarah pengiring yang kene ikut student, especially kalau trip jauh mcm ni.

Memandangkan UKM berjaya dapat 2 wakil kat pertandingan ni (lain-lain....2 USM, 1 UNITEN and satu UNIMAS), maka 2 org la pensyarah yang kene ikut. And memandangkan aku ni di kasta yang paling rendah dalam golongan akademik (tutor jer), plus the fact yang aku ni bujang (yang kahwin sumer ngelak nak pegi), maka aku dengan sorang lagi la yang kene datang ke sini.

Ni la second time aku naik 'debak besi' dalam sepanjang hidup aku. And sampai sekarang, both times tu naik flight MAS. So aku x merase lagi Airasia. Cume memula aku punye impression bile sampai KK, mmg gile btul lokasi airport diorg. Mmg sebelah pantai jer. Dh la pressure berubah dari darat ke laut. Masa nak landing pun hari tu terase goyang semacam jer. But then, aku ni baru jer 2 kali naik kapal terbang. So mungkin ayat aku tadi tu agak 'jahil' la sikit. Aku cuma datang berdua saja, sbb student semua dah datang the day before, and diorg naik Airasia (sponsored by DIGI). So, basically hari 1st aku ni cume dok melepak2 ajer sambil tgk aper yang student UKM dok buat mase kem ni.

The next day pulak, aku dengan opismate aku decide nak round KK. Tapi with the distance from our resort (resort ni on the way nak ke Papar), maka naik taxi merupakan satu idea yang agak mahal la jugak kalau nak teruskan. Maka kitorg pun sewa la kete. Sbb mmg taktau pun kat mane nak sewa kete, maka kitorg arrange direct jer ngan receptionist. Harga dia x la mahal sangat, dalam RM90. Tapi masa memula aku masuk dalam kete tu, terkejut la jgk. MINYAK PENUH? Pergh.......berbaloi la sangat klo mcm ni. Sbb sewa kete Kancil kat area KL pun lebih kurang dalam RM60-70. Tu belum campur minyak lagi. So dengan keterujaan kitorg, bergerak la 2 org hero ni ke bandar KK.

Mcm biase, beli la souvenier ape2 yang patut. Xkan la x beli kan. Kitorg singgah kat pasar Phillipines yang kononnye popular kat sini. Then singgah lak pekene air kelapa muda. Aku mmg dapat kelapa muda pun. Tapi member aku rasenye dapat yang tua sikit. Nasib la kan. Then pegi la semayang Jumaat pada jam 12.30 tgh hari. Lepas tu pulak, sambung lagi berjalan2.And last sekali kitorg singgah Giant nak belikan provision dengan alatan lain untuk budak2 ni pegi hiking trip.

Aku ingatkan sewa kete ni sampai tgh malam. Rupanya sampai kul 8 mlm jer. Maknanya since aku stat pinjam kete at 10am, aku cume sewa x sampai 12 jam pun. Dh la tu, diorg bgtau yang aku kene isi minyak balik ke penuh masa pulangkan. Cheh, hilang keterujaan aku. Mati2 ingat mmg dapat minyak free. But then, kan ke aku kate td sewa kete tu agak murah. Well, when something is too good to be true......it probably is.

Maka pagi ni bertolak la semua orang ke Kampung Triang untuk lawatan ke kawasan pendalaman. Aku terpaksa pass trip ni sbb condition belakang aku yang x brape elok. But I just hope they have a blast there, and semuanya slmt sampai besok pagi. Maka berseorangan la aku kat resort ni. Isk isk isk

Mula2 tu mmg ingat nak berjalan2 kejap kat tepi pantai. Aku ada pegi jalan2 tepi pantai masa petang aku sampai KK. Tapi pantai kat sini mmg cetek sangat. Sampaikan about 75m away, boleh pulak nampak darat. Mmg tak bleh nak mandi langsung. Patut la xde aktiviti laut yang diorg buat kat sini. Therefore, if you're a beach fanatic, mmg aku kene la kate yang tempat ni x brape sesuai sangat untuk korang.

So, sebelum aku sign off, seperti biasa aku kepilkan gambar2 aku kat sini untuk mewarnai blog aku.

Mula2 masuk laut, then naik darat, lepas tu masuk laut lagi...br la sampai pulau

Macam mane nak sebut ayat bawah tu ek?

Pasar Phillipines...tapi aku tgk mcm org Sabah jer yang meniaga. Siap ada kedai Kelantan lagi

Ingat Putrajaya saje ke yang ada Alamanda?

Mampus aku nk cuba bace paper ni