The archive posts

As i looked back to my old entries in the archive, I have just realized something:

1. I wrote something on the fact that i've never been down under (australia), and last september, I've made it. I didnt realize that it was some sort of a subconscious wish what with all those Australian Open in Melbourne, and it actually came true.
2. I was up to the point of expressing my dismay of unable to attend my graduation day last May 2006, but alhamdulillah I finally got my chance last May 2007.

It's autumn in the northern hemisphere part of the world and it has been 2 years since I passed my PhD viva. And not too long after that I was diagnosed with hypertension. How ironic this PhD as a supposedly short form of Permanent health Damage! It was not just my third and final tertiary education degree from the world 5th ranking university as published by Times Higher Education for the 2007 list (which saw no Malaysian universities made it in the top 200 list), but it also left an almost permanent scar.

31st October = Halloween day. Not a significant day in malaysia yet it was one of those days that my college mates and I did something crazy together. Not totally crazy but oh well, we'd dress up as some freaky monster. That was in 2001 and 2002 though. In 2003, I went to the Black Widow pub down Gloucester Road with 2 of my research group mates and we were given some free santa claus hats? OK sorry, that was our Christmas thingie before the holiday kicked in. Dont worry, I am a staunch teetotal...no need to worry about whether i downed some alcohol or anything close to some few drops of it in my drink. Yea, now i remember, I stopped doing this Halloween stuff from 2003 and onwards to pay my respect to Ramadan fasting month.

Early weeks of November, apart from missing those Lord Mayor Parade in South bank side, I'd opt to go to those bonfire night instead. And i managed to go to one of its fireworks sites in Ravenscourt Park. That was the nearest I stood next to a huge bonfire with some ear-deafening yet totally awesome firework pyrotechnics. The rest were mostly just watching from afar including from my old flat's bedroom window. As cliche and cheesy at times this fireworks maybe, i still would get excited watching those colourful flares lighting up the sky, doesnt matter where on earth I'd be. A bit similar to watching those snowflakes even though i've seen them for like the umpteenth time.


What I'm getting in Malaysia??? A face to face with Sean Ghazi, no fireworks between us of course but it was definitely an uplifting experience to meet a local artiste with international flair who can naturally speaks good English. No bonfire night in Malaysia, but inshallah, there'll be more "fire" relight inside of me soon.

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I knew those words i said may have hurt my mother so many times but i dunno, ever since i am back in Malaysia, I've thrown my tantrums quite so often that I prefer to stay quiet when I am at home. Contrary to the popular believe where office and work can add more stress to one's life, i am an opposite case. I seek my solace in my office. I laugh more when i am with some of my work colleagues than i do so at home. Yes, i have bought a new house but i am yet to be able to move there due to limited savings. I hope i can apply another loan especially for new house renovation and refurbishment so it'll be ready to be habitable, hence another of my personal haven.

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On a lighter note, I have bought a new desktop for home use. My old pc is already nearly 6 years old and being Dell, not just any RAM can be bought and fit in without consulting Dell PC. One little yet rather sickening problem: new pc supported MS Vista as XP is slowly phasing out of the market except by personal request on ordering a new pc. Both my HP printer and digicam photo uploading software do not support Vista. Consequently I still am relying on my old PC (good old PC, bought it in london yet received the whole set "made in malaysia". The new one has Made In China stamped all over the place) for printing and photo uploading purpose. Not that big hassle la, but it is also an early indication that whatever new electronic gadget i'll be buying in the future, it must support Vista as its ultimate OS (and its basic requirement has to be of XP-compliance). My new office PC is pre-installed with XP, which is a good thing as it is compatible to many softwares available.


And i bought this new Dell pc on a 12-month interest free credit card scheme. That would keep my options open on how i'll be paying it later within the 12 months period of course.

I am yet to own a laptop. I think i am one of those few people in the developed world who has never own a laptop but to date has bought a desktop for the third time. My virgin experience with owning a pc using my own pocket money was way back in Bradford, autumn 1998 during my undergraduate studies. The second was in early spring 2002. I love electronic gadgets tawwwww, but i am patient on when i can afford to lavish myself with equipping myself with woteva state-of-the-art latest technology gadgets. I hope to be able to get a new set of laptop once i get my own research grant.


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We had to incorporate Kemahiran Insaniah (human capital) evaluation in our final year grading. Hmmm...that is equal to more works to do.

Some malaysian celebrities

Picture#1: Taken last April, on the day Kak Teh, the lady on the right leaving home to london from her brother's place in bandar baru bangi. I'm in the middle, looking wee bit worn out coz i went there straight after office. And that petite pretty little lady next to me on the left is Kak Teh's beloved mother. She must have been quite dishy in her heydays as she still looked adorable in her golden age (90 years old, isnt it kakteh?)

Kak Teh or Zaharah Othman is one of the prolific malaysian journalists who is based in London, and that was where i first met her during my PhD years. Recently, her husband, Wan Ahmad Hulaimi published a book entitled: Growing Up in Trengganu under a nom de plume: Awang Goneng. I hope she and her husband will be back in Malaysia again for an official book launching so I can get a signed copy of it.




Picture#2: After like berhempas-pulas looking for the house, I finally made it to teratak AdieJin somewhere deep in Hulu Langat (it's his parents weekend abode by the way). I drove all the way from Port Dickson (PD), right after our faculty retreat at a boring hotel called Corus Paradise (pbbhhtsssss, how uncanny and unbecoming its name relative to what it has to offer!). Being a "minah kerempitan" as what Makji Esah suggestively called me, I didn't spend that long reaching hulu langat from PD although the distance travelled surpassed 150km. I am not implying in any way that I am a reckless, fast and furious on the road, but when i am cruising down the highway, I took my opportunity to test how far can my car go as far as efficient-on-the-road is concerned.

Dek kerana dah berniat nak jugak jumpa Nurfarahin Jamsari (AdieJin's darling wife and an ex-Tv3 talk show hostess and newsreader turned image management unit chief in Media Prima,) and to get a signed copy of her new book entitled "44 hari bersama Nurfarahin", I managed to reach his place after like 1 and a half hour going round and round sesat-barat but learned a few new places between the journey. Dah la tu, it was raining cats and dogs the time i reached my final destination. Had to thank this malay dude in his 40s for offering to direct me towards the nearest spot before the (parents) house by asking me to follow behind his motorcycle. I met him along with a bunch of other malay dudes sitting around in a mamak shop when i stopped by asking for some directions. They were all very friendly and sensing that it wasnt easy for me to really find the place, one of them , the 40s dude in his motorbike, came and offered to assist me. Alhamdulillah, ramai orang malaysia kita yang baik-baik kan? I still remembered that chinese bloke who also gave me directions to Subang Bestari while he was about to fill his car with petrol at Petronas Bukit Subang.


Anyways, here's a picture of us. Nurfarahin (kak farah) sitting on the left looking delectable and composed as usual, her youngest daughter siti sarah hugging her from behind and kak farah's youngest sister inlaw (AdieJin's sister la), Cher, who happened to be my old A-level College friend and that I have not seen her for almost 10 years. And there was I in my all black top to skirt (and shoes too), gave my cheerful best even though i was kinda tired! Sempat met with this popular Kelantanese sitcom actress, Mek ( i dunno her real name) who looked better in flesh than on the telly, kinda cute actually (comey lotey as kelate would normally call it) and she lost more weight too.






Picture#3: And uhhummmmm.....i got to be upclose and personal with Sean Ghazi! Wohooo....!! I met him right after our University of Bradford Reunion Dinner at Shangri-La Hotel in KL. You wanna know what i said to him the first time we greeted and shook our hands:

"I saw you in that PRamlee the Musical.....Hey ,you are a small guy".... while looking rather ecstatically at him.

My three other ex-bradford mates quickly responded loudly telling me, "Ape la cakap macam tu!" (What did u say like that to him?) for which i told him straight away as a matter-of-factly, "But he sure is a BIG TALENT!".

He laughed nonchalantly, taking it as an honest remark from some unknown person like me. While we were taking photos in group, Sean casually put his arm around my waist and i ehhemmm lovingly ehehhe...put my arm around his shoulder. My mates saw that and began to ask me to keep my hand off him . I reckoned Sean probably heard what they said. As a result, it only made Sean holding me closer! When it was my camera turn to take our picture together in group, my batteries gone flat! Bloody hell! i quickly korek-korek (rummaged through) my bag looking for spare batteries, immediately changing it and gave my camera back to the lady who took our picture. My mates , tired of my little antics with Sean, left me posing alone with him.

He was so sporting and cheerful and when we finally had our picture snapped, he jokingly said,
" Third time lucky!".

Before he left us, he told me there would be a rerun for the musical next year but did not hint when exactly. I told him that I knew Kak Ruby, and he fondly mentioned her as his friend. To Kak Ruby, we sure have to get hooked up after this!




Somehow, I am already blase having met quite a few hollywood and british celebrities in London that I get to act more casual when it comes to the malaysian scene.


Cant help adding one of his most popular songs: Semalam. It kept me afloat listening to his melodious, creamy smooth, frank-sinatra like voice. I would personally love to hear his "my way" rendition live! Dont worry, i aint falling in love with that dude himself, but I adore his singing talents. Not many male singers (those that are still alive) in malaysia that could send me some goosebumps and besides Sean, we have Anuar Zain, Zainal Abidin, some old rockers like Amy Search, Awie, Hattan, MNasir, Nash,Saleem and few others like Tam Spider, and Reshmonu.




I saw Tuanku Mizan coming out from some Accountant society dinner function at Shangri-La hotel too, just after my encounter with Sean. The Agong, too, is a small malay built guy but somehow he looked a bit serious, judging from the moment he stepped out of the banquet hall and walking in between his guards and some important people. He probably was tired anyway, as the function ended around 10.30pm (or tired of being surrounded by bunch of accountants, young and old, mustve reminded him of something to do with money matter and whatnots. Another two despised yet popular job are lawyers and real estate agents, the latter especially despised in the UK!). I was just about to take his picture but he walked away swiftly. Oh well,next time, in a more proper occassion, I shall get my chance to know that sultan better. He exudes the regular bloke type but with an air of authority of course. I just dunno why but from the moment i saw his profile in the Sandhurst Military College graduate book back in August 2005, I began to think that I wanna meet him coz he looks like a friendly dude. And when he was coronated as the Agong in the end of last year, i somehow felt proud? One is because he doesnt look that snobbish and two because i see a regular bloke in him. Betul ke tidak my firasat, wait n see la.

Two photographers outside that accountant night banquet hall came talking to me. Ntah pasai apa they got friendly and all and even told me how friendly Sean was with me! Sib baik I am no celebrity or someone in a provocatively sexy dress. But even if I was, walking up to meet Sean was nothing short of a waste of energy with him being accommodating and professional!!!!


What a day to remember this Wednesday, 7 November 2007!