Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Seeking something new

Ketupat pulut di atas para,
Hendak direbus di tepi perigi,
SMS dihantar pengganti kad raya,
Tanda ingatan di Aidilfitri.

Okay. That pantun above have been circulating ever since people started sending out raya wishes via sms. Like what year was it ? 2000? 2001? 2002? I strongly suggest you people guilty of recycling that pantun too death to look for something else next year. Please? Thanks.

Anyways, i'm not in the mood to talk about raya, so we'll talk about damages post raya.

1#
MKZ: got asked the same question again and again
SMS: BOSAN KAN
SMS: and if thats not enuf
SMS: bile dah kawin
SMS: nanti ade soklan
SMS: bile nak berisi?
MKZ: u jawablah "sentiasa berisi"
MKZ: i kalau org tanya bila nak mkn pulut, i jwb "bila-bila boleh mkn"
MKZ: kalau org tanya bila nak mkn nasi minyak, i jwb "cholestrol tinggi"
SMS: hahahahahaha

2#
My sister02 was rolling around on the couch with me after arriving back from kampung. We were talking. Talking about makcik this and makcik that. Being makciks ourselves la basically.

Then she asked me;

S02: Kenapa org sibuk2 nak tanye kita bila nak kawin la..apela..inilaa..itulaa..?
SMS: Ntah. Memang dasar makcik kot.
S02: I mean, kenapa kena tanya kat kita kan? Saya pelik nape tak tanye kat Auntie M atau Auntie Y?
(Auntie M is successful, slim and 40-something. Auntie Y is successful, slimmer and 40 something)
SMS: Hmm.. tu la kan. Diorang lagi layak kawin. Duit banyak. Dah stable. Saya pun tak suke orang tanye2 bile nak ade baby. Hish.
S02: Tu la die. Asal tak tanye kat Auntie N ke..Auntie L ke kan?
(Auntie N has been married for over ten year and her husband is up for Datukship. They have no kids. Auntie L has been married for over ten years and still no kids)
SMS: Tu la citernye. Diorang tu apasal pulak tak ditanya ye? Ini saya yang kawin baru setahun ni pulak kena query. Chait!

3#
Colleague : Lain kali cakap je, okay makcik saya nak balik dulu ni. nak buat anak!!

4#
Old joke as told by Lucillus that I always think about in moments like these.

I used to hate weddings being single. All the old elder aunties would poke me and say, "you're next."

They soon stopped when I started saying the same to them at funerals.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Maaf Zahir dan Batin. Makciks or non-makciks alike.
This blog is where is rant. If my writings offended you in anyway, I deeply apologize. At this moment in time, I feel no resentment so it's safe to say that the things I wrote were just spur of the moment and non-intentional. It's all forgiven and forgotten. Do the same for me?


Monday, September 22, 2008

What's your 10 closet essentials?

As requested by Ints.
  1. Denims that fit like a dream.
  2. Black and Nude-colored silk camisoles. To go with jackets/jeans/cardigans/pashminas.
  3. Black tailored jacket. Because of the times you have to switch on to professional mode.
  4. White shirt. The chunky beads will spell the kind of tone you're putting. Pearls? Crystal? Plastic?
  5. A silk white baju kurung. For funerals.
  6. A beautifully beaded/embroidered baju kurung for evening weddings.
  7. Knitted sweater. For movies/airplane/intercity train rides etc.
  8. The Carrie Pumps. For work and play. My ultimate weakness.
  9. Big Structured Bag for work. Leather or Mock Croc.
  10. A steel chronograph watch. Because some day the need to look your age arises.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Ramdan Moments

My #7 Ramadan 2008 Moments;

1. Breakfast at Palace Beach & Spa with D and sister02.

The food was 5/10. The thing is with Ramadan buffet is that most of the menu offer ‘traditional malay cuisine’. Everybody knows traditional malay cuisine cost next to nothing. If you go to the makcik nasi campur, eat rendang chicken, sayur, ulam, ikan bakar and what not tak sampai pun RM15. You go to the pasar Ramadan, come back with berduyun2 plastik bag and only spend RM15. So is it worth your money to be spending RM60-RM90 on traditional Malay cuisine? I think not. The spread here was so so. Chicken Rice, Nasi Hujan Panas (which D thinks is some kind of joke) and the usual nasi putih. There was this group of blue collar workers kena belanja dgn boss buka puasa. I watched them stack their plates with nasi putih, kangkung and ikan bakar. Worth your five bucks. Hmm.

The only thing I was interested in was the ikan sembilang bakar. Yums. I went there and waited for my turn. The fish was as big as my calves. I suddenly remembered those fat fishes swimming in the indoor muddy stinky river at mines. Really fat. As fat as my calves. Ew. Tak jadi eat the fish.


2. Village View with Lucillus.

We had the yummiest steamed siakap in Thai gravy. Superb! And then we had that sizzling Japanese tofu. I love tofu! And then I had half a dozen chicken wings. The food was perfect, the mosquitoes were in full swing and Lucillus and I were being our usual bitchy selves. While trying to kill time waiting for the food. We saw an old fren of his. He hated this fren cos they were rivals back in the school days where this guy got the girl he wanted. Hmm. Too bad. As usual I was on Lucillus’s side, so we picked every single thing we could about him. The way he ate his fish, the way he munched, his hair. Kurus pahala puasa.


We stayed for quite a bit. Lucillus the usual glutton didn’t finish his food. Probably the idea of being in the same room as the dude who took his girl killed his appetite. Mine wasn’t affected though. I licked my plate clean and ate 5/6 chicken wings. He ate one.


We went to McD for some ice-cream. OH-MY-GAWD. Have you tasted the McFlurry Mudpie???? It is to die for!!!!!!!!!!

Lucillus wrote about the people you encounter at McD. So I won’t divulge further with that.


3. Dinner at MiCasa Camelot @ Mummy & Papa’s.

I didn’t cook before coming so didn’t bring anything for juadah berbuka. We stopped by the Pasar Ramadan; even though it’s a well-known fact that my parents are anti Pasar Ramadan and would rather eat freshly prepare home cooked food. I got some chicken wings since everybody loves ‘em and some curry puffs – I love ‘em, and some more stuff cannot remember. It’s true you know my parent hate Pasar Ramadan. They never go. They question the quality, freshness, taste and all the preservatives and coloring injected into all the colorful kuih. Papa the health freak + Mummy the control freak. Now, all the kids can drive and we go if we feel like it. But it’s never been a big thing or a must have for us.

Anyways, earlier that day, Mummy had read this article in the news, so she sent Papa & sister02 in search of the yummy meats. They got lost and all that but came home with the sausages and daging salai. My goodness!!! The smoked sausages were absolutely to die for. TO DIE FOR!!!!! Best gile. It’s so hard to find halal ones, in fact I’ve been thinking that memang got no halal ones at all. Usually the Chinese Sausages will have all the pig parts stuff into the pig intestines but this is smoked beef stuff into beef intestines. Intensifying!!!!! Mummy’s cooking as usual was good and always makes everyone happy.

Oh and my brother bought chicken wings also. So there were like two dozen chicken wings.


4. Sahur @ A&W, PJ with D

I had a sudden epiphany to dine/bersahur at A&W, PJ. Tu tempat dating favourite dulu. I use to sneak out of the house and go to A&W for rootbeers and waffles. I told D, I wanted to bersahur at A&W, PJ. He said yeah, he kinda miss that place too.


Three things;

  • The queue was long. We queued for 40 minutes. Actually not that long la. Like ten people per counter. Only two counter open. And the service slow like a ninety year old grand-ma with parkinson’s. And everyone knows the waffle is another counter altogether.
  • I had a mozza. D had a beef burger or something. They were the saddest excuse for a burger I had seen. I felt so sorry for myself. I really did. Overly dry pattie, wilted lettuce, soggy tomatoes, stale buns that crumble – bodoh, buns are not suppose to crumble! I told D, I want a juicy burger. I want a ramly burger. D told me, life would be so much better with a McD quarter pounder.

  • I got to the waffle counter. The idiot told me, ‘mesin rosak, sile beratur dihadapan’. Beyond ridiculous. Wanted to complain but say the supervisor was a plus sized Indian drag with pink eyeshadow. Better not. The worst ever experience with a fast food outlet. Seriously the people who go there are either in the neighborhood or are feeling sentimental like me. This is stupid.

5. J’s wedding @ some hall in KL.

J, an former colleague was getting married that day. Puasa day. Well, he was Indian. So I took D and sister02. Sister02 invited a friend. We arrived around 6 plus, there were seats all the way in front labeled ‘Muslim Guests’. How very considerate. So we got to eat dome style at the front table while non fasting guest had to wait an hour later. The food was fine. Everything was fine..well..

Two things;
  • I don’t expect many of my former colleagues to be there being fasting month and all.Which I was right. But of all the people, the idiot boss of mine was there. Out of the 400 people at my former workplace he had to be there. And we were ushered to sit at his table. Bad luck betoi. No, actually I sat at the next table when I saw him. I told D, sister02 and fren to quickly-quickly sit. They did. I managed to ignore the boss. Then the usher suddenly comes and tells us to fill the next table. Boleh? I did’t want to budge. Then these people started staring at me. Takkan I nak buat scene kat J’s wedding kan? Sigh.
  • The menu was the standard wedding food. Nasi beryani, chicken, beef, vegetables, papadom and the likes. I wanted to eat then suddenly I thought of something. This can’t be beef. It can’t be. There’s the priest on the stage giving his blessings and all and he we are eating beef. I don’t think its beef. I whispered to D. He whispered back that they probably serve it Muslims only. But I don’t think so. If you think that something is holy and should not be sacrificed, would you pay to let it be sacrificed for others to eat? Even Indian shops don’t sell beef. I couldn’t stomach anything. Everbody dengan penuh berselera makan banyak. I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. I pushed my food around my plate. And ended up hungry. Oh. It sure wasn’t lamb/mutton. I love lamb. I know what it tastes like. I’m thinking maybe its buffalo meat. Kerbau maybe? Mystery meat.

D took me to Pavillion after that and I chowed down on Carl's Jr Avocado Burger..

6. The Carousel, Palace of the Golden Horses with the Dept and D.

This is by far the bestest. So far. Fresh oysters at the buffet. FRESH OYSTERS! I had too much. D thinks they’re disgusting. Huhu.

The food was absolutely superb. And the choices were amazing. Whole Lamb, Ice cream with chocolate sauce – I went crazy with the chocolate sauce, Char Siew Chicken, International cheeses with crackers, Wild Mushroom Soup, Pasta Carbonara with Sun-dried Tomatoes, Ice-Kacang, Satay, Assorted Chinese Appetizers, Dim Sum, Live Popiah Basah, Soft Shelled Crabs, Oxtail Assam Pedas, Assorted Sushi, Seared Salmon, Steamed Prawns, Mussels on a bed of ice, Gazillion Type of Noodles, Gazillion Types of Rice, and I can’t remember what else. The only thing missing was the chocolate fountain. Throw in the fountain and my life would just be perfect.

And the location is really near the surau. So no worries there. After stuffing ourselves and unclipping all our buttons, we left the place at 10.30. 10.30? Crazy. And I got a voucher to dine there at 50% off for as many times till the end of the year.


@ The Carousel. So pretty.


7. Le Meridien, Kuala Lumpur.

D’s department was paying tribute to the media. We arrived at 6.45. Already a full house. They had it in the hall and it was for the company only. So no mixing with the public. But what the hell man. No seats. I saw the chef carving lamb, I started to queue up. The azan sudah berkumandang, so D came and gave one buah kurma. I continued queuing up. Got the lamb. No seats. I saw a lot of irrelevant people. Like B-grade celebrities. Since the Chairman and CEO come from the music industry I guess it’s apt. I refused to eat while standing and just stood there with my arms folded. Moments later, Le Meridien staff came out wheeling stacks of chairs. Which meant that all the people who didn’t have seats had to sit outside. Where the food was. I had on my white shirt. People may have mistaken me for the waitress.

The food was very minimal. Except for the lamb and butter prawns, everything else was just so-so. There was rice and probably five types of dishes. And then some noodles. Disappointing. The dessert was okay. Tiramisu in a bowl was so-so. I had a few slices of lamb, went for another round, then nibbled on the butter prawns.

D felt bad for the whole event. He took me for drinks after that @ Chawan, Bangsar. That was good. I had Nasi Lemak bungkus. Very nice.

Two things:
  • What annoyed me more than anything during the event was that non-fasting people shamelessly pigging out like there’s no tomorrow. You know who im talking about right? The usual buffet hoggers, freebie sucker type. They don’t give a rat’s ass about whether you get seats or not when they haven’t finished they fourth round yet.
  • It was a poorly planned event. I heard D asking his colleague,

D : How many did we invite ?
C : Actually 5 meja jek. But you know how the press are. Word of mouth la kan. Lagi-lagi tau kat Le-Meridien. Semua la nak datang.

Here’s a tip for you. Have you heard of RSVP? Or Guestlist?

Oh well, I think its very typical for that low cost airline. Nak seat? Berebut la. Nak makan sedap? Beli la sendiri. :)

Buka puasa dates I am anticipating :
  • With the Kath Math and Lucillus @ that place.
  • With D on a date later this week. He promised to take me to a movie after that.
  • With the parents tonight. I miss everyone.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Further Waste of Time

I owe this to the bride-to-be. Long overdue.

13 random things you love: [in no particular order]

Can I skip this? I think I already answered this sometime back.

12 movies you like: [in no particular order]

This one too. I just did this.

11 bands/artists: [in no particular order]

  1. Zaiton Sameon
  2. Ramlah Ram
  3. Rohana Jalil
  4. Mawi
  5. Siti Nurhaliza
  6. Norkumalasari
  7. U2
  8. Coldplay
  9. Jack Johnson
  10. Robbie Williams
  11. Marvin Gaye

10 things about you physically & personality wise:

  1. very straight hair
  2. hairless body
  3. sparse eyebrows
  4. small eyes/slit eyed
  5. ugly toes
  6. reserved with strangers
  7. dripping with sarcasm
  8. dry
  9. blunt
  10. sharp

9 songs for your wedding: [in no particular wedding]

There was just one song that played during the wedding : ‘Kaulah segalanya’ – by Hazarul Nizam. Very beautiful.

8 fav drinks/food: [in no particular order]

  1. beef rissole
  2. bbq beef ribs
  3. lamb chop
  4. lamb anything
  5. gulai telur itik
  6. ikan sembilang bakar
  7. asam pedas tetel - holy crap sedapnye!
  8. nasi kerabu

7 things you always wear:

  1. sunglasses
  2. make-up
  3. mascara
  4. wedding ring
  5. wedding present ring
  6. wedding present pearl & white gold necklace
  7. my heart on my sleeve

6 pet peeves: [in no particular order]

Haih..do already la this one.

5 things you touch everyday: [in no particular order]

  1. the toilet bowl
  2. my face
  3. the sink
  4. my badly-needs-to-be-cleaned car
  5. D

4 shows you watch: [in no particular order]

  1. Dirty Sexy Money.
  2. The L Word – Bloody hell. Gile kurang pahala puasa aku.
  3. News. Must watch news.
  4. Brothers & Sisters.

3 celebrities:

  1. Nicole Richie – Painfully beautiful
  2. Angelina Jolie – Breathtakingly gorgeous
  3. Josh Hartnet. He is super hot. Super-super hot. That final scene in Wicker Park when he wearing that black coat and he pulls his bag over his head while he's walking towards the girl- sheesh, that scene makes my heart flip all the time. ALL THE TIME!

2 current wishes:

  1. Spend more and more time with my family.
  2. Bigger hair/Smaller chest/Skinny arms/Flawless skin/Sharper nose/Bigger eyes.

1 person you could spend the rest of your life with:

Sometimes it’s Mummy then when she becomes bitchy it’s Papa. Then when he starts to annoy me, I think it’s Mummy again. It’s repetitive cycle. Either ways, I’d love to have them in my life forever and ever. (D is default. A must-have.)

tagging:

  1. Lucillus – I can’t wait for the shit he comes up with.
  2. Roxy – So that she updates.
  3. Irna – Work is to waste time, dear.

Sweets for my Sweets

Tagged by Sweets.

*Job?
PR/Corp Comm

*Best Sartorial advice from your parents?
Lingerie should not shine through.

*Style icons
Nicole Richie & Victoria Beckham

*Describe your personal style
I’ve lived in the same pair of Levi’s for almost a decade. I make it work with the shoes. I‘m practical like that. I like prints and flowy tops. No baby tees, I feel trapped in the 90’s. And I constantly hide behind huge sunglasses.

*I build my daily look around the person that I’m going to meet/probably bump into.
At work however I live and breathe black and grey pants with black/grey/brown/white shirt. Even my baju kurung for work has to be in somber colors.
I meet people all day long. It’s hard to be taken seriously when you are probably dressed like;
1. Their moms going to kenduri kawin;
2. A sixteen year old.

I dress to avoid distraction. No bling or labucci or loud print tops. Tapi kan…I find that now I draw more attention as I’m the one in black top to toe five days a week.

*Personal Style quirk
Quirk? No quirks.

*Favorite designers
Azzedine Alaia

*Most cherished item
Jimmy Choo bag Mummy bought me.

*I feel best wearing?
A crispy white shirt and killer heels. Pants are optional.

*The first thing I look at in another Sartorialist’s outfit...
No first thing. I soak in everything at first glance. I remember what Sweets wore the first time I saw her. I have the same top.

*I always break this fashion rule...
Are there rules in fashion? I mean Carrie Bradshaw wore a bird on her head for gossake.

*I never break this fashion rule...
No rules.

*Never caught wearing?
Carrot cut jeans/Bleached denim

*Most underrated item in menswear/womenswear?
Socks. I love socks. I have a whole drawer of socks.

*Dress to impress who?
You know when people say the dress up to impress men? It’s a lie. They dress up for other women. They undress for men.

*Shine your own shoes?
Nope. If they don’t shine, it’s time to get new ones.

*Favorite stores?
Guess? boutique.
A cheaper version of the designers. If Gucci has it, you can bet Guess? has it.

*Your next “must have” purchase?
Jill Stuart sunglasses.

*I only buy __________ in Europe.
what is cheaper over there.

I’ve been there twice y’know?

*I skimp when buying …
Clothes for vacation. They probably go missing anyway. Or ruined.

*I splurge on…..
Shoes and bags.

*Favorite item of clothing
Those jeans.

*Guilty pleasure
Expensive shoes I don’t need that leave me broke. I have never bought one pair of shoe. I always buy at least two. I have no idea why. I don’t feel happy with just one pair.

*Cologne, skincare
I have three dozen fragrances on rotation. I wish for Crème Brule by Laura Mercier.
My entire skincare is an Indonesian product recommended by my auntie living over there. There has been no turning back.

*Most stylish city (Milan, Paris, London, New York, other)
I’ve only been to Milan, Paris and London. I’ll decide when I’ve been to New York.

*When I was high school I wore?
Uniform. Only splurged on bags. The entire school was into UCB and Guess?. The entire collection was on display at our school. I had 2 UCB and 1 Guess? bag during my entire high school career.

*Sports?
No thanks.

*Favorite fashion magazine?
I love the fashion magazines D brings home. Eclectic and almost filled with thrashed. And a lot of nudity.

*Favorite vacation spot?
Capetown, South Africa and Dahab, Egypt.

*Favorite neighborhood restaurant?
Restaurants in my neighbourhood suck. I drive out a bit for some good food.

*I would like to tag:
My stylish Ints and Lucillus