All By Myself...

11 August 2007

I always look forward to having time just for myself, free from my busy schedule, free from meeting new people whose names I can barely remember after the meeting. I always look forward to that moment when I can just sit down and pick-up a book or a magazine, watch my favorite tv show or movie, or just do nothing.

And after 2 weekends filled with activities , this weekend is dedicated solely for me to wind down and relax. So hari ni aku melepak kat Hartamas dengan HA for lunch. Aku dah makin suka lepak kat Plaza Damas area ni... quite quiet and banyak gak tempat makan. Hari ni lunched kat Kafe Unggun Hartamas. Told NM yang the 'gang' patut datang lepak sini bebila. We both had nasi campur. Then makan kueh sikit. Lepas tu pegi Tower Records. Ada album baru Shayna Zaid yang buat aku tertarik. Nampak macam kacukan Caucasian-Malay. HA bagitau yang Shayna ni buat album kat New York lagi. Terus aku beli album ni... harapnya bestlah. Lepas tapau venti iced caramel macchiato, aku and HA singgah kedai-kedai furniture yang ada kat situ... banyak items yang menarik. Tapi takde keperluan lah... buang duit je.

HA sent me back to office and dia chow. Aku masuk office buat kerja manja-manja for 2 hours. Tingkap bilik aku sekarang ni is half covered dengan bendera Malaysia. (refer gambar). Nasib baik masih lagi ada view of Dataran Merdeka.

Pukul 4:30 p.m., I packed my things and headed to Pertama. Aku ke kedai Andy nak gunting and shampoo rambut. Nasib baik Andy ada...kalau org lain tak ngam. Lepas gunting rambut, Andy's assistant cuci rambut and massage my head... rasa ringan betul. Lama lak tu dia massage and she is really good. All for only RM38. Not bad.

Lepas gunting rambut, I walked all the way to Masjid Jamek LRT Station. Saje je aku nak jalan tengok keadaan kat KL, perangai manusia dipetang Sabtu. Memanglah berserabut. Kat LRT station pun penuh sesak. Sampai rumah dalam pukul 6:30 p.m.

Aku dinner sebelum Maghrib lagi. After that aku just lepak tengok tv and do some reading. EPL pun dah start. Aku harap Liverpool will go far this season. Liverpool main esok vs Aston Villa. Kat tv malam ni ada game West Ham vs Manchester City. Aku layan sambil-sambil aje. Kat tv2 pulak ada movie Armageddon. Aku suka lah kalau films by Jerry Bruckheimer ni...selalu ada combination of elements, sedih, comedy, great effects, patriotism etc. Sambil-sambil tu aku layan cd Shayna Zaid ni. She's talented. Tapi aku tak rasa boleh laku kat Malaysia ni. Memanglah hari yang sungguh relaxing :)

Nota kaki: Alamak aku dah salah info. On Sunday, Y bagitau aku yang Liverpool dah main semalam. Melepas aku!!!

Maybe I'm Not Young Anymore...

10 August 2007

My colleagues have been teasing me over a positive remark our big boss made about me. Oh man! Should I just tell them to go screw themselves or what? Ha ha... I don't really care about the teasing and I'm not even sure whether the positive remark was true. But the fact that so many people talked about it, got me a bit annoyed.

Other than that, kerja macam biasa aje. I was suppose to go to a meeting kat Kementerian, tapi my boss wanted to meet some of us today. So tak jadilah aku pegi meeting, I sent NN instead.

Hari ni aku ikut si HA and E sembahyang Jumaat kat INTAN, Bukit Kiara... ramai betul orang, selalunya tak lah seramai macam hari ni. Sembahyang pun tepi tangga jerr. Nasib baik la aku tak tergolek ke bawah waktu sembahyang. Definitely not a pretty sight. Balik sembahyang, aku gegas ke Kupang beli kopi to last me sepanjang meeting petang ni. Banyaklah juga benda yang dibincangkan dalam meeting, at one point macam nak gaduh pun ada... pening kepala aku dengan gelagat masing-masing ni.

Meeting habis pukul 4:15 p.m. "Kak, saya pergi surau jap", laung aku kat setiausaha boss aku. Dengan kelam kabutnye aku berlari ke surau. Dalam hati aku teringat yang aku belum lagi sembahyang Zohor. Sampai je surau, bergegas aku buka kasut and socks. Bila aku langkah je masuk surau, baru aku perasan yang takde sorang umat pun kat situ.. Eh! mana semua orang pegi? Selalunya, dekat-dekat nak masuk waktu Asar ni, ramai lagi orang yang baru nak sembahyang Zohor. Tercegat aku kat pintu surau, bersebelahan tempat wuduk. Staff perempuan yang lintas masuk ke surau pulak dok tersengeh-sengah tengok aku... Ya Allah!! Hari ni hari Jumaat... kan aku dah sembahyang tadi kat Bukit Kiara. Tersenyum aku kat situ... malu dengan diri sendiri... Sampai je kat office, aku cite kat some staff. Semua gelakkan aku. Apa nak buat. Salah sendiri. Maybe I'm not young anymore...dah nyanyuk. Ha Ha

Lepas office, aku ambik taxi ke Ampang. Jalan jam. Ada hal sikit. Tak payah le cite kat sini. Aku janji dengan RS, kalau dia masih ada kat office lepas aku balik from Ampang, we all nak pegi dinner. On my way back from Ampang, jalan jam gilerr jugak... dekat 8:30 malam baru sampai office.

Harini aku dengan RS menapak lagi pegi dinner. Dah tak tau nak makan apa dah. Aku ingat nak makan sate kat sebelah bangunan MARA tu. RS suggested that bubur nasi kat situ pun best. Aku OK je, willing to try. Malangnya, bubur nasi dah habis. Aku ngan RS ordered meehun sup dan 20 cucuk sate. RS mintak ABC and aku pulak minta LCK. I must say, aku betul-betul suka meehun sup tu. Boleh datang lagi ni. Sate pulak, macam kering sikit. Tapi still sedap. Sambil makan, RS talks about his plan (plan???) and also sembang on other things... borak punya borak sampai kul 11:00 p.m. We then went separate ways untuk balik.

Sampai rumah dah lewat, aku malas nak update blog malam ni. So ni kira entry tertunda larr...

Obsessions...

9 August 2007.

Hari ni quite uneventful. Takde apa yang menarik. Memula patut lunch dengan AHA, tapi kena kench last minute... sebab dia ada urgent work assignment. Aku ended up joining HA, ZAG and NSK ke Hartamas for lunch. Nasib baik la diaorang sanggup patah balik ambik aku kat office walaupun diaorang dah keluar on the way ke Hartamas. We all lepak kat Aji-Don Alley.

Hasrat hati nak camping ke Stong waterfall pun dah terbantut sebab penyertaan tak cukup 10 orang... so tak boleh pegi and we had to postpone the trip. Nak buat cemana... takde rezeki lah. Maybe next time.

Semalam aku, HA and ZAG ada sembang-sembang about our plan to Terengganu early September. Makan-makan Malaysia (slightly different concept than cuti-cuti Malaysia). Tujuan perjalanan semata-mata untuk pegi makan kat tempat-tempat yang best di Terengganu. So just imagine, kalau lepak tiga hari, and makan breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and supper, dah 15 meals. So kalau nak try tempat yang berbeza-beza kat Terengganu, dah 15 tempat makan tu... fuyooo.... (RS kalau ko baca ni, jangan terliur dahhh.... hehe). Plan nya nak pegi hari Jumaat and lepak kat resort company aku sampai Sunday or Monday. Memanglah tak pernah dibuat orang aktiviti macam ni.

Lepas office, aku ngan RS dok plan macam-macam activities yang boleh dibuat hari ni. Last-last semuanya tak jadi. Finally, we agreed nak pegi dinner kat Nando's. Lepas Maghrib, both of us menapak ke Sogo sebab kat situ ada satu Nando's Outlet. Both of us had 1/2 Chicken with 2 sidelines. Kalau 1/4 chicken jerr... tak cukup. Memanglah kuat makan kan... RS ordered salad and coleslaw as sidelines, aku plak ordered corn and coleslaw. Both of us ordered Cappuccino Smoothies. Baru lah ada competition, kalau makan dengan kengkawan yang lain, semuanya nak jaga badan... bosan betul..hehe.

Lepas makan, terserempak dengan AM kat Sushi King... aiyoo...so health conscious. Rasa guilty sket larr sebab dah makan macam-macam tadi. Lagipun hari ni ponteng gym...cycling pun tak.

I have several obsessions. Salah satu daripadanya ialah aku ni suka sangat beli bag. Dah berpuluh-puluh biji bags kat rumah, tapi tak serik-serik lagi. So malam ni pun aku pusing-pusing tengok bag kat Sogo, aku suka beli backpack, or even bag yg ala-ala briefcase tapi more casual. Timberland has always been my favorite brand lah... Tapi malam ni, kat Ipod store ni, ada satu laptop bag, Dicota (made in Germany) yang aku dah suka. Tanpa pikir panjang, aku dah terjebak beli bag ni... hanj! Kalau dah obsessed tu... obsessed jugak. Maybe I need counseling...

Moral Battleground

8 August 2007

It's past midnight. I should be sleeping.

But I just got back from ‘lepaking’ with LRT Corner gang. And now, I’m not sleepy at all.

Just so you know, I often get myself in knots trying to decide what and how much to share here on the blog. For instance, how much of my "real life" you get to see. It’s not that I'm afraid of showing you all who I really am for fear that you'll be judgmental, but I don’t want the things that I do to set someone off or create problems to me later. Blogs can be moral battlegrounds. To me, I am just an average, full-time-workin’, law abidin', mosque-goin’ (on Friday mostly.. hehe), house -cleanin', gym-goin’ bachelor most of the time. Nothing more than that.But every once in awhile, I do silly things! So I've been thinking. About the blog anyway. No, I'm not quitting. It’s too soon for me to quit. But I’m not gonna fall into the trap of putting so many tools, accessories, chat column, etc that makes it difficult for me to maintain the blog. This blog will continue to be an outlet for me to express my views or for me to capture life experiences. And I plan to keep it simple.

Today, I spent the entire morning at Kementerian attending a drafting committee meeting. That's the price I have to pay for talking so much during meetings. I got back to office at about 12 noon. For lunch, HA, ZAG and I decided to walk to bangunan Mara, makan nasi ayam…So-so je lah nasi ayam dia…tak menarik sangat. Lepas lunch pegi Pertama Complex survey raket badminton and shoes…nothing interesting.

Sampai je office, tetiba rasa malas nak keje. So aku bagitau boss nak ambik half day. Terus aku kemas barang and chow. Balik rumah ingatkan nak sambung keje sikit… sedar-sedar dah terlentok until Sir-Man (SM) calls… lupa lak aku yg SM datang interview kat company aku hari ni. He sounded confident. Harapnya semua berjalan lancer.

Aku just lepak kat rumah the entire evening. Sambil melayan sms-sms poyo kengkawan… I shall not mention names.. he he. Dalam pukul 10:00 baru aku keluar lepak kat LRT Corner with gang.

"Village Chicken"

7 August 2007

Hari ni macam biasa je... keje... keje... keje. A very productive day indeed. Entah macam mana si HA dengan ZAG teringin nak makan 'village chicken'... ha ha. Village chicken refers to kedai makan ayam kampung kat velodrome Cheras. Nak kata selalu pegi tu tak juga...maybe dalam once a month. NSK joined us for lunch. Naik kete NSK... ZAG bawak. Semenjak NSK beli kete ni, ni lah first time aku naik kete dia. Dah lain-lain departments ni susah jugak nak berjumpa. Masing-masing dengan hal masing-masing.

When the four of us got together, banyak lah benda yang direpekkan... Tapi dengan NSK, masing-masing bersopan lah sikit... yelah, memasing control macho depan awek.. (eh! awek kerr? :p).

Sampai ayam kampung, dah pukul satu lebih... Mak ai! Ramainya manusia... meja penuh. Ada satu meja ni, sorang je brader duduk kat situ... so, aku HA and NSK pergi lah menempek kat meja brader tu. Memanglah nampak brader tu tak happy we all gate-crashed dia punya lunch. Nasib baik ZAG dapat another table. Pindah le pulak ke meja yang nun dibelakang. Nak tunggu waiter datang ambik order pun satu hal... punyalah lama. Dah lepas order, nak tunggu makanan sampai, lagi satu hal.... 2 kali lambat. Bebudak ni ala-ala diet... aku je tanpa segan silu belasah 2 ketul ayam.

Sampai office dalam 2:05 p.m. Terus sambung keje. Oh, by the way aku dah tak jadi pegi Geneva next month. I've decided to send my staff. Would be a good exposure for her.

Tetiba je aku dapat sametime dari KP.... rupanya, gambar seksi (lagi mengiurkan) aku semasa bermain bola waktu kejohanan olahraga dah tersiar kat intranet... aiyoooo... nasib baik lah aku ni muka tak malu (high self esteem kann...) Not just KP, lepas tu ada 2-3 orang lagi sametimed aku cakap pasal benda sama... Issh... for nothing jerr aku glamer murahan.

AM came over untuk collect duit pegi Stong. Paid him RM400 for ticket and accomodation. Tak sabar nih nak pegi. AAA tak dapat pegi pulak selepas cedera main bola. Nasib baik merpati(s) pegi...so ada lah geng selain AM.

MSI pulak hantar email ajak gi cafe pukul 6 pm. Doa selamat untuk NA yang dah balik berkerja selepas kejadian menginap di Hotel Tawakal tempoh hari, katanya... Entah betul ke entah tidak nak buat doa selamat, aku pun tak tau. Tapi sebab jemputan lepas waktu office, aku OK jek. Sempat lah aku lepak ngan bebudak sebelum aku pegi gym.

True enuf... doa selamat dalam hati je. Just berkumpul to lepak and dengar cite masing-masing. Pukul 7 p.m. baru aku terhegeh-hegeh nak Asar...hmm... apa nak jadi.

Hasrat hati nak turun gym tak kesampaian... bila aku check meeting calendar aku, baru perasan yang besok pepagi ada meeting kat kementerian... so kena lah prepare. Hanj. Aku ended up kat office sampai kul 10 p.m. lebih. Sampai rumah dah pukul 11 p.m. lebih... Dinner pun tak, sebab dah makan kat cafe tadi... wassalam

Cara Yang Berbeza

7 August 2007

Masih terlupa...
Atau sengaja berpaling dari kenyataan ini
Meskipun hati...
Sudah berputik cintaku kerna ketulusanmu

Daku memendam rasa
Tak merungkai bicara
Perasaan yang ada

Ku curah dengan cara yang berbeza

Dan aku percaya
Engkau kan tahu hasrat hatiku padamu
Umpama mimpi indah yang pernah... ku damba
Untuk menjalin cinta selamanya...

Rindu padamu kasih
Kadang datang berulang mengusuti hati
Adakah ini cinta ku atau keegoan
Yang ku tampan dengan pengharapan... ku

Tuhan...
Ku mengharapkan...

Back on My Feet

6 August 2007

I am back on my feet today! Still not fully recovered from sakit kaki, bontot, belakang, etc, tapi at least dah boleh jalan comfortably. Nevertheless, aku ambik taxi ke office sebab malas nak panjat jejantas ke office.

Disepanjang pagi sibuk nak clear memos. Adalah 3-4 yang perlu dibereskan segera. Dalam pukul 11 pagi macam tu, aku dapat call from ZZ. Oh my! si ZZ ni kawan baik aku waktu kat MRSM dulu... dah 15 tahun yang lalu. Entah apa mimpi dia called aku. Semenjak lepas MRSM, ada lah 4-5 lagi aku terserempak dengan dia, the latest, sometime in May 2007 kalau tak silap aku. Yang peliknya, tujuan dia call aku ni sebenonye dia nak closure dengan awek yang dia minat kat MRSM dulu. He wants to close this chapter in his life by wanting to know samaada awek ni (nama samaran LA) pernah ada hati or tak kat dia dulu. Memanglah aku confused tahap cipan tadi... tak tau macam mana nak react. Mula-mula mushkil gak aku thinking that kawan aku ni dah weng! Tapi waras lagi rupanya... ha ha. Apparently dia ada reason to believe yang dia tak bertepuk sebelah tangan waktu kat sekolah dulu. Whateva!! Itu 15 tahun dulu, perlu ke nak buka buku sejarah balik. Lagipun si ZZ and LA ni dah ada keluarga masing-masing. I also found out yg ZZ ni nak mintak keje kat company aku. I promised him to email the relevant application form to him untuk dia apply. But anyhow, it was good to hear from you man!

Handphone aku kena barred!! Aiyoo...kalut sekejap. Rupanya waktu aku kat Australia last week aku dah exceeded credit allowed for my phone which is RM300. So I need to go and bayar bill kat any cawangan Maxis to reconnect. Leceh gile...petang ni lepas office lah aku buat.

AHA pulak ajak aku lunch. Aku terima jemputan dia tapi aku bagitau yang I need to leave early sebab nak pegi IDFR kasi lecture. Makan ngan AHA kat one of the Mamak restaurants. Lepas makan, aku bergegas ambik taxi kat Sogo. Dari Sogo aku terus ke IDFR untuk kasi lecture.

Lecture went well. Tak banyak soklan pun. Participant from Thailand cakap aku punya lecture crystal clear. Bley? Entah lerr... By 4 p.m. je dah habis and gegas ambik taxi bali office sambung keje.

Lepas office, lepas Asar aku pegi Maju Junction (MJ) bayar bil handphone, terus aku ambik new subline so that aku punya limit dinaikkan secara automatik... so that lepas ni, takdelah kena barred lagi bila aku kat overseas. Bila dah sampai MJ ni memang tak sah kalau aku tak singgah Starbucks. And guess what! The only two people tengah beratur kat Starbucks ialah aku and MIsha Omar. She was on the phone... So aku buat derkk je lah. I ordered my fav, iced venti caramel macchiato.

Then balik office semula. Sambil buat keje, sambil convert songs masuk ipod. RS ada sametime aku, tapi tak ingat lah pasal apa...all that I could remember is ... aku offered him the CDs yang aku tengah convert tu.

Lepas Maghrib, aku turun gym. Lengang hari ni. Mungkin sebab baru lepas olahraga. I did cardio exercise for 30 minutes. I need to get back to my exercise regime... berat badan pun dah naik. Besok kena turun lagi ni...

Lepas mandi kat Gym.. aku naik ke office balik. KKY belum balik and dia ajak dinner. So we went out to Hanifa. Both of us had capati. Sembang2 jap... then balik. Hari ni memang sibuk bangat... NA pun ada sametime tadi...sempat sembang sekejap je. Happy to hear yang NA dah sembuh . :)

Hari Yang Murung...

5 August 2007

Aku dah agak dah! Harini aku sakit satu badan.... kaki semua sakit, bontot sakit, tangan sakit, belakang pun sakit...

Argggghhh! semalam main bola tak ingat... hari ni rasa lah akibatnya. Memang aku sakit badan betul... satu hari terbaring. Nak demam pun ada. Satu hari aku tak keluar rumah. Lunch pun aku makan maggi je sebab tak larat nak keluar. Hasrat hati nak pegi office pun aku batalkan. Dok melepek je kat rumah sambil tengok tv and buat light reading. Jangan besok pun tak boleh bangun sudah. Besok aku kena kasi lecture kat IDFR.

Ada jugak aku baca blog NA. Sedih betul baca latest entry dia... Sabarlah dik... ini semua warna-warna kehidupan. Hadapilah semua dengan tabah. Abang Long harap NA sentiasa cekal dan berfikiran positif di atas segala dugaan yang dihadapi.

Dah malam baru aku keluar ke kedai cari some can drinks and dinner. Memang betullah aku takde mood hari ni sebab badan rasa tak best. Nak tulis blog ni pun dalam keadaan monyok... I hope for better days tomorrow and days after... Good Nite.

Menanti Pasti

Kegelapan malam ini menyesakkan jiwa
Tanpa bintang untuk aku mimpikan mimpimu
Aku... merindu indah bulan
Menyuluh kelam malam
Mengharap bintang akan bersinar

Kesepian hati ini mengundang derita
Penantian satu seksa bila tanpa balas
Aku... menanti kata hati
Darimu satu pasti
Mengharap mimpi akan hakiki

Cinta
Bisikanlah asmaraku
Padanya gelora di kalbu
Hembusan nafas ini hanyalah kepadanya
Mencintai setulus hati

Bukakanlah asmaranya
Padaku setia menunggu
Antara kau dan aku adanya persamaan
Untuk cinta bersemi nanti

Andai ada di hatimu...
Ruang cinta itu
Kan ku simpan anugerah
Ke akhir hayatku

Menanti pasti...

When Confidence Exceeds Ability

4 August 2007

Alamak!! Dah dekat 10:30 a.m. Acara tarik tali aku patutnya start pukul 11:00 a.m. Tapi aku confident aku punya event tak start pukul 11:00 a.m. sebab sebelum my event akan diadakan semifinal tarik tali for ladies and men. Team aku terus masuk final sebab dapat bye. How sweet is that? Lagipun dah selalu sangat masuk tarik tali ni...dah veteran daah.

Nasib baik keluar rumah je aku terus dapat taxi. On my way ke stadium, organiser dah called cari aku and tanya samaada aku datang ke tak...Pakcik drebar taxi yang terdengar perbualan aku over the phone pun dah pressure to get me there on time. Akhirnya aku sampai kat venue olahraga dalam pukul 11:05 pagi. Lepas tukar baju, aku ke venue tarik tali. True enough, acara pompuan baru nak start. Walaupun majoritynya kurus kering, team pompuan kitaorang masuk final!!

Lepas aku sempat warm-up ala kadar, it was our turn to tarik tali. Seperti biasa aku diminta jadi anchor... aiyooo...dah lama tak buat keje ni. Nak lilit tali pun dah tak ingat. "Regangkan taliiii!!!! Tariiiikkkk!!!", jerit si referee. Belum sempat aku nak betul-betul tarik the tali, sedar-sedar aku dah tergolek atas rumput, gara-gara padang yang basah dan licin. Aku rasa tak sampai 10 saat pun dah kalah first round. Aiyoo...it was a massacre! Second round, we did better...sempat lah aku jatuh-bangun 3 kali sebelum tumpas. Sah le besok lebam-lebam badan aku. But the good thing is, our ladies won... terloncat-loncat semua kegembiraan.

Lepas tarik tali, we had lunch. Lepas tu aku pegi mandi and tukar baju. Yelah, bola lambat lagi pukul 4:00 p.m. nanti. Dalam pukul 2:00 p.m., afternoon session pun mula. Tetiba aku dijemput untuk bagi hadiah. Alamak, tak pernah aku buat keje ni. Macam VIP lah pulak, walaupun aku just datang nak support my team jerr...

Pukul 3:30 p.m., ramailah soccer players yang dah sampai... jersey team aku kaler kuning. Malangnya semuanya saiz orang-orang kurus. Ye lah kan, mana ada pemain bolasepak pakai baju XXL. Nak tak nak terpaksa lah jugak pakai. Aiyooo...macam pompuan bunting setahun. Punyalah ketat jersey ni. Nampak segala susuk tubuh I and my one pack abdomen...hanj!! Petang ni kena main 2 matches... mati larr. Last year main satu match pun aku dah separuh nyawa. First match, aku main ntah apa-apa...sepak bola pun tak kena. Dah second half baru OK sikit. Second match aku lebih confident. Aku siap ter-tackled BI lagi. Sakit nak mamphoss... sure lah bengkak nanti. Lepas tu aku tersepak bola kena muka SK. 30 saat lepas tu dia keluar padang, aku tak tau le dia keluar padang sebab bola kena muka ke apa...kesian. Penat gile aku main bola ni. Team aku dapat tempat corot, kalah sekali and seri sekali. Nevertheless, we played quite well...aku rasa. Tapi dapat aku rasakan yang aku akan sakit-sakit badan besok sebab tadi terlebih pulun atas padang plus ada kena rembat dengan bola beberapa kali.

Lepas habis sukan, aku tumpang ZM balik ke office. Sebelum balik, we all lepak makan mi bandung muar dulu. Dalam 8 orang macam tu. OKlah jugak mi tu. Tak payah lah aku nak dinner malam ni. Aku terpaksa balik office sebab tertinggal handphone charger. Dari office aku ke Sogo kejap sebab nak cari CD Kayangan Soundtrack. Aku jugak beli soundtrack Love is Cinta. Lepas tu terus balik. Lepas mandi semua, aku plan nak tengok tv.. tapi terus tertidur sebab letih ya amat. Isyak pun ntah kemana... aiyooo...apa nak jadi!

Back to Office

3 August 2007

Aku happy tengok kengkawan happy. Especially, if I can contribute in any way to make them happy. Hari ni aku macam Santa pulak distributing souvenirs to kengkawan semua. I guess this is my way of saying thank you for the kind of friendship that we have. Ikhlas from me...

Hari ni macam kelam kabut sikit. Err...bukan macam, tapi memang kelam kabut. Yelah, lepas seminggu takde kat office, banyak benda yang nak kena settle. I briefed staff about what happened in Perth. In addition, I had several short discussions with my boss to update him on the outcome of my meeting in Perth as well as to discuss outstanding issues. Kerana terlampau busy, tak sempat nak buat plan for sembahyang Jumaat. Aku ended up pegi Masjid India je for Friday prayer.

Aku janji dengan AAA untuk ke Sogo and Pertama Complex after office. AAA nak cari hiking boots and aku pulak nak cari kasut bola untuk soccer match besok. Alaa... bukannya serious match pun! Besok we gonna have our annual Kejohanan Olahraga. Seperti biasa akan ada exhibition soccer match for senior management. Semenjak dah jadi part of senior management team ni, memang lah aku tak boleh lari from taking part in this annual soccer match. Last year pun aku kena main jugak. Dah le aku ni separa kaki bangku. He He He...

AAA tak dapat hiking boots dia kat Sogo. Yang dia berkenan takde size pulak. Kesian! Lepas tu baru pergi Pertama, lepas 4-5 kedai, aku jumpa kasut yang aku berkenan. Terus beli. Kasut, socks and 'shin' pad costs me RM200. Not bad! Tapi considering yag kasut bola ni aku cuma pakai setahun sekali je... rasa macam tak berbaloi lah pulak.

Lepas shopping, aku balik office. Dah janji nak dinner dengan RS and ZAW malam ni kat Bora Ombak. After Maghrib, aku lepak kat office until ZAW sampai. All of us naik kete ZAW ke Bora Ombak (BO). Sebenonye, plan nak dinner ni dah dibuat waktu aku kat Perth lagi. Just to catch up on what has been happening for the past one week. Kat BO, the three of us lepak kat Bisik 6. We ordered Nyonya Asam Pedas, Sweet Sour Chicken, Kangkung Belacan and Buttered Prawns. Nampaknya RS dan aku dah ketagih Monkey Mocha sebab itu je yg we all order everytime datang sini. Ha ha.. Aku made a call to NA to find out how she is doing after being discharged from hospital. Dia cakap she's doing OK. That's good news. Lepas makan, we all masuk inside the main building sebab nak layan live music. Memang selalu sangat aku kat sini. Waiter pun dah kenal aku... and siap tahu lagi my favorite spot. Mungkin lepas ni aku nak jadi part owner of BO lah! (haha...dream on...). Malam ni nyanyian tak berapa melethop... bunyinya macam penyanyi lelaki tu sakit tekak and tak sihat. Kesian, tak sihat pun kena kerja gak. Sambil menikmati dessert... banyak lah cerita yang dikongsi. Borak punya borak, dah pukul 12. Besok nak kena gi Bangi for Olahraga pulak. ZAW and RS sent me home. Thanks bro. Ingatnya nak update blog malam ni. Lepas mandi and all...aku cubalah mengarang, but my brain failed me. Sempat satu paragraph je... terus lentok. Wassalam

Home Sweet Home...

2 August 2007

Pagi-pagi lagi aku dah bangun mengemas baju nak balik. Takut tak sempat. Flight pukul 4:30 p.m. Tapi ada meeting in the morning until 11:00 a.m. So selesai mengemas and bersiap, aku terus pegi meeting. Meeting berjalan lancar. Pukul 11:00 a.m. sharp aku cabut from meeting and balik hotel.

Lepas tukar baju to a casual look. Aku pun checked-out dari hotel dalam pukul 12:00 tengah hari. Kat check-out counter, aku diberitahu yg total bill = A$920. Eh! heran pulak aku sebab A$920 tu cuma untuk room charges. What about the charges for internet connection for the past 3 days? The total should be A$986 instead. So kelam kabut lah si minah cashier ni called dia punya engineer to find out what happened. Memang aku punya internet subscription takde dalam bill. So, the hotel finally decided to waive the charges. (kalau kat Malaysia, mesti aku kena charge jugak!)

Lepas checked out, aku tinggal semua luggage kat Rydges' store room sebab aku nak pegi ke Myer (a famous shopping mall kat Perth ni) untuk beli collared t-shirt for my bro. Souvenir untuk HA, ZAG and AAA pun belum beli lagi. Tapi aku punya back-up plan, beli tie je kat airport... Sampai kat Myer , aku terus ke men's department. Memandangkan aku dah tau apa yg aku nak, so kejap je lah aku kat Myer. Tak sedar aku ada missed call from NSY, and 1 sms also from her... alamak...ada benda urgent ke? luckily she was just responding to my earlier email pasal meeting kat San Francisco...

Lepas pusing-pusing kat Myer, aku pun balik ke hotel untuk ambik luggage. Aku minta concierge to call a cab for me. Dalam pukul 1:30 ptg, taxi pun sampai. Perjalanan ke airport ambik masa lebik kurang 35-40 minit, aku rasa larr... tak perasan sebab sibuk bersembang dengan cab driver. Sampai kat airport terus aku checked in. Lepas tu, aku pegi shopping membeli tie untuk kengkawan... aku sempat pusing-pusing kat free duty free shops tapi tak jumpa apa2 yg menarik pun. Sebab dah separa kebulur, aku singgah makan fish-n-chips kat one of the cafes kat airport. Lepas selesai makan, baru aku masuk ke departure area and tunggu for boarding. For the first time aku dapat seat 1A.... which is paling depan and dah dekat dengan cockpit. Flight from Perth to Kuala Lumpur takes about 5 hours and 15 minutes. I had snapper for dinner. Aku juga layan movie 'The Hoax'. Lepas layan movie, aku belek-belek Going Places magazine.

For the first 2 hours, we were flying into clear skies and the weather forecast for Kuala Lumpur was just as optimistic. But subsequently after that, we experienced moderate turbulence all the way to Malaysia-Singapore border. Tapi sebab dah selalu sangat experienced turbulence, dah tak heran sangat. The worst turbulence would normally be somewhere near Japan. Sampai je KLIA, aku cepat-cepat ambik taxi untuk balik rumah. Sampai rumah dah dekat tengah malam (besok nak keje pulak ni), tapi teramatlah lapar. Lepas tinggalkan luggage kat rumah, aku keluar cari burger kat depan rumah. Balik rumah, makan burger, mandi, sembahyang lepak kejap and zzz...

Australian Reflections...

1 August 2007

At 5:00 p.m., I was already on my way back to the hotel. We had an early wrap today. By the time I reached the Rydges, I decided to venture out to the shopping area as I need to get a few more things for my friends. Harapnya kedai2 semua tutup lambat lah sikit. I made a few stops here and there…. cari potential souvenirs. Sebenarnya dah made up my mind, tapi kot-kot lah ada souvenirs yang lebih menarik... Dah lenguh berjalan, and kedai pun dah makin banyak yang tutup... takde benda pun yang berkenan di hati. I still need to go back to "Australian Reflections" later tonight. Besok dah nak balik, and I don't think I have much time to shop sebab disebelah paginya, I still need to attend meeting sampai pukul 11 pagi sebab semua orang dah rescheduled their meetings to accomodate my time.

Sampai kat lobi hotel, aku jumpa dengan 2 orang female friends dari Malaysia (nama dirahsiakan).. so lepak lah kejap, sembang-sembang. Entah macam mana, we talked about where to go for souvenirs. One of the girls, cukuplah aku panggil M, bagitau yg dia nak beli the koala bear (soft toy larr... not the actual one) tapi mahal. I volunteered to give her my koala (the one that I bought for myself), kesian lak rasanya... lagipun she is this bubbly little girl yang very friendly and very likable. So, both of them followed me to my room utk ambik koala tu... I'm happy to see her beaming with joy lepas dapat koala tu. He He...

At about 8:00 p.m., aku went straight to the "Australian Reflections" untuk beli souvenir. Rambang mata gak. Banyak jenis t-shirts yang ada, tapi yg really aku berkenan ada 2-3 jerr.... so sampai kul 9 jugaklah aku kat situ. Borong 12 t-shirts + other things. Lepas tu singgah McD beli fillet-o-fish sebab dah kebulur. Balik hotel, buat some reading utk prepare myself for meeting tomorrow, lepas tu tido. Souvenirs for AAA, HA, ZAG and ZAW belum beli lagi...besok je lah.

Mission Accomplished!

31 July 2007

I left the meeting early today at 4 p.m. not because aku kaki ponteng, but sebab aku punya counterpart tak dapat datang hari ni. So, I was given permission to leave early. Official dinner di sebelah malam pun aku malas nak join... Rasa takde mood nak ber-sosial dengan cuaca yang semacam je kat sini. Kat Perth ni...sejak aku sampai Sunday, asyik hujan je... Tak menentu pulak tu. Kat sini, hujan nya takde warning...tetiba je hujan....lepas tu sekejap berhenti, sekejap hujan balik... Dah berapa kali kena hujan pun aku tak tau...pagi kena, tengah hari kena, petang pun kena.

Oleh sebab aku balik awal sikit, I've decided utk pergi meronda... semalam tak sempat kan, kedai semua tutup. So aku pun berjalan-jalan lah disepanjang shopping area kat Perth ni. Mission utama aku, nak cari souvenir member2. For myself, aku nak cari CDs Anthony Callea. Semenjak member aku tunjuk dia punya klip performance kat Australian Idol nyanyi lagu The Prayer, aku rasa dia penyanyi yg amat baik. Tapi kat Malaysia takde pulak jual CD dia. So, dah ada kat Perth ni, aku sure tak lepaskan peluang utk cari CDs En. callea ni. Setelah pegi beberapa kedai, akhirnya kat Borders jugak yang ada... Aku terus beli both of his albums.

Lepas tu, ronda-ronda cari souvenir. Singgah satu lagi branch Australian Reflections and borong 12 helai t-shirts for friends and myself. Also bought a kangaroo and a koala sbg souvenir untuk letak kat rumah. Bila lapar aku singgah Restaurant Oleh-Oleh and makan mee curry. Hampeh, tak sedap. Lepas tu, balik bilik and browse internet... kemudian zzz.

A 2-minute Walk

30 July 2007

The brochure clearly states that the convention centre (CC) where the meeting is held is only a 2 minute-walk away. As such, I decided to leave the hotel a bit late Monday morning considering how near the CC is. Oh! it was the longest 2-minute walk in my life!! Not only the brochure lied, it took me close to 15 minutes using the shortest possible route to get to the CC. Hanj... Gilerrr..... This is definitely a form of misleading advertisement to attract people to stay at the hotel. Luckily, I arrived just in time, minutes before the meeting starts.

The meeting dragged on until eight at night. I almost die of boredom. As most shops close at 5:30 p.m. here in Perth, I resigned to the fact that the suffering will continue tonight. Takde tempat nak rayau. Nevertheless, as I was feeling terribly hungry, I went out alone to buy some dinner. A friend of mine earlier told me about a halal restaurant nearby. So, I walked there. On my way there, I stopped by at a souvenir store, 'Australian Reflections', as it was the only store that was yet to close. To my surprise, the owner of Australian Reflections is a Malaysian. I bought some souvenirs for NM and NA. They have requested me to get them 'kangaroo' sorang seekor, bley?


Lepas shopping aku pegi Oleh-Oleh Restaurant yang aku cakap halal tadi tu. Aku tapau Nasi Goreng Kampung (terasa agak KG waktu ni... ye lah! perlu ke datang Ostolia tapi makan nasi goreng KG...aiyooo). Lepas tapau, terus balik ke bilik... makan sambil melayan sms kengkawan dan browse internet sebab dah mati kutu. Yang penting internet charges kat hotel ni memanglah mahal tahap cipan, A$11 untuk sejam, A$14 untuk 3 jam and A$22 untuk 24 jam.... terbanglah dalam RM200 untuk 3 hari punya internet. Sekian.

Perth 101

29 July 2007

Perth is the capital of the Australian state of Western Australia. A population of 1,507,900 (2006 estimate) makes Perth by far the largest city in Western Australia and home to three-quarters of the state's residents. The city is also the fourth most populous urban area in Australia, and with a growth rate of 2% is currently the fastest growing major city in Australia.

Perth was founded on 11 June 1829 by Captain James Stirling as the political centre of the free settler Swan River Colony. It has continued to serve as the seat of Government for Western Australia to the present day.

The metropolitan area (yang tak berapa metropolitan ni...) is located in the south west of the continent between the Indian Ocean and a low coastal escarpment known as the Darling Range. The central business district and suburbs of Perth are situated on the Swan River. The nearest city to Perth with a population over 1 million is Adelaide in South Australia, which is 2,104 kilometres (1,307 mi) away.