Lunch with 'Aunties'

30 July 2008

I had lunch with my aunties today. Five of them altogether. Oh! they are neither sisters to my father or mother, nor the wives of my uncles. They represent a select group of women in our lives. In Malay term, they are known as 'makcik-makcik'.

'Makcik-makcik' as popularly known, have special characteristics associated with them. They normally wear tudung and baju kurung to office and are known to be the best reporter in town - even though the accuracy of news reported can sometimes be challenged :-p. Their baju kurung glitters under the sunlight, and with additional and right accessories, this office attire can be magnificently transformed into baju kenduri. 'Makcik-makcik' are excellent at multi-tasking and at any given time, can perform at least 2 tasks or more.

This is the story of my 'aunties'. We used to work together in the same department a few years back. From time to time, we get together to share news and update each other on personal development. This time around, I decided to treat my aunties for lunch at Sari Ratu. As I don't drive, one of them had volunteer to drive. Unfortunately, she was on MC today. So, another auntie quickly stepped in as a replacement driver. And so, the rombongan to Sari Ratu masih berjalan as planned.

When the 'makcik-makcik' get together (the correct Malay term is bersidang), you must be quick on your toes to capture the relevant information, as information flows freely and rapidly from one makcik to another. Today, I learnt so much about work-life issues including pregnancy issues, customer service issues, preparation for umrah, managing household as well as taking care of the beloved ones. Of course, a discussion about other aunties who are not part of this 'persidangan' has always been in the agenda...ha ha.....


To me, 'makcik-makcik' provide me with free marriage counseling/therapy, without having to really be married. Such session has both entertainment and educational values.


Today, we ordered a lot of food. We had two 'hidang' of lauk and really enjoyed each other's company. Long live my 'aunties'. We shall do this again soon....

The Dark Knight

27 July 2008

I'm so tired today. I don't feel like doing anything at all. Mainly sebab I had an action-packed day on Saturday. I think I broke my own record sebab aku ambik taxi sampai 6 kali in one day.

Pepagi lagi aku dah ke office sebab ada badminton at 10 a.m. Yang main geng2 biasalah, 5 of us kesemuanya. Habis badminton, kelam kabut aku mandi and bersiap sebab I have another appointment at 1:00 p.m. Nasib baik kat Gym masih ada air, sebab ada announcement cakap ada gangguan bekalan air on Saturday. Risau je aku, kot-kot lah tengah mandi buih segala....tetiba air takde... mampuih!

Pukul 12:45 pm aku dah terpacak kat Sogo. Ada appointment kat Clarins. Metrosexual kan...so aku ada appointment buat facial lah. 3 minggu sekali. Lagipun, my products pun dah nak habis, so kena beli baru. Belum sempat habis facial, one of my girl friends (girl friend yerr...bukan girlfriend!) called. Dia tanya aku kat mana... aku yang jujur ni bagitau lah yang aku tengah buat facial kat Sogo. She said, " Aiyo...pondan lah kau ni buat facial". Damn this woman. Nak tergelak pun ada, hangin pun ada.... Ke situ plak perginya. I told her that she is sooooo behind time lah....heh heh.

After Clarins, bergegas pulak aku ke City Square.


I had lunch at the Malayan Aromas. Punyalah TAK sedap nasi lemak dia. Kari ayam dia rasa macam air basuh tangan (not that aku pernah rasa air basuh tangan... andaian jek) Hampeh. Nasib baik karipap RM3 sebiji dengan White Coffee dia tu sedap. Kalau tak, memang lah menyesal. Lepas beli apa yang patut... aku ambik taxi ke KLCC plak. Aku nak cari jeans baru... tapi macam takde yang berkenan. I bought t-shirts from M&S, then gegas balik (naik taxi lagi).

Lepas Maghrib, gegas ke the Curve sebab dah janji dengan 3 orang kawan nak dinner and tengok movie. Sampai je kat the Curve, terserempak dengan my colleagues. Nasib baik tak pergi dating kat situ...kantoi nanti. I found this one jeans yang agak ranggi kat Nike Store... terus beli. Ala2 hip-hop lah sikit.... but I like. Sorang member aku sudah sangkut dalam jam. Hasrat nak gi dinner kat Bubba Gump terpaksa dibatalkan. We just had a quick dinner at one of the Kopitiams sebab nak cepat. Movie starts at 9:45 p.m. And for those who know me, they can vouch yang aku ni pantang kalau orang lambat bila pegi tengok movie. Nasib baik harini takde yang lambat.


Hari ni is the first time aku tengok movie kat Cine Leisure Damansara ni. I told my friend to get us the best tickets available there. So, dia dah beli tickets The Dark Knight for 4 of us untuk ditonton at the Platinum movie suites.

I like the ambience, macam business/first class MAS. Sah le, lepas ni aku akan datang sini jerr kalau nak tengok movies.

With nice velvety reclining chairs, I was in movie heaven. Nasib baik aku tak zzzz terus. The Dark Knight memang best. Better than most movies this year. I love the Joker the most...no joke okay! Tengoklah, kalau rajin I'll write about it. Sampai rumah dah pukul 1 a.m. lebih. Letih!

"You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain"

Burning the Midnight Oil

25 July 2008

This week has been quite hectic... once again. We had been planning for a major press conference on Thursday. So, I spent many nights in the office prior to the event to ensure that everything will go as planned. On Wednesday night, a number of us stayed back until 2:00 a.m. Penat gilerr.... Anyhow, I believe in doing things whole-heartedly. So staying back this late is not really a problem other than I'll be too damn sleepy the next day.

The event went well. Or so it seems. Tapi ada lah jugak incidents2 yang berlaku yang tak dapat aku nak cerita kat sini.

Friday was not too bad. Business as usual. We had our own Star Search singing competition after Maghrib. I was pleasantly surprise to see new talented faces taking part in the competition this year. Dah 2 tahun aku tak masuk.... rasa macam veteran dah. Tengoklah kalau terbuka hati nak masuk in the future... ha ha. Aku balik awal coz I had another appointment, so tak sempat nak tengok the last contestant. To those who have won... Congrats!!
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Burning the midnight oil
Meaning: To work late into the night. Originally this was by the light of an oil lamp or candle. More recently, the phrase is used figuratively, alluding back its use before electric lighting.

Food Indulgence

20 July 2008

A childhood friend ajak aku melepak malam ni. Dah lama aku tak buat kerja melepak kedai kopi ni, sekali sekala boleh lah terima undangan sebegini. Location -- Desa Pandan. Memang lah aku tak pernah lepak kat kawasan ni. Setakat lalu nearby Menara Polo tu adalah. My friend recommended char kuey teow kat situ. OK lah, quite nice and we stayed sampai midnight.

These recent few weeks ni, asyik makan jerrr.... Ye lah, aku memang tak masak langsung, so memang everyday makan kat luar.

Last week, 2 kali aku kat Marche. On Saturday, lepas badminton, aku had lunch dengan Aman there memandangkan rumah dia just nearby.

-Marche Movenpick-

Midweek aku pegi lagi dengan colleagues for lunch. Dah jadi macam ritual pulak, everytime I go to IKEA or the Curve aku akan lepak kat Marche.

Ada one afternoon tu, aku and colleagues had lunch kat the Coliseum. Dia punya T-Bone Steak memanglah excellent. Aku 110% sure fattening gilerr... haha

-Coliseum-

Another eating place yang aku frequent quite often these days is Sari Ratu kat Ampang Waterfront. Sari Ratu serves excellent Indon food, nasi padang style to be exact.

-Sari Ratu-

This is where aku and KKY selalu lepak for dinner. Selalunya lebih dari sekali seminggu. Kengkadang aku and KKY ke Kg Baru for Nasi Lemak. Other than that, I can be found at either Bora Ombak or Kopitiam. Kalau dah malas sangat nak keluar, then aku just have dinner kat LRT Corner.

Lunch pulak, takde tempat yang tentu kecuali Tuesday. Tuesday di Ayam Kampung Veledrome Cheras. Other than that, I'm quite flexible... makan kat office, ikan bakar, hartamas, ataupun somewhere near Sogo. Ikut angin selalunya...

Effective August 1st ni, I'll start my Herbalife regime. I month supply costs me RM600++. So tengokle ada perubahan ke tak, and whether there will be significant change in my dietary habit. Takut takde perubahan jek. Sekian.

Hanya Kau Yang Mampu

12 July 2008

I can relate to this song...

Hanya Kau Yang Mampu

-Aizat -

Ku cuba redakan relung hati,
Bayangmu yang berlalu pergi,
Terlukis di dalam kenangan,
Bebas bermain di hatiku….

Cerita tentang masa lalu,
Cerita tentang kau dan aku,
Kini tinggal hanya kenangan,
Kau abadi di dalam hatiku….

Harusnya takkan ku biarkan kau pergi,
Membuat ku terpuruk rasa ingin mati,
Derita yang mendera kapan akan berakhir,
Hanya engkau yang mampu taklukkan hatiku

Cerita tentang masa lalu,
Cerita tentang kau dan aku,
Kini tinggal hanya kenangan,
Kau abadi di dalam hatiku….

Harusnya takkan ku biarkan kau pergi,
Membuat ku terpuruk rasa ingin mati,
Derita yang mendera kapan akan berakhir,
Hanya engkau yang mampu taklukkan hatiku

Aku cinta ooohhhhhh…
Aku cinta oooooooo…

Mystery of Shakila's Dream

6 July 2008

A bunch of us decided to showcase our vocal 'prowess' last Wednesday. So we gathered kat Red Box Sogo after Maghrib for that very reason. Memandangkan, masing-masing datang dari era dan 'genre' kegemaran yang berbeza, maka we coloured the night dengan a variety of songs. As for me, ada beberapa songs yang aku tengah belajar (Oh btw, aku ni memang kaki menyanyi). And ada a few new age Indon songs yang I quite like these days.

But, the highlight of the night came from En Sharil with his rendition of "Misteri Mimpi Shakila". Put it this way larr.... If you are a pregnant woman, most likely you dah bersalin by the time sampai chorus. The heartfelt performance by Sharil earned him the best performance of the night... but the mystery of Shakila's dream remains unsolved... ;-)

Another Eventful Week

5 July 2008

I'm having a slow morning today. After having browsed the latest online news regarding political scenes in this country, I come to a conclusion that I do not know who to believe at this point in time. So depressing...and so I blog!

This week has been quite eventful. I had a meeting with one of the head of states and had a chat with chief of a conglomerates operating here in Kl. I also took sometime off this week to run some errands, shopped twice in KLCC and sang my heart out at a karaoke joint with a few friends on Wednesday.

All in all, it has been a fun and expensive week (because of the shopping larr!!) for me. I always believe in 2 things..... 1) I must always wear good shoes - mainly for health reasons, and 2) I must always wear comfortable clothes (with matching colours, of course!)..haha... and so, I went to KLCC with one mission in mind. I wanted to get a good pyjama (to be exact "seluar tidur"). Shoes dah berlambak, so no need to buy a new one. I have a few 'seluar tidur' that I bought from British India, but they don't sell those anymore. I finally found exactly what I needed at the Marks and Spencer. They have the best quality loungewear under the brandname 'Autograph'. Boys, if you are looking for high quality 'seluar tidur', I recommend M&S. I bought a couple of shirts as well as almost the entire store is on sale.

My subsequent visit to KLCC pun buat aku terjebak shopping kat M&S, Zara and Timberland. I bought a leather bag from Zara Man which is big enuf for my laptop and documents, a casual shirt from each Timberland and M&S.

The retail therapy worked! Mission accomplished!

p/s will talk about Wednesday night out later.

Who's Your City?

1 July 2008

I love books. Unfortunately, I love buying more than reading. Over the past 1 week, I bought 11 books. Hajat tinggi menggunung nak spend time reading... tapi selalunya tak kesampaian. I am currently reading the first book from this batch, "Who's Your City? by Richard Florida". Other books include:

1. The Holy Grail of Macroeconomics
2. The Appeal
3. Gone to Ground
4. 6 Habits of Highly Effective Leaders
5. Love in the Time of Cholera
6. Unaccustomed Earth
7. The Front
8. Shadow of Power
9. Brida
10. The Undercover Economist

I'm dying to read "The Appeal" by Grisham. Maybe I'll start this weekend. Others will have to wait larr... Dah berlambak buku kat rumah yang belum bersentuh. Entah le bila nak baca...