Iftar @ Ramzan's home

Event: Iftar (Breaking Fast).
Venue: Ramzan's home in Mumbra, Mumbai, INDIA. (Ramzan's one of the company's staff).
Date: 25th September 2008.
Time: 6.00 pm - 9.30 pm.
Don't Mention: Road to Mumbra (it was one hell of a bumpy ride!! The India's Road Authority need to do something about it!!!)

Iftar With The Company's Staff

Event: Breaking Fast (Majlis Berbuka Puasa)
Venue: At The Office, Navi Mumbai, INDIA.
Date: 24th September 2008
Time: 6.30 pm - 7.30 pm
Don't Mention: Firni (simply yummmmyyyyyy & the clay pots are tiny and cute!!!!)

Guys and girls, presenting you... the 'firni'! Some kind of softened rice, steamed with sugar, in small cute clay pots.

Breaking Fast And Tarawikh @ Sharifah Faten's Place

Event: Majlis Berbuka Puasa & Berterawikh.
Venue: At the residence of Shahril & wife Sharifah Faten, Juhu Scheme, Mumbai, INDIA.
Date: 20th September 2008.
Time: 6.00 pm - 10.00 pm.
Don't Mention: PUNCTUALITY! (can you believe it, we were half an hour late?!!)

Breaking Fast At Puteri Restaurant, Kuala Lumpur

Event: Majlis Berbuka Puasa
Venue: Puteri Restaurant, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, KL (the one belongs to actress Rubiah Suparman and Malaysian lyricist Habsah Hassan).
Date: 12th September 2008
Time: 6.00pm - 9.00pm

Don't Mention: MRR2 (the traffic congestion up there on the MRR2 bridge... will it ever improve?)

Thank you Wana Helena Maria, Hazrul Abdul Halim, Mona Maidhura, Arnizawati and Azrin Nor for being there! It was a lovely evening indeed!

Breaking Fast & Terawikh At The Residence Of Consul General Of Malaysia In Mumbai

Event: Majlis Berbuka Puasa & Bersolat Terawikh.
Venue: The home of Consul General of Malaysia in Mumbai (Mr. Wan Zaidi & Zuhaila), Bandra, Mumbai.
Date: 6th September 2008.
Time: 6.30 pm to 10.30 pm.

Don't Mention: Mumbai Traffic (pening kaparaaa!!)

Happy 46th Birthday, Hubby!

It's hubby's BIG day today!

I ordered a birthday card and a birthday cake from a shop two days before, and have the shop delivered them this morning to his office without his knowledge. No, I was not there to sing him the 'Happy Birthday To You' jingle nor was I there to see him blow out the candles. But when he came back from work, he was all smiles, beaming from ear to ear, and said it was a very pleasant surprise.

Happy Birthday, darling!

One year older means one year handsomer, one day wiser, one year wider (errr.... I mean your belly size)! He he he...

Celebration Of 51st Anniversary Of Malaysia's Independence at Trident Hotel, Mumbai

The invitation came from the office of Consul General of Malaysia in Mumbai, Mr. Wan Zaidi Wan Abdullah. 

All Malaysian expatriates were cordially invited to the event.

Event: Celebration Of 51st Anniversary Of Malaysia's Independence.
Venue: Rooftop, Trident Hotel, Mumbai, India.

Date: 31st August 2008
Time: 8.00 pm.
Dress code: National dress / Formal attire.

Happy Independence Day, Malaysia!

Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!

(Merdekakah kita?!)

Dato’ Yahaya’s Son’s Wedding Reception

Mama and the whole family were invited to Dato’ Captain Yahaya Abd. Rahman and Datin Sharipah Mohamad’s son’s wedding reception at Perbadanan Kemajuan Pertanian Selangor building in Shah Alam, Selangor, today’s afternoon. I was there too.

I didn’t really know much about Dato’ and Datin but according to mama, Datin had lived next door to my grandparents in Seri Menanti, Negeri Sembilan, when she was a teenager. So, they were neighbours and extremely good friends.

It was quite a lavish and elegant wedding, you know! And guess - WHO WAS THE WEDDING PLANNER? No, not David Tutera, you silly! It’s none other than the famous Pak Engku from Kuzie Catering - one of Malaysia’s most renowned wedding planners, who also planned for Ning Baizura and Siti Nurhaliza’s wedding. 

This was absolutely a beautiful wedding, perfect for two beautiful newlyweds!

The newlyweds making their grand entrance into the ballroom.

The newlyweds proceeded to the wedding dais (pelamin) where they were seated to receive their blessings. For those who don’t know, this process is called Upacara Merenjis dan Menepung Tawar.

It’s time for makan beradab. Sitting next to the groom is Tan Sri Zaini Omar, former director-general of Public Works Department, Malaysia.

While the newlyweds were enjoying their lunch at the high table with the VVIPs, the guests were royally entertained by two famous veteran singers, Rohana Jalil and Azizul Khamis.

Wanna know something that I didn’t actually know? Dato’ and Datin even made it to my wedding reception that day. How sweet of them for being there!

After 14 Long Years

It’s been quite a while for I had not met this adorable lady, eye-to-eye!

Mona a.k.a Batdeaz and I went to the same schools together and were put in the same classrooms - first at King George V School, Seremban and then, at Tuanku Jaafar Technique School, Seremban. I suppose that had made us become good friends! We used to go to this one restaurant called Gharizah at Ampangan, Seremban after school hours and have lunch together (kan Mona kannn…).

But our lives changed drastically after finishing school and we stopped contacting each other since then. No more chilling out together and we absolutely had no clue of what each other had been up to for fourteen long years!

However, we finally met again at a small classmate reunion at A&W Petronas Station at Kota Damansara which happened two years back and we managed to exchange contact numbers. But I didn’t stay long at the gathering as I had another gathering to attend to at that time, so I didn’t have the chance to borak panjang with her during the reunion. But good thing was, since that day, we never lost touch with each other although we never met again after that.

Last night, at 8.00 p.m., we had drinks together at Starbucks Coffee, Jaya Jusco in Seremban. I found it funny for we still talked and laughed and behaved the way we used to when we were fourteen years younger. Things didn’t seem to change so much except for one thing - we’re now mature adults talking mature stuff!

Well, I believe she will agree with me if I say we really had a great time together last night and that we should be doing this again some other time. Don’t you think so, Mona?

Let’s Paint The War - Part II

I remembered the first time I played paintball, it was 5 years back. At that time, this exciting warlike sport was still new in Malaysia. Tengku Loreta a.k.a Lola and her cousins were the responsible ones in introducing me to this sport and we had our very first fake war experience at Sunway X-treme Park. Well, that was a 5 year-old story and I am ‘a retired soldier’.

‘Let’s Paint The War’ event was organized at X-tion Paintball, Bukit Jalil last weekend, 1st of September 2007 at 2.00pm. Guess what, from 8 people who had confirmed on their participations much much much earlier, the number increased to 14 people on the day of war itself. Stupendous! The paintball enthusiasts were then divided into two teams, Red Battalion and Blue Battalion. So…

Two sworn enemies,

Two bombarding squads,

One 7-aside battle,

One battleground,

One “Capture The Flags” challenge,

One victorious battalion,

One defeated squad,

One birthday cake. Eh, one birthday cake? How come a birthday cake gets into the picture, aahh?

It was absolutely an event I had wanted it to be… a fun exciting colourful war.

Let’s Paint The War - Part I

I soooo cannot wait for this to happen.

Poster design by: jimythestoryteller

A Simple Farewell

One of our dearest friends, Ahmad Azran is leaving the company for an oil & gas company soon. And today is his last day with us. So yesterday, my other-half and I had treated him a simple farewell lunch at Bora Asmara, Kampung Sungai Penchala as a token of appreciation for being such a good friend.

Bora Asmara Sungai Penchala

The ‘tempayans’ a.k.a big water jars at the entrance.

Kelantanese Lunch Set.

One of their signature drinks, the Lemongrass Chiller.

Azran, the one saying goodbye to us.

To Azran, 

The lunch treat is nothing compared to the PC stereo set and those books about Enron and J.W. Marriott you gave me as souvenirs. Thank you also for the tutorial on how to prepare the IAD’s 2007 Cashflow (*winks*). All the best and you shall be missed. Jasamu dikenang, my good friend.

Janji ROCK!

LINKedua received a VIP invitation to the “Malam Jasa Pahlawan 2007″ which would take place at Hyatt Regency, Johor Bahru on 18th August 2007 at 8.00pm and the dresscode was traditional attire. As one of the major contributors to the event, the organiser was kind enough to reserve a VIP table of ten for LINKedua. Five seats would be occupied by us, of course.

It was a night to remember those who lost their souls in fighting for the country’s freedom and independence. It was a night we learned how things can always turn out differently than you can expect. A night we also learned that colours play an important role in human life.

This blog entry is a tribute to my other-half (hee… hee… hee…) who had made us laugh non-stop throughout the weekend the five of us spent together. Janji ROCCCKKK!!! (in Jawanese slang).

A few days before the day of the event, my other-half, as the leader of the table were asked for colour theme.

Leader: What colour theme?

Organizer: Sir, each table must have a colour theme. You can choose whatever colour you want. Do you want to decide now or do you want me to call you back in an hour?

Leader: Ok, black then. Cause I only have black batik in my wardrobe. The ladies and the rest of LINKedua’s people shall have no problems with the colour, I suppose.

There he went deciding without consulting us first, that we should all be wearing black, taking for granted that not all women had traditional dresses in all types of colours in their closets. Menggelabah semua orang looking for black traditional dresses to wear for that night. One friend (tak sampai hati nak mention her name here hee… hee…) even had to decide on a torn black traditional dress because that was the only black traditional dress she had in her closet.

When the day came, off we went to Johor Bahru. Can you imagine that at 6.45pm, the five of us were still on the road? We only reached Senai at 7.00pm. And from there, it would take another 30 minutes to get to Johor Bahru. To clean and dress up to the event, that might take an additional time of 45 minutes. Oh gosh, we were running late! I didn’t think we would be able to make it at 8.00pm.

Ifah: Sempat ke? Nak mandi lagi. Nak mekap lagi.

Nenney: I haven’t ironed my kebaya yet. Sempat ke?

JIMY: I hope so. If not, just pegi cam nih je la. Jeans and T-shirt. Mana tau menang best dressed award plak ke.

Leader: Cannot. I’d promised Pak Ungku our colour theme will be black. Everyone at LINKedua’s table will be wearing black traditional attire. Other tables shall be blue, red, yellow, and bla… bla… bla… Ours will be black.

And he went on…

Leader: There’s going to be some traditional dance shows by a group of Johor profesional traditional dancers. What made the event even more important was that Tengku Mahkota Johor and Johor Chief Minister YAB Abdul Ghani Othman would be around.

Nora & Ifah: Wah, best tu! Tapi kan macam nak gila, you know, kitorang cari baju hitam.

Nora, Ifah & Nenney: Why pilih hitam?

Leader: I thought you guys have a lot of black traditional attires.

Ifah: Mana ada. Baju pegi clubbing banyak la warna hitam.

Nora: Nih la satu-satunya baju traditional hitam I ada. Tak lawa plak tu. Camner nak ngorat Tengku Mahkota Johor kalau baju tak lawa.

Nenney: Ha’ah, samalah. Ini la satu-satunya baju traditional hitam yang vogue I ada tau. Lain semua tak vogue.

However, we managed to reach the hotel at 7.15pm and checked-in. In the lift…

Nenney: So what time shall we meet up downstairs?

JIMY: It is now 7.20pm. Meet you guys at 7.50pm. That’s 30 minutes from now. So each of us will only have exactly 6 minutes to get ready.

Nenney: But baju I komot-komot, tak iron lagi.

Leader: I need to poo-poo.

JIMY: Nenney, u just mandi, while Ifah or Nora call for the iron. You, the leader, go poo-poo and shower quickly and when you’re ready, it’ll be my turn to occupy the bathroom. Nora can come in after I’m done.

Nora: Ok Ma’am.

Nenney: Ok Ma’am.

Ifah: Ok Ma’am.

Leader: Ok Ma’am.

Ifah, Nora & Nenney: Aik, Leader pun cakap “Ok Ma’am”?

I didn’t know how we did it, but we managed to get ready in that 30 minutes. All girls smelled really good, ready with high-heeled shoes, sequined purses and selendang. Hair styled into braids and buns complete with fancy glittering hair clips and ribbons. Faces beautifully made-up. The girls looked like God-sent angels. Pheewwwiiittt!

With no time to waste, everyone ungracefully hopped into the car and my other-half drove off as fast as he could to Hyatt Hotel. As we reached the hotel, we raced to the dining hall, panting and huffing throughout the ‘journey’ trying to keep up with each other. Ooohh, we surely didn’t want Tengku Mahkota Johor to see us making a late entrance. When we got into the hall, everyone turned and gave us a strange look. And there we were at the entrance, looking back at them in horror. Not a single table had any colour theme. Each table was filled with colourful clothes, and there was a mixture of styles - modern and traditional, tuxedos and batik shirts.

It was horryfing to know that the whole situation had made us look like freaking witches (only without the broomsticks) amongst these colourful mortals! And we were no God-sent angels anymore, uuwwaaaaaa! I rasa nak cekik-cekik aje my other-half. Dah la masuk hall termengah-mengah, baju plak hitam-hitam belaka, oh my, I feared people might think we came to the wrong party. I was praying hard that night that no one would come over and make a joke on us - “Babes, Party Halloween kat bilik sebelahlah” or maybe “Party Halloween dah lama lepas daaa…” , else it would be a total embarrassment, wouldn’t it?

What made it much worse, Tengku Mahkota Johor and Johor Chief Minister could not make it to the dinner and the organiser had to cancel all shows. What left for us was just the dinner, prize giving ceremony and lucky draw session. What a dull event!

As we got back to the hotel, everyone had a very good laugh. Laughing and talking till tears came out from our eyes. Suddenly all that rushing and speeding, time management plan in the lift, 3-minute shower, black traditional attires, torn baju kurung, huffing and puffing at the hall entrance, non-presence of Tengku Mahkota Johor and Johor’s Chief Minister, zapin dance which was never there, were not a big deal to us anymore. As long as we had each other around, that’s what mattered the most. Janji ROOCCKKK !!!

So moral of the story, if someone ever ask about dresscode, never ever let the men decide!