BrEakFaSt CLuB on SatuRdAy…~~ 26 March, 2007

Last Saturday was an eventful day for me. Apart from attending the Breakfast Club at MPH, Bangsar Village 2 in morning(KL)…i also had my cousin’s 21st birthday party to attend later in the evening(Seremban). *will write the two events separately*

i arrived late(again…) at MPH and quickly grab whatever seat that was available. Lydia was already in the middle of a discussion. After she has finished, she had a Q & A session to those who were there…

This man(no names mentioned) spoke out, started talking about the issue about freedom of speech among bloggers. He was saying how he thinks it’s not right that bloggers should get sued for something they wrote because to him, a blog is some sort like a journal, a diary..no one was invited to read the blogs…blah blah blah…he also asked a whole lotta questions about publishing a book, how much should he sacrifice his time, life and work on writing a book, can a person get rich from writing, blah blah blah blah….i tell you, he was yakking away, not really listening to anyone..but i think the most pengsan case would be….after yakking about freedom of speech la, saying it’s not right and all.. he told us, “i don’t blog. i don’t have the time to do it..“. He DON’T blog?!?!?!? i mean….what the heck man! You talk so much and yet you don’t blog!??! i felt like smacking him on the head there and then.

dah la don’t blog…talk so much summore..even worse, he kept asking questions about publishing a book..and yet, he gives so many excuses to NOT be able to publish one. no no…let me rephrase that, he gives so many excuses to not be able to WRITE. *eyes rolling*

he even said to me, “so, are you a journalist?”, “where is your blog heading to?” “i got no time to write la..” adui…really speechless…thank God Kenny was leaving already..so i wouldn’t be stuck talking to him for long…hehe…Whew!~

Apart from that man, it was really lovely to meet Xeus, Lydia and Eric again. Also, Sharon Bakar, Kak Teh, Chet and Esther for the 1st time. Esther being a student at Taylor’s who came because she had an assignment on blogging…a very lovely girl i tell you..;o) It was also Kak Teh’s birthday…Lydia bought a chocolate cake which was delicious! Yum Yum…heheh..=D Although i missed Kenny’s introduction for Lydia and a little bit of the front part..he made it up by telling it to me afterwards at lunch and i must say, he look really good that day. Everyone agree with me, say “aye!“. heheh…;o)

i also learnt a lot from the discussions that day, how we should write, why we shouldn’t let anything stop us from writing, the fact that only about 300 writers in the world actually get rich from writing and the best of all…quoted by Xeus..that we should all write from the heart..that phrase alone is still stuck in my mind until now..=D

Oh, oh….almost forgot. The food that was prepared that day was really nice..and we had a variety of food too. currypuffs, chicken curry, fried popiah, kuihs and dunno wht else..hahah.. Thanks Eric for the wonderful savories! ;o)

P/S: for more details, hop on over to Xeus’s blog..she has pretty much sum up everything that was discussed that day..=)

~SpIffY~

EnGrIsH?! 26 March, 2007

Date: 23rd April 2007

Venue: Office at around 5pm

Topic of discussion: English Pronunciation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Me: (on the phone)

Colleague A: (walks pass my table) Wahh…! look at our friend here…so rajin read book.

Colleague B & C: where? where?……waahhhh….so thick summore

Colleague A opens the book) eh, eh…how to pronounce this word ah?

Colleague B: hmm…*thinking very hard* pro-lo-kwee..

Colleague A: huh? pro-lo-kwee? what word is that? aiyorr..what book is this? one word also so hard to read..

Me: (was already laughing very hard..still on the phone mine you!) wei..wei…can you all please stop making jokes of the word? i’m still on the phone with some guy from Taipei..don’t make me laugh can ah?

Finally, can’t stand laughing…had to passed the phone to my other colleague.

Me: what word that is so hard to pronounce? see i know or not?

Colleague B: (showing me the word) There..this word la. How do you pronounce it?

Me: (almost pengsan…) Pro-log *Word: Prologue*

Colleague B ro-log ah? Aiyorr….such a hard word. What does it mean by the way?

Me: Erm…it means an introduction, a start to something…

Colleague B: aiseh…start means start la…pro-log for what…pro-lo-kwee la….

Colleague A & C: yalor yalor…

Me: (speechless….)

An end to the last day of a working day….;o)

~SpIffY~

Farewell.. 23 March, 2007

*short note*

Zewt’s mom has passed on, on Wednesday night….

~SpIffY~

Let’s Pray…. 21 March, 2007

I’ve just found out that Zewt’s mom is in critical condition. What was initially thought to be a stroke turns out to be more serious. Doctors said that one of the blood vessels in her brain has burst and there is bleeding in her brain now. The blood clot is pressing against the right brain causing her to be half paralysed. Doctors said she can hardly survive. =(

I can’t say that I know what it’s like to be in his shoes, cause I really don’t. but I can honestly say I can imagine myself in his shoes..losing a parent is anyone’s worst nightmare come true. It IS the one thing that I fear the most in my life. I don’t even dare to think what will happen to me if my parents were to leave me. I don’t think I can go on living…gosh, thinking of that is making me tear up…right now.

As Zewt mentioned in his latest entry, he apologized a lot to his mom. All the things that he’s sorry for…I am sorry for. I am also guilty of all that. You know, I haven’t been speaking to my mom the whole of yesterday. Not because we were mad at each other but because by the time I reached home, she was already asleep. The same goes for today. I think by the time I reach home, she’ll already be asleep. *Note: company dinner 2 days in a row..* I suddenly miss my mom…

To dear Zewt, be strong…ur a tough person. God is always kind and compassionate. If you do need anything, be rest assured that you have a closely knit community here in the blogsphere that you can always come to. My prayer goes out to your mom..

To anyone who’s reading this, let us all pray for Zewt’s mom.

~SpIffY~

Me…Older?!? 14 March, 2007

went over to my cousin’s house on sunday to copy some pictures and he told me he’s celebrating his birthday next week…

me: How old will you be?

couz: 21 years

me: WHAT?!? 21 years old..?? since when did u turn 21???

couz: hahahhah…..

me: how can u be 21? if ur 21 then i’m like…OLDER…

his sis(who’s 17): eeyyerrr….*tsk* *tsk* (giving me the ‘ur so old‘ look)

me: (in my heart..) yah yah…i’m older than u guys but Ben will forever be older than me. *evil laugh*

i didn’t really realized that he’s grown..in my mind he’s still 19. well, i remembered him as being 19..just starting college..telling me about his ‘loveable‘ lecturers, his classes, assignments that can die…then BAM! he’s finally, officially turning into an adult this year. he can actually vote, he can masuk the casino at Genting and happily tell the securities, “nah..nah…saya punya I.C. Mau tengok ka? Sudah 21 tahun“, he can tell his parents i’m getting married tomorrow and my uncle and aunty wouldn’t be able to do anything…because he is an adult. Legally. Well, he will be, come the 20th. hahahah….
Happy 21st Birthday, couz!! ^_^

~SpIffY~

ScEneS fRoM a DrAmA… 14 March, 2007

was browsing thru some pictures and found a couple which i think are really drama type..i shall attempt to create a scene out of the pictures now..;o)

Boy: Sien-nya sit beside you…malas want to even see ur face

Girl: Blehh…think i like to see u izzit? i terpaksa sit next to you only..

Boy: *thinking* When only i can leave..faster la..

Girl: *thinking* Feel like pouring the tea on him…apa punya muka like tht.

Boy in black: oi! why ur face so like that? ur not sittin next to her also..

Boy in shirt: my face is like this because i’m sitting next to you! =P

i don’t think my dialogues are funny enuff la. anyone has any better ones? please share.. heheh… the two leng chai guys in the pictures are my younger cousins. in case, anyone is wondering.. no we don’t have any grudge against each other. hahah… the picture is also taken candidly by another cousin….;o)

~SpIffY~

OuR CounTrY…~~ 9 March, 2007

I saw kindness on my way to work today. A lady giving food to a stray dog and mind you, it was a chicken drumstick. *Yummy!* Holding the drumstick in its mouth, it was happily running as if to say “I’ve got a drumstick! Nyeh nyeh nyeh nyeh nyeh…” Indeed, I’m sure that’ll be its exact words if it could speak. ;o) it just shows that there are still compassion in our world today. It’s not as cold as we think it is..i just wish there’ll be more people out there who has the same compassion as the lady. God bless her!

On another note, was taking the train home 2 days ago.. I think it was one of my worst rides ever. Never mind it being like 20mins late, by the time the train arrives at the platform, the crowd was huge. I managed to climb onboard the train but the journey was cut short. Dah la the train was moving slowly, suddenly at the Salak Selatan Station, the driver hollered out:

“Sistem saya menunjukkan bahawa ada orang yang sedang menekan butang kecemasan. Tolong jangan tekan butang kecemasan yang berada dipintu, kerana ini akan menyebabkan pintu terbuka. Jika anda tidak mahu menaiki tren ini, sila turun dan naik tren yang akan datang. Penumpang yang berada dekat pintu, tolong berdiri jauh dari pintu” (how can they move when we’re already packed like sardines? *eyes rolling*).

In my mind I was thinking, how would anyone wanna play with the emergency button? My guess was that someone must’ve accidentally pressed it since it was really crowded but well, I’ll never know. =P

After awhile, the train started moving VERYYY slowly and I was like, thank God! I can go home now…2 minutes later…

Train has stopped again. Doors were opening and closing a few times and finally, driver hollered again:

“Semua penumpang sila turun dari tren kerana tren ini telah mengalami kerosakkan. Saya ulangi, SEMUA penumpang sila turun dari tren ini.”

Argghhh!!!

Now, I wasn’t THAT frustrated initially, but then I remembered something. We’re ‘stranded’ at Salak Selatan Station, a station where hardly anyone gets down from. It’s the peak hours, all the trains are gonna be packed to the brim and there were like I don’t know, at least a hundred passengers on the platform? Okay, truth be told…I don’t know how many passengers were there but I can honestly say that the platform was FULL. Period. (now, IF the station were alive, it’ll be jumping with joy because for the 1st time ever, it had so many people waiting for the train…heheh) Already I told myself, there is no way you’re gonna get on that train the 1st time. No freaking way. True enough, when the reached the platform, it was full. I tell you, it was as full as our initial train. How was anyone going to board it? Sigh…

“Nevermind, I’ll just wait for the next one”, said myself and probably all the other passengers around. It started drizzling while I was waiting for the next train and I was seriously contemplating if I should go over to the other side of the platform, board the train heading to KL Central, reached Central and switch trains to go back home. I was also pondering if I should call my friend to come pick me up and drop me somewhere else. Ponder, ponder…(I’m quite indecisive at times..=P) train sudah sampai.

This time around, I had the luck to board the train but… Malaysians being Malaysians, EVERYONE wanted to board the train. The train itself was already packed with people and yet those from the outside kept pushing and pushing, saying “Masuk lagi, masuk lagi”. Just imagine, I didn’t even have to move in. I was being moved. We were all standing so near to each other that I couldn’t even move a muscle.

Sigh….what a day!

But wait, it’s not over yet…

When I finally had a place to sit and was enjoying the comfort of it, when we reached the Labu Station (3 stations away from Seremban), the driver made an announcement:

“Semua penumpang sila turun dari tren ini dan naik tren yang selepasnya. Tren ini akan berpatah balik dan terus menuju ke Rawang”.

Arrggghhhhhhhh!!!

Twice in a row?? It can’t get any worse than this. Told myself, nevermind..i’m cool. Took out Perfume and started reading, can’t concentrate, close it and stood waiting. Thought I see a train coming, went nearer to the platform and waited. It started drizzling..again. By that time it was about 8pm.. somehow or rather, I welcomed the raindrops. Closed my eyes, really feel the raindrops, with the wind gently blowing my hair..and breathe in deeply. What my nose caught was fresh, unpolluted air. It smelled of leaves from a tree, with a hint of moisture. Also, the smell of sunburned bricks on the pavement that the raindrops have dropped onto. That particular moment reminds me of Grenouille (will write more on him in another post)… ;o)

A telephone conversation from a lady nearby caused my eyes to open. This is what she said,

“ada kat Labu sekarang, makan angin…”

“takde la, driver tu suruh kita turun, makan angin kejap kat Labu…”

“yeala, tengah tunggu tren VIP untuk jemput kita..di samping tu boleh la tengok permandangan yang cantik kat sini…”

And that ladies and gentlemen, turned what seemed to be a bad and unlucky day into the most beautiful one. That conversation alone gave smiles to all who heard it. I say that’s classic! =D

~SpIffY~

SpLenDiD SaTuRdAy!!~ 6 March, 2007

What a day Saturday was! I haven’t been rushing like how I rushed that day in quite a while. For one, I woke up late.. well, not really late but I thought I had enough time to go to PJ then to KL in time for Lydia’s booktalk. Boy, was I wrong! It’s bad enough that I was like 35 mins late for the booktalk, the minute I sat down on the chair, the interview that Kenny was giving Lydia ended. Argghhh!! I felt like knocking my head on the wall. As consolation, Kenny said…well, at least u made it just in time for the photo session. Thanks, Kenny but I still missed the interview! Sighh…=(

This time around, there were more bloggers/writers compared to the previous one at MPH. It was very refreshing and interesting to meet Xeus, author for the book Darkcity, and DarkCity 2 (which will be out very soon) and Tunku Halim, author of The Rape of Martha Teoh, among other books, also who’s latest ‘greatest hits’ book 44 Cemetery Road will be out in April. Not forgetting of course, Lydia herself, Eric and also Kenny. Oh, oh…also Zewt that purposely postponed his movie to a later time to come over and get his book signed by Lydia. Ahh..it’s always great to finally meet the ‘face’ behind all the blogging. Heheh… After the interview, photo session and a few autograph signings.. bloggers being bloggers we all sat in an almost circle and started chit-chatting. For more infos on the book talk on saturday, head on over to Lydia’s Book Talk, Borders Berjaya Times Square.

As for me, although I missed the interview…it was a trip well taken because gatherings like these are always eye opening to me. I never cease to learn something new every time! Meeting authors who’ve already had books published are like meeting celebrities.. only in a different genre. These are the people whom I will say are the ‘behind the scenes’ celebrities.. people who worked their ass off to write a good book, then worked their ass off to get it published and hoping that their books will really sell. Some, like Xeus, won’t even want her identity to be shown to the masses! So there, these are the people worth looking up upon, don’t you think? =)

~SpIffY~

FiGhT CLuB?!?~~ 6 March, 2007

I’m not gonna say much, the poster says it all anyway.. all thanks to the creator, Kenny Mah. ;o)

This time around, Xeus will be introduced by Eric Forbes and Lydia Teh, will be introduced by Kenny Mah. I’m sure it’ll be a very interesting one…Do make the time to drop by and see what it’s all about..*ahem! its gonna be my 1st time there also, so no worries…we sesat together gether alright??heheh…*

P/S: Please click on the poster to enlarge it. Can see the details better…;o)

~SpIffY~

nEw cHapTeR iN LiFe…~~ 1 March, 2007

i’m noticing a lil change in my activities..These days its booktalk here, lit fest there, Breakfast Club here…if u were to ask me last year, i wouldn’t even bother with stuffs like this. as much as a book lover that i am, i’m really not the kind who would discuss books, authors and so forth. i think conversations like these just doesn’t exist among my friends..who’re mostly not into reading. i think last year i’ve been reading a lot of motivational stuffs, network marketing stuffs compared to fictions…i dont read much short stories either..

that is until i went to Lydia Teh’s booktalk and met up with this particular blogger, who sumhow sumwhere has exposed me to the world of writers, books and much more. this is like a whole new topics of conversation for me. sometimes to the point where i need to stop him midway in our conversation to say.. “sorry..never heard of that” or “what? i’m lost..care to explain?”. *blush* i don’t mind really..because i’ve always been a person whose interests can get pretty wide and this is free information sharing, mind you. =)

i guess like my cousin said, there’s no harm in getting to know people from different fields and interests and learning new stuffs..*he was initially quite surprised that I, went to a booktalk. hahah…* so yea, as much as my friends don’t understand why the heck would i want to be at a booktalk or Breakfast Club for Litbloggers..i’m still very exciting about it all. This is like a whole new chapter in my life for me to explore and learn..=D

~SpIffY~