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!

Outdoor Shooting Competition 2007

On 18th August 2007, my other-half and I were invited by SECURIFORCE (Datuk Maznah Hamid 'the Malaysia's Iron Lady') to take part in an outdoor shooting competition which took place at PDRM Shooting Range, Sungai Buloh, Selangor. So we went and we brought my sister along. She also took part in the shooting competition.

The competition started out at around 10.30am with the Glock event. A great day for my sister as she bagged 3rd-place trophy while I brought nothing home. And that was my sister's first time ever holding a real gun. Guess, the luck was not on me this time.

That's me with a Glock in my hand.

My sister, the lucky babe and her winning marks.

…

The singer Nurul, trying her best to focus.

Borak-Borak at Bora Asmara

I was not in a good mood this afternoon, so my other-half brought me here for dinner and borak-borak to cool off. Of late, I keep having this stupid mood swing and it is irritating me and of course, my ever so loving other-half too. I can sometimes get over-cranky over small things. Don’t know why, just don’t know why…

Wati told me this place is cooling and attractive. The owner of the place is also the owner of Bora Ombak, Ampang Sports Planet, KL. Same Balinese concept, same front name, same foodstuff. No doubt, same owner. Only this one is larger and more tranquil. It serves a wide selection of food ranging from Indonesian, Thai, local foods to steaks and pastas. The prices are reasonable too.

Imagine Bora Asmara, imagine Bali. Except that Bora Asmara is not in Bali, of course. It nestles in the quiet Kampung Sungai Penchala, approximately 25km away from Kuala Lumpur city. If you are travelling on Penchala Link heading towards Kota Damansara, go down the ramp after the Penchala Link tunnel and turn right at the traffic lights. After that, just follow the signboards. If you still can’t find it, try this - Bora Asmara, Lot 2933, Kg. Sg. Penchala, Kuala Lumpur or call +603-77260964. Someone will help you find the way.

As I stepped into the restaurant through a wooden entrance, I was greeted warmly by one of the waiters. I was amazed at how beautiful the place was. Screw the stupid mood swing and crankiness, this place was just so cool and refreshing I sort of forgot the rock I was weighing on my shoulders. I didn’t think anyone would ever want to think of anything else but have a good time here. As for me and my soulmate, we really had a good borak-borak session at the dinner table. A very goooood one. We talked about… well, can’t tell ya! Ooops… sorrryyy!

Entrance of Balinese Bora Asmara.

The food we both ordered.

 

You may need to visit this room once in a while. Clean and lovely washroom.

One of their many attactive huts (pondok) called Bisek-Bisek

Due to high demand, you need to make a reservation first if you wanna ‘whisper-whisper’ at the Bisek-bisek. The huts are always packed full especially during weekends.

Non-smoking air-conditioned dining all for diners who can't stand cigarette smoke.

Open-air dining ares for those who smoke and yet need fresh air to fill their rotting lungs.

Starry Starry Night

Despite this stupid excrutiating cramp I was feeling at the left side of my abdomen, I still it made it to the dinner at The Borneo last Friday night. No, not the Borneo land (I pretty much wished it was). It’s the Borneo Rainforest Cafe. According to some newspaper clippings, the cafe located in the hearth of Sunway City, Kuala Lumpur, is jointly owned by actress Datin Tiara Jacquelina (also known as Puteri Gunung Ledang) and David Teo.

The first thing I saw was its banner and those catchy words on it “Yummy Fresh Wild Funky”. The newly emerged nightspot was not as much as I had expected it to be. I kind of disagreed with the WILD thing. I thought the very idea of having the word WILD as part of its tagline did not seem to fit or make sense. The foods were yummy and the atmosphere was fresh and funky though, but there was nothing wild about the place. I was not actually asking for loud music or some naked ladies dance on the bar (oh please, that I’ll do in Jakarta, not here, where many people know my name hee… hee…). No, that’s not what I meant. I was expecting some cultural shows which I thought would help in turning the place from plain ordinary to extraordinary. Or maybe, they should have the waiters and waitresses dressed in ethnic costumes instead of plain black Ts and jeans. Or maybe, just maybe, by having a couple of Kadazans, Kelabits, Melanaus or Ibans ocassionally appeared before the guests, greeting them with “Kitak suka sik makai sitok? (Do you guys like eating here?)” or “Aramaiteyyy! (Cheers!)”, that would simply describe the place as WILD, wouldn’t it? Or perhaps they were somewhere there and could be hiding behind the big rocky artificial waterfall. Hmmm…

But then, it didn’t bother me so much that night as I was not looking forward for something wild. Putting aside the WILD thing, the whole setting was brilliant! Gorgeous! Plus, I had my dynamic friends around. Since it wasn’t raining, the sky was clear and the stars were shining so bright, we chose to have our dinner at uncovered space. It’s dinner under the stars. Dinner was marvelous and mouth watering as this place served the best authentic food I had ever tasted. I just loved its Umai (uhhh yummy, I can still feel the spicy and sour taste of the raw fish in my mouth). And that drink they called Sarawak Selasih, tasted amazing!

Next, after we had our bellies filled, we decided to adjourne to another venue, where we could all just chill out. And where there was no loud music, of course. Like I mentioned earlier, we did not feel like partying tonight. So we got back to KL city and checked out the Sky Bar. The place situated at the roof top of Traders Hotel (Level 33) was so cool and classy. As we got there, we were seated at an uncovered cosy corner which overlooked KL city. Amazing view!

Haaaaaa (a sigh of relief), the music wasn’t so loud, the setting was groovy, the crowd was saucy and sophisticated, the stars shone even brighter. The chilling out under the stars with these great people - it was absolutely a magical night!

I Couldn’t Sleep

What do you do when you cannot sleep at night? Drink milk? Read annual reports? Stare at the ceiling? Do sit-ups? Count the sheep?

Sometimes, these methods are not effective. What's more effective? You should call up your friends and ask them out instead. Just like I did at 11pm last night. I called up four other insomniacs and off we went to Le’Meridien, Kuala Lumpur ( it was not my first time here) for some drinks, chatting and relaxing moments. The singer who performed at the lounge that night had a tremendously good voice. Plus, the ambiance was astounding and soothing.

A Birthday Party At A Go-Kart Track

A perfect plan, a perfect party and a perfect day!

I had planned for this a very very long time ago. The event never took place until Ifah sms-ed me last Friday and reminded me about the almost forgotten plan. So I thought, I should go ahead with it - NOW or never at all!

Everybody gathered at Speedway PLUS Go-Kart Track, ELITE on one bright Saturday morning (4 August 2007), bringing a dish or two to share. It’s a potluck party. And it was also a birthday celebration for Enn who would soon turn 25. The potluck party which was supposed to be simple (yet fun) turned out to be awesome and so full of excitement (and fun), thanks to my crazy, outgoing, fun-loving, happy-go-lucky friends.

Wow, everybody looked smashing. All geared up for the go-kart race later. We started the day off with having lunch at the grandstand. Apart from the birthday cake, we also had the soto, fried noodle, oranges, fried chicken, white rice, rose jelly and curry puffs on the counters

 

Everybody went totally wild and crazy that day. We screamed (to the top of our lungs) the ‘Happy Birthday’ song to Enn as she was about to blow the candles out and cut the cake. Yummy, both the birthday cake and the birthday girl look delectable, don’t they?

Happy birthday, Enn!

Later, everybody got really wacky during the race on the go-kart track. Nora had a very hard time keeping pace with the other drivers. When she came out last, the petite lady racer blamed it on her short legs and the pedals (kaki tak sampai la beb…).

Drivers behind the wheels

During the photoshoots, Adam’s eyes never left his Aprilia as the girls were busy getting into positions, creating ‘chaos’ around his brand-new superbike.

It was really difficult to get these crazy girls to smile and pose for the cameras. All that pulling and pushing, shouting and screaming, had taken them almost 15 minutes to get into positions and be ready for the cameras. And poor them photographers, standing there under the hot sun, waiting til every girl was ready. Ish… ish… ish… and poor Adam and his bike.

It was a day full of laughter and activities. Look at them, all smiles and happy. I guess the plan finally went perfectly well after all!