After Bersih

Today Malaysians are entering the second day of BERSIH 4 Rally. The whole day yesterday I scrolled through the newsfeed on every social network there is. I was busy doing revision with my kids since today they are sitting for their fourth progressive exams. I could only wait for updates from friends who have decided to be part of this huge, historic rally.

I was wondering throughout the day. Will there be another Bersih Rally next year? We have had four series by far.
I was wondering how Najib would react to this year's rally? Whether Rosmah could at least shut her eyes all night? The rest of the Razak clan?
I could not sleep last night as I was busy browsing through the pictures of the rally going-ons via Facebook and Instagram.
I must say, I was very impressed this time,
I read the comments posted by netizens, locals and foreigners alike.
Positive and negative feedbacks, some were even unsure of their own stances.

Yes, a bad leader should discontinue his/her reign. Every nation in this world deserves someone who is able to protect and provide for the people.

Nevertheless, I could not help myself asking these questions:

What's next after this rally? Will the people be able to topple the culprit from his throne in unison?
The future, will it be brighter? Or will it be bleaker?

Even after cleaning up the mess, will they be able to keep up with maintaining the spic and span state?

The world is watching.

Single vs Non-Single

 An old friend contacted me last night via Wechat.

Just for a catch-up kind of convo.

We were just updating each others’ stories until at one point he asked me.

“You got yourself a boyfriend now?”

I denied. Well, that’s the truth.

It was odd for someone who’s already in a relationship asking me such question.

He replied:

“It’s not healthy to stay single for a long time, you know?”

I got a bit worked up when he said that. Just as I was about to shoot him back, he sent another message:

“Don’t be like me. Stuck.”

That immediately put a huge question exclamation slash question mark above my head.

Stuck? What did he mean by STUCK?

I let him take the wheel that moment. He shared about him having trouble with his girlfriend. Telling me that he can’t stand his other half being “kiasu”, not letting him win at least once.

“But I thought that’s normal for any couple, right?”

“It’s just that I think she’s being too much. My ex-was like that too. I don’t know why most of the women that I got hooked up with are basically the same! Girls are all the same, you know!”

“Errrr...bro, do not forget. I AM A GIRL too! Question from me; why don’t you guys take a break in between. Give yourself some space to figure things out. And why do you keep ending up with the same type of women?"

Here comes Fiona the psychoanalyst. Demmit!

Again I let him do the talking. My replies for the next half an hour were NOs, YUPs, OKs and OHs.

And he summed up, he’s always UNLUCKY.

“Hey. If you think you’re the only one being the unfortunate one in this world, think again. Think of the rest billions of people out there. Everyone goes thru crappy moments in life. Even a jovial kid can be pretty grumpy when his ice-cream falls out of the cone! Blaming on your relationship won’t work much, bro.”

“But I have done so much for her! She’s still not happy. I have threatened to leave her if she continues behaving that way towards me! But she said she can’t stay without me."

“You. Got. A. Problem.”

“What’s that?”

“You are giving in. Too much. Let her taste her own medicine once in a while lah!”

“I don’t have the heart la sis...”

Now it’s my turn to shoot back.

(Smirk. Evil grin.)

“You think that’s HEALTHY for you?”

Silence. For at least ten minutes.

I was about to carry on with my sketching practice when my phone beeped.

As expected. Hah!

“I am unlucky. Very unlucky.”

“So, do you still want to be the UNLUCKY one? Like forever?”

“Of course, NO!”

“Tell you what. Let’s not make simple things more complicated, alright? You may blurt NONSENSE right to my face. But I don’t care! I used to think I am unlucky too. But those who’ve stayed with me through thick and thin, they put their faith in me, telling me I’m a fighter and I’m a strong person (flatter myself a little, c’mon lah). Knowing that I am strong, I got to find ways to at least make me appreciate a little goodness left in me. I am sure you can do it too, bro.”

“How?”

“Bro, there’s no specific manual, bro. I know there are self-help books and websites out there, but not 100 percent accurate or applicable to every person’s needs! It depends on yourself to discover what you need. People can be cheerleaders for you but you are your own engine. Like cancer cell, we all have that one thing called willpower, but I try not to make it so “pakar motivasi punya janji” lah OK. That power you have in you, you decide yourself whether to activate it or not!”

“Eshh...Malas lah!”

“See what I mean?”

“What?”

“You said MALAS. You decide it bro.”

Silence round TWO.

As I was about to put down my phone, another message came in again.

“Sis. A guy can easily nuts over you!”

That LOL moment but of course I had to let out a silent LOL. It’s almost midnight.

“OK la tu. He goes nuts kah, bananas kah, durians kah, I don’t really care. As long as he does not make my life a living hell.”

“Hope you’ll find the right one soon sis. We aren’t getting any younger now.”

Amboih, mak neneknya kau ni.

“Bro, there’s an Arabic saying. Kun fayakun. It will happen when it will. I just let things fall into places on their own timing. Don’t worry about me. There’s so much things more than just getting a life partner, bro. I may end single all my life but I tend to worry less. The journey ahead is still a mystery. Speaking of getting older, we are not Benjamin Button. But it does not mean we need to kill the inner child we’ve had all these years. That little kid inside is the reason to make a person feels happy and alive despite the age changes.”

Probably that silenced him off after he called it a night in the last text message.

At the crossroad...AGAIN!

It's been 3 years since I got home for good. Recalling the time I returned to Miri, I was pretty much a mess myself.
Yes, three years have passed. How time flies.
And so many things happened within that three years.
I must consider myself as a lucky person too, to be honest.

Nevertheless, I do feel that I am standing at that particular crossroad.
Like I used to many moons ago.
I have a permanent job and I get to do things I love most, sketching.
I am thankful many people have seen my works and glad most of them fancy them.

Again, I do feel I am standing at that crossroad.
Should I make another leap of faith?
Should I opt another roller-coaster ride?
Should I embark another adventure?

Frankly speaking, I m beginning to feel bored with the life I have now. And this is dangerous.
Very dangerous because it can hurt me and those around me.

I am unsure which path to take this time.
I am no longer young, well physically that is.
The child in me seems to be restless more than ever.
I fail to understand her ridiculous needs this time.
That child is becoming more of a rebel lately.
She keeps telling me to break the rocks ahead of us.
I am tired of telling that child to calm down.

I am standing at this crossroad now, figuring which path to choose this time. I envy those who keeps on moving to various phases  in life. Really, I am envious of such fortunate people. My lips are tightly sealed, hoping I won't simply shoot unnecessary verbal missiles. But I cannot stop my mind and heart from screaming vulgarities especially if my buttons are pushed.

This is pretty daunting and exhausting at the same time.

There are loads of people that I need to please. I am weary being the crowd/people pleaser, every single time. I guess that's why the inner child keeps knocking my head to open my eyes to all these.

Here I am...standing at the crossroad again.

Mad Mad World...

Nowadays, I get irritated so quickly and I tell you, this is not good for my heart. In fact, for everyone's hearts! Unsure whether it's triggered by age factor or, just my trait. I mean I have tracked down a bunch of hot-tempered heads in my family. I don't know...it seems that I just cannot deal with all sorts of ignorance. I do miss being innocently stupid. But still I am not an overtly a smart person. Only smart in certain matters, to be precise.

You know, deep down inside, I am beginning to regret being an adult. How I wish I could stay as a young kid. I didn't have to deal with complicated matters like most grown-ups have to face with. I didn't have to go through heartbreaks, ridiculous commitments or relationships, you name them!

I wish to go back when the younger ME selfishly made a wish to be a grown-up as soon as possible. I wish to return to that moment so that I could slap the crap out of the kiddo me and tell her to stop dreaming to become an adult. 

As I am writing this blog, MLTR's hit number Sleeping Child miraculously appears in one corner of my mind and keeps on playing the chorus part:

Oh my sleeping child the world’s so wild

But you’ve built your own paradise

That’s one reason why

I’ll cover you, sleeping child

The world is indeed a wild place. So wild that only the strong ones are able to stand tall and survive. I believe now that we are living in the age where innocence can be mistaken for so many things. The world today is full of confused messages. Love does not seem to appear like it is supposed to be. Lust and gluttony and greed try to take control over the lives of people everywhere. The survival game has become too notorious, unbeknownst to many idyllic minds.

Thy Mother is GREEN!

Mak kau hijau! Mak kau hijau! Mak kau hijau!

Here and there Malaysian netizens are having cursing calling respective mothers GREEN.

I did watch that one video that went viral overnight.

But I just can't seem to brain why did the little boy keep on taunting at his humongous bully "Mak kau hijau (your mother is green!)!

Was he trying to compare the bully's mother to the famous Marvel comic character Hulk?

Was he trying to say that the other boy's mummy was a salad aficionado?

Was he trying to say that the other boy's mother was born with green complexion?

Until now I fail to find the real answer to this viral catchphrase.

So only the mothers get to be green?

Fathers? 

Bapak kau merah jambu.

Nenek kau kuning.

Abang kau kelabu tahi itik.

Kakak kau takde warna langsung.

Whatever it is, it doesn't matter what colour you are. You just got to be confident.

(What in the world...?)

 

Sangkar

OK lamak udah sik nulis blog dalam bahasa ibunda tek nak. So kenak aku boleh engkah tajuk "sangkar" atas nun? Banyak benda dipikir ku dua tiga menjak tok. Tok ada sedikit lanjutan dari pos sebelum tok tek. Aku luah rasa maok kekal jadi nembiak. Bunyi kedak sik senonoh jak gaya tapi ada sebab kenak ku pikir gia.
Perhati dunia sekeliling kita kinek tok? Makin menjadi-jadi kan? Perang, bunuh, politik iboh cerita panjang, luka hati kerna GST tek belum juak keghin.
Sangkar, kadangkala kita rasa kita bebas. Tapi bila perhati menar-menar, kita bebas dalam sangkar ya jak. Bebas tapi sik bebas. Dikongkong tapi sik juak dikongkong.
Apa juak reti ku madah gia tek?
Entahlah. Tauk sik dunia tok Tuhan ciptakan simple jak sebenarnya. Aku pun rasa kedak ya juak dolok. Why complicate things?
Kadang-kadang segala komplikasi yang kita ada dalam otak dalam dirik kita bukan juak kerna sesetengah faktor. Kali juak sekda keja, nak dipolah juak keja. Kali juak sekda penyakit, polah sigek.

Apa point aku tok?
Entahlah.

Aku kinek tok dalam "sangkar" jaga anak-anak exam.

Sangkar kebosanan.
Bah kelak beloya pasal sangkar gik.

Young Love

There's this one student in my class who has this weird rather peculiar habit of standing near  our door whenever she's done with works and all. Yes it's a 15-year-old girl.

She's been doing this since February this year. Later I found out from her that her boyfriend is in the next classroom. You see, our classroom's door is partially glass (on top). 

To be honest, I thought she was only joking. You know how kids love to throw pranks at us adults.

But this one, the whole class verified her confession. She has a boyfriend who is a year younger than her.

One more thing. Every week she'd ask me this question: 

"Teacher, do you think my Adam (not his real name) is handsome?" I just smiled at her first. Not knowing what to say. So I'd reply (again and again), "He's OK lah. Cute too."

And she seems not so happy with how I reply every now and then. So in the end, I'd give in and say "OK, he's handsome".

The rest of her friends told me that once a month Adam would bake cookies for her. He even walks with her after class to a fitness centre where her mom waits for her.

I did ask her "Does your mom know that you and Adam are dating?" She said YES.

Wow! Lucky girl, I said to myself.

When I had my first boyfriend 17 years ago, I had to date discreetly. My mother wouldn't allow me to have a boyfriend at such young age. But I did have one, met him at a church camp. I didn't do the first move, of course. We dated for 7 months until one day my mother discovered about us. So she gave me two choices; break up with him or she'd drag us both to the altar. The 15-year-old me freaked out and I broke up with him. Poor lad. My mother's the ultimate villain here, don't you think?

If you ask me, what happened to my first boyfriend later on? Now he is a happily married man with two young boys. Good for him.

Recently, the head teacher (sort of, since he does all the syllabus back at my workplace) came up with a topic on the negative sides of getting involved in puppy love relationship for the students to work on; they were assigned to write a report based on that topic. I found the points given on that sheet were a bit odd. Basically, the points seemed biased. When I handed out the sheets to my students, our Juliet (not her real name) kept quiet throughout the session. The moment I announced the topic to the class, it wiped the smile off her face. I felt guilty in a way. But I had to do my job. To compensate the negative feelings that surrounded us (I think some of the kids are in their respective puppy love thing too, judging by their reactions), I gave some good sides of being in love at young age. I told them one has to be smart balancing reality and the joy of being in love. Juliet beamed out of sudden when I did that.

Just wow...

Two years and still counting.

While most Malaysians have been busy crooning the litany of woes over the newly-implemented GST since Wednesday (of all the days, they chose 1st of April, cheesecake's sake!), I realize that I have been serving this learning centre for the past two years now. I began my job as an English language tutor here in Miri on April's Fool Day in 2013.

The biggest and the best joke to date, well sort of!

In just two years I have taught many young minds who were and are in dire need of help when it comes to mastering the global lingua franca.
To be honest, I am not a professionally trained tutor/educator. I did bachelor's degree in TESL halfway before I switched to performing arts and I graduated with Diploma in Theatre from UiTM. I spent almost 4 semesters for degree in theatre later on. Nevertheless, I had a harsh brush with one of the academicians in my campus and fell sick at the same time. That prompted my decision to return to my hometown on 15th December in 2012. Without the bachelor's degree, of course.

I recall how my parents, especially my mother, pressing me to find a job here. I was jobless for three months. One March evening a couple years ago, I went out with a former classmate. She told me that a tuition centre was searching for a part-time tutor. Since English language is my forte, she asked me to try my luck. Few days later I gained the courage to call up the centre, followed by an interview and VOILA! I got the job (I began as a part-timer) the very next month.

First few months I struggled as majority of the children speak only Mandarin. I was assigned to handle Transition levels and primary school levels as well. Nevertheless, I have never had problems in trying to adapt to languages.Since then, as I try to fix their English language skills, they generously try to teach me basic Mandarin. Oh dear! I should have tried harder at mastering Mandarin back in campus years ago.

But the journey wasn't all rainbows and unicorns. I did have one big kid (a bully) in my Transition class. A real pain in the arse, I must say. Weeks by weeks, I attempted to stay calm while having to be bothered by his nerve-wrecking antics during class. Until one day, he really pushed my limit button and I broke my "cool teacher" record. I screamed at him. The result? He refused to join the class and the mother even told my boss that her son wouldn't return if I am still teaching that class. Yes, I know, classic case of TEXTBOOK sample of SPOILT BRAT. But that didn't halt me from getting a cool offer to be a permanent/full-time staff at the centre months after the incident.

2014 was quite a year for me. I got the shock of my life when one of my students fell into epileptic seizure one afternoon. I went blank when the boy collapsed and there's so much blood and saliva on the floor. How can I ever forget that incident? My student had a close brush with Death and I was so helpless.

My 31st birthday was another unforgettable experience too. One of the classes that I taught last year found out about my birth date and they set me up. Cool birthday prank, to be honest.

Now that I have entered the second year of my service as a tutor here, I am looking forward to several more years of teaching experience. And oh! I almost forgot this. I began to teach arts since last August and this year I have gained 4 students. I take it as a blessing in disguise as gazillions years ago, I did think my artistic talent was sort of a hand-down jinx. But hey! The old rules DO NOT APPLY anymore. New games of survival are flowing in. I hope to utilize my skills and knowledge as long as I live.

The Ringer, The Aristocrat and The Posh Secret Agent!

Alright, I know I have not been blogging about movies for quite some time now. So far for this year I’ve watched only 3 movies. The first movie was The Wedding Ringer starring Kevin Hart, and ( the most anticipated but I ended up feeling vain and disappointed) Mortdecai and the most recent one is Kingsman: The Secret Service.

Let me begin with The Wedding Ringer. I’m not going to copy and paste the plot of the film for all I know you’ll be Googling for it later on. Wikipedia to the rescue! It was just an OK movie, pretty much like Will Smith’s Hitch. Typical American jokes, blending in racial, cultural and even religious stuff. Basically FRIENDSHIP and "bro-over-hos" kind of flick. To be honest I am not a fan of Kevin Hart but I gave the movie a try. Just an OK from my POV. 

I have been adoring Johnny Depp's style of acting ever since I was a kid. After Edward Scissorhands, and What's Eating Gilbert Grape, I've been his fan since then. OK cut the story short; after Pirates of the Caribbeans sagas, Willy Wonka and that 60s vampire flick that he was in (I forgot the title!), I looked forward to see Depp playing the role of a British aristocrat and an art collector in Mortdecai. I saw the trailer on Youtube and I made sure that I must watch it in the cinema. So after The Wedding Ringer, I went to watch Mortdecai on the same day. The first half an hour the scenes shown in the movie were laughable. Tongue-in-cheek, sort of. Full of English puns, antics and all. The rest of the film *sigh* I felt so miserable in the end. The movie was a flop.

Yes, the film is not unforgettable. Oh dear, I shall be waiting for the next Johnny Depp flick.

The next one was Kingsman: The Secret Service. Now many would have expected me to fall for the new hero in that film (newcomer Taron Egerton). WRONG! I was delighted to see COLIN FIRTH (swooned) after his amazing portrayal of the stuttering British monarch in The King's Speech. That was the real reason of me wanting to watch Kingsman. 

The film was bombastic. OK, I am being biased since this is the first time that I've seen Firth playing the role of a smart and posh-looking secret agent.

Wayyyy better than James Bond, to be honest!

And Firth did most of his own stunts. Not bad for a 54-year-old father of three, eh!

And LOADS of vulgar phrases and LOADS of gory actions! And, and, and....remember the villain in Sherlock Holmes and also Robin Hood, that baldy baddie Mark Strong?

HE'S SO MACHO..Yes, he played the good ol' secret agent trainer nicknamed Merlin.

Of all these three flicks, I am going to rewatch one of them. 

*drumrolls*

Yes, I am so gonna watch Kingsman AGAIN!

The year of the Ram enters!

Hello everyone!
Guess it's not too late for me to wish everyone A BLESSED NEW YEAR.

I purposely did not say HAPPY because once again we were shocked with the Airasia aircraft mishap that claimed about 162 lives on board.

What a tragedy to end the year 2014. Plus, we're still saddened by the missing MH370 MAS plane and the doomed MH17 MAS aircraft bound for Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam.

2014 was a year of tragedy, I must say. The people of South Korea were hit by the sunken Sewol ferry that got over 300 people perished in it. The Arab world was  stricken by the mad so-called terrorists ISIS or ISIL that targeted the Arab Christians.

I don't want to sound like I am a street preacher blabbing about doomsday and all but we are on the verge of the end of the world.

I may be sitting comfortably in an air-conditioned room, be it at home or at workplace. Looking at things via the mass media, I feel nothing but heartache and anger.

Politicians have become circus entertainers. Now this is not quite a new scene. It's just that the plots are getting more and more interesting....and ridiculous as well.

Where do people like us, civilians, stand now?

By the way, I do hope the ram brings in comfort to compensate what the mighty horse had done in the past year.

Hope is all I have although things may turn out vague.

Utilised but Not Appreciated

Nowadays I feel that most people take me for granted. I said MOST, not ALL.

They only notice me for my abilities in certain matters. After they are done "using" me, that is it.
It's pretty sickening. As I try to distant myself from them, they always come up with requests and demands. Do I look like a machine that can just make people happy.
I am tired of dealing with all these craps.
I would love to go away again.
Leaving everything here, be gone silently.

I cannot speak out my anger.
I cannot blurt out my unwillingness.
My hands are tied.
My lips are sealed.
My legs are chained.

When will they ever realize my pain?
When will they let me soar high?
When will they leave alone?
I just do not comprehend things they have asked for.

I need my very own space to live.
Seriously.

Enough is enough.

I was doing some work when I overheard my students were talking about their mothers a couple of months ago. It turned out that they were comparing whose mom is more strict. I had to butt in their little gossip because I have expected them to finish their revision. Before I could blurt out more words to halt their conversation, one of them began telling how his mom normally treats him and stuff.
Then one by one started to share their own matriarch anecdotes with me.

I just paused and listened to them. I did share my own tales as well.

Sometimes I wonder why did God choose me to be in this world. I quote Simon Birch: "God has a plan for everyone."

Yes. But what plan? I have always asked myself that ever since.

I know that little feeling every time I was or am asked to do things against my will. Not pretty at all.

Hearing all their tales, it made me to scream within "ENOUGH!"

Just stop for a minute and look around. This world is getting sicker than ever.

Inked

Last Sunday after a brief meeting with my boss, I spontaneously (actually it was pretty abrupt) brought up something about tattoos. Since my boss shared what is going on and he related the current events with his faith (he's a devoted Christian himself), I suddenly thought of questions of having permanent tattoos among Christians. To begin with, many of my own relatives have things inked on their body. I even overheard my siblings talking about getting one or two weeks ago. My dad, another Christian devotee, pointed out that he has no problem with people getting inked for eternity but he did clarify his view based on this:

“Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD” (Leviticus 19:28) 

And he added later on,"...you want tattoo? Use your own money!"

Now back to my conversation with my boss that evening. He pointed out that Leviticus is in the Old Testament, years before Christ came into this world. And he quoted something from the last book in the Bible, the book of Revelation. It says:

“On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: king of kings and lord of lords.” (Revelation 19:16)

"His" here refers to Jesus Himself. Well according to one of the blogs I'm currently reading at the moment, whereby the blogger discussed about whether or not Jesus had some writings inscribed or in other word, tattooed on his own flesh?
So I kept reading the blogger's explanation on this matter. 
Towards the end I realized that the writer himself played safe by not leaning to any side.

If it wasn't for my skin condition (I've been suffering from atopic dermatitis @ eczema since I was a toddler), I could have both of my wrists to be tattooed. Nevertheless, that idea is still idling around my head. Years ago when I watched Ayat-ayat Cinta, an Indonesian film based on a novel of the same title, I was attracted to one of the characters, Maria Girgis. Maria is a Coptic Christian Egyptian girl who happens to have a small crucifix tattoo on her left wrist.

Yes, deep down in my heart, I would like to have the similar tattoo on my left wrist. Recently I've have been missing my late paternal grandmother. She passed away 16 years ago. She embraced Catholicism roughly about ten years before her passing. She chose the name "Teresa" as her baptismal name. Now, I am thinking of inking her names on my right wrist. Names? Her birth name was Mawa.

We will see how it goes.

Recapping Two Zero Fourteen.

The world witnessed three planes from Malaysia made major headlines.

First, the still-missing Malaysia Airlines' MH370.

Followed by the ill-fated MH17.

Just more than a couple days after Christmas, Malaysians once again were shocked by the missing Airasia aircraft QZ8501 bound from Surabaya to Singapore.

South Korea earlier this year was stricken by the sunken Sewol ferry. And today a Greek vessel mishap on Italian waters.

Are we on the verge of doomsday?

Have we done too much enough to provoke God's wrath?

Political turmoils seem to emerge everywhere.

What a year we had. What a year indeed.

Rock and Roll Leader : Jokowi to Lead Indonesia!

Dad's been bragging about Jokowi, Indonesia's President-Elect for weeks now.

And tomorrow, 20th October, Indonesia will be witnessing Joko Widodo, 53 years old, swearing in as the republic's 7th President.

I won't be writing so much on him since you guys can check him out yourselves via Wikipedia. So I'll just upload photos of the man who received the baton from Bambang Susilo Yudhoyono.

The future of Indonesia lies in your hands now Pak Jokowi!

Rock on!!

The Book of Life

Tatkala demam dah maok kebah ngan "ankle" kanan ku masih sakit akibat gugok dalam jamban masa tengah mandik 3 days ago), aku tetap gagah juak drive ke Bintang Mall semata-mata dah berjanji dengan 3 member ngan salah sorang siap embak anaknya nok kiut ngan cerdit ya.

Sebelum tok bingung juak mikir, filem apa maok ditangga di GSC Lite bulan tok. Mun Annabelle, ampun aku tunggu CD cetak rompak jak. Plus dah baca juak review professional, separa pro ngan kureng pro pun ada juak.

Beberapa hari sebelum sepakat maok "film night out" tok, I browsed through list filem-filem yang tengah ditayang atau "coming soon" pun. Terlekat dengan sigek filem ANIMASI 3D.

"THE BOOK OF LIFE"

Kedak menarik. Aku scan nama2 yang terlibat dalam filem tok. Channing Tatum, Zoe Saldana....CHANNING TATUM?? OK aku bukan peminat fanatik mamat badan sasa tok, tapi sekali sekala maok tauk tahap talent nya juak. So aku suggest kat 3 member ku tek sampey siap merik link trailer dari Youtube post terus ke Facebook masing-masing. OK semua merik GREEN LIGHT. Sampey salah sorang mok embak anak dara kiut nya.

Maka sampey lah hari kejadian selepas beberapa kejadian yang kurang dijangka dan disenangi. Tamat ordeal pra-tonton ya tek OK. Next!

This film reminded me first of Despicable Me. I didn't put high expectation on it so much, all I wanted was a night full of good time. Colouful! Ya first sekali yang tarik perhatian aku. Second, the music! The introduction of the story was done sharp but cute. Since background storynya more to Hispanic culture, memang penggunaan colour terang-benderang very obvious. They way the illustrators presented the artworks in this film REALLLYYYY fascinated me. Yes, I love colours WAYYYY too much!

The story takes place in a small Mexican village called San Angel, during the Christian festival of All Souls' Day which falls on 2nd November annually. In Mexico, this festival is HUGE! Try Google it up!

3 main characters Manolo, Maria and Joaquin featured in this film are depicted respectively as the gentle-like hero, rebellious daddy's little girl, and a legend overshadowed by his super legendary predecessor. The 3 good friends later on developed somewhat typical-like love triangle. Manolo, son of the Sanchez family famed for being the Matadors or bullfighters, has only 2 things in his head; undying passion for music (which drives his dad Carlos crazy) and of course, his love interest, Maria. Joaquin, on the other hand, is the son of San Angel's hero who succumbed to death trying to defeat a terrible bandit named Chakal. Yes, he too loves Maria though he remains friends with Manolo.

There! Want to know more? Check your pocket, got enough cash? Go to the nearest cinema, it's showing now! Highly recommended for children too, judging by how Amanda, my friend's lovely daughter laughing and eagerly commenting stuff to her mommy throughout the show.

Here's one of the tracks from the film!

Kimbra - "Settle Down"

I know this song has been around for 4 years now but I knew nothing of its existence until my little brother Azam shared the clip with me on my Facebook wall less than a couple of hours earlier. He knows I love eccentric stuff like this. LOL!!



The Kimbra I know was the one singing with Gotye in the pop hit "Somebody That I used to Know."



Enjoy this one, people!

Almost a year. I am back on track.

Nothing much I guess. Now that I'm blogging via 3 different sites. Crazy? Not really. I think so.
To begin with, I'll frequently blog in this site, as well as the other two blogs I've created.

What's new?
 Besides tutoring, I'm working hard to improve my drawing and sketching skills.

Will talk more later. I'm about to leave for class.

Yes, I work on weekends too. Literally I have no OFF-DAYs now, but I am not complaining too.

I have to remind myself that I need to be thankful and grateful for what I have now.

Later y'all!!

Loss and a little lost.

27th October 2013 tarikh tragis bagi kaum kerabat ku. Uncle Os, pak menakan ku yang paling bongsu belah kerabat mak meninggal secara mengejut. Sehari sebelum nya ninggal, arwah baruk jak sambut birthday yang ke-41. Apa sakit nya aku pun sik pasti. Cuma arwah sempat mesej yang nya demam 5 hari sebelum ya.

Ada kawan ku nanyak,"kenak ko nunggah nya arwah Fio?"

Tahun 2004, Uncle Os sah jadi seorang Muslimin. Enough said.

Malam kerabat ku dapat berita ya, aku macam "lost" kejap. Malam ya nang penuh juak rumah ku didatangi kaum kerabat yang ada di Miri.

Arwah ngan aku paling last bermesej masa birthday ku bulan 8 ya tek. Terkilan. Sebab Tahun lepas kamek duak ada "clash" kejap. Terkilan. Sebab ku sik sempat nak mintak ampun ngan cium tangan nya.

Terlambat. 

Tapi sigek, aku perlu rasa bersyukur sebab diberik peluang yang singkat untuk kenal seorang ahli kerabat yang gila-gila and happy go lucky walau dalam hati nya aku tauk arwah pendam luka yang dalam bertahun-tahun.

Winston Soji Kawi, remember me when the day the Lord decides to call me back. Capische, Big Boss?

I love you till I die, Uncle Os.

P/S: The reason I called him Uncle Os because he resembled a Malaysian comedian named Mr. Os. Otherwise I would've called him Uncle Kicap, for he was a big fan of dark, sweet soy sauce whenever he ate rice. 

Chipsmore, I am! I am BACK, baby!!

24 Julai tarikh aritok.

Lebih dari setengah tahun aku sik update blog ku tok. Busy "repair" semangat ngan dirik. Last ku ngepost nang bunyi kedak orang putus harapan. Sorry, forgive my bad manners....HELLO everyone! (Macam lah blog ku tok banyak followers...tapi current followers tetap ku hargai sebab kitak orang sudi juak follow)....yerdeh! Another visible sign of being matured - appreciating small matters katanya!

Kinek tok aku dah dekat 4 bulan bergelar tutor. True, I could not get a place in either Sarawak Arts School (Kuching) nor Tenby School here in Miri. But God really gave me the biggest (and the coolest, by far) joke to me few months back! Tepat 1 April 2013, as others busy fooling people around, I got a job as a tutor. An English Language tutor to be precise. Tempat ku ngajar is what I call "a humble, simple learning centre that functions as the beacon of hope"....yup, the long-winded me, as usual LOL! What's cool about my job is that for now I only work 2 hours (average basis) a day...and only four days in a WEEK! And, I can still pay for my car, loan and many more. Nevertheless this job that I got requires me to be extra patient. I am dealing with forty plus young ones whose language ability is totally limited. Like totally! When I first started teaching these cheerful kids, language barrier nearly drove me nuts. But as I said earlier on, patience was all I needed to be strong and stay in the game.

Four months had passed, I'm glad to say that my kids have shown positive progress. And...I've been learning wee bit Mandarin lately. In the school, I am one of the three non-Chinese academic staff. Ninety-six percent of the students who are attending our classes are Chinese. But I don't mind at all. Yang penting the kids are willing to help themselves. Not all of them are willing to come and attend extra classes, of course.

Recalling the moment when I got interviewed for the teaching job sometime end of March this year, the interviewer (my current employer) told me he's surprised upon knowing my education background. As a theatre graduate, many people expected me to end up working my butt off in arts industry. Many, not all. My mother is one of them. But I did thank Lord Jesus the moment the interviewer said "I am also looking for a person who can teach drama for children besides teaching English language here in Miri!"

Now, talking about The Law of Attraction, eh!

Yes, now I am doing just fine in this humble hometown of mine, people, I'm doing absolutely fine. Of course I do miss acting on stage every now and then but maybe the Lord is trying to tell me to utilize my artistic talents in other ways. I do, now, get the point. Plus, I've started to sketch pictures again; something that I did not get to do that much back in Shah Alam. Been posting my sketches on my Facebook wall and also Instagram. Glad to know many people like my works. Keep counting the blessings the Lord has given me is what I do on daily basis now.

About the speech and drama class, it's been announced during staff meeting last week. The class will be part of end of the year school holiday programs and I am so looking forward to meet my future young little thespians!

Maok jak rasa maok nulis panjang2, but the allergy med has taken its toll on me *darn*, should be in bed by now. I shall write again soon. Sebelum saying "bye-bye", I'll share some pics here ya!

These are my students!

My first self-portrait done by a fellow artist I met via Instagram. His name is Ahyat. You can follow him at @ahyathappydoodles