The Story of Bowling Day

The same day I managed to score 70 in one game, not three games combined.

Also, the same day for the first time I went bowling with skirt dan baju kerja.

Not forgetting, the same day I found out the eligible bachelor dah ada awek.

Cist. Cist. Cist.

Ibu

Hari ni genap 8 tahun Ibu kembali ke rahmatullah.

Ya Allah,
Berilah Ibu balasan yang sebaik-baiknya,
atas didikan Ibu padaku dan pahala yang besar atas kasih sayang dan ehsan yang Ibu limpahkan padaku,peliharalah Ibu sebagaimana Ibu memeliharaku,
tempatkanlah Ibu dikalangan orang-orang yg beriman.
Amin.

Al-Fatihah.

The Un-Surprised Birthday Party

What was planned:

The Bday Mommy's hubby to give the gangs the key to their Puchong house. The Bday Mommy's hubby is going to bring the The Bday Mommy jalan-jalan all afternoon while the gang setting up the Puchong's house for a grand BBQ party. Around 8 pm, The Bday Mommy's hubby will bring her back to Puchong, faking a car breakdown situation that requires The Bday Mommy walks half a mile. The gangs will later jump out from the bush with balloons and huge banner screaming Happy Birthday on top of our lungs.

Food is going to be super yummy. We are going to have chicken, lamb, fish, potato salad, mini pizza, baked macaroni, green salads, corns, cheesecakes, cup cakes and lots more other things!

Berkobar-kobar and sungguh splendid the plan, kan?

What actually happened:



We did not manage to contact The Bday Mommy's hubby despite trying to contact him for 3 days in a row! No collaboration with The Bday Mommy's hubby means no access to the house. Thus, NO SURPRISE BDAY party.

But, we DID have a party anyways at different venue...minus the surprise heheh. Yelah, takkan nak tolak peluang berparty bbq kan.

Super yummy food was all there with addition of nasi goreng ikan masin, bread pudding and fruit salads. We also got the balloons hehehe.



I had fun, I believed the rest too.
Most importantly, we hope The Bday Mommy enjoyed the party.



Woman,
Happy Birthday. Semoga panjang umur, dimurahkan rezeki dan sentiasa sejahtera hendaknya.
Me love u long long time!

Muah muah.



ps: To the gang, I blow..I don't swallow muahahahah!
pps: various version of stories here and here.

Bowling

Female Colleague: Zetty nak join kitaorg main bowling next Wednesday?
Me: Hmmm...(scanning the participants list...the eligible bachelor name is there!)
Female Colleague: Yeah, sure. Count me in.

For the life of me, I can't bowl ok. I am the bola-slow-ketepi-ketengah-tapi sudahnya-masuk-longkang-jugak type. Tapi dengan berkobar2, makcik sign up jugak sebab eligible bachelor pun join hahahah!

Minang Territory

Tea Lady: Zetty org mana?
Me: Asal Rembau, kak. Akak asal mana?
Tea Lady: Akak orang Mantin!

Hahaha, waghih ghupo ehhh hahhah!

Ever since that moment, I have been enjoying constant supply of hot steaming nescafe all afternoon made by Kak Maznah hehhe. Then later I found out that the HR Manager is also orang Rembau. Heheh, confirm la dia akan tolong makcik dapatkan gaji setengah bulan secepat mungkin kan.

So hereby, I am declaring Cyberjaya as Minang Territory.

And, oh! There is..ehem, an eligible bachelor in the office (the eligibility here has nothing to do with Cleo). I went for lunch with him today, of course la tak pergi berdua..ada lagik member2 opis yg lain. Potonggggg betul la kan.

Mari berCyber

After so much drama with the previous employment, I finally started my tenure here in Cyberjaya.

The Office is only 15km away from Ayah's place.

And the Office will be only 10km away once I moved to my apartment at end of July.

No toll, no traffic jem.

Tapi makcik still sampai lambat kat opis on the first day.

9.15 am baru makcik mengadap CEO hehehe.

Happy Father's Day Part II

Dulu masa kecik2, selalu kena rotan dgn Ayah.

Tak nak buat homework la
Tolak adik sampai jatuh longkang
Malas pegi ngaji la
Melawan cakap org tua la
Tipu Ayah la

Takut sangat bila Ayah dah start capai rotan. Tapi Ayah bukan selalunya garang. Ayah selalu bawak kitaorg gi funfair, nanti main gelang besi yg campak dlm paku tu. Pernah sekali tu menang tabung ayam. Dua minggu lepas tu tabung ayam tu pecah sebab gaduh ngan Apis. Kena rotan lagik.

Masa tahun nak amik SPM tu, Ayah ngan Ibu pegi Mekah menunaikan Haji. Ayah pesan yg dia ada belikan insurance utk kami adik beradik. Jika ada apa-apa terjadik pada Ayah dan Ibu di Mekah, insyallah nasib kami adik beradik akan terbela. Ayah pesan "Etty anak sulung, etty kena selalu jaga adik2. Etty pemegang amanah ibu dan ayah". Alhamdullillah, Ayah dan Ibu kembali dari Mekah dgn selamat.

Masa nak pegi US sambung belajar, Ayah kata belajar lah sedaya mungkin sampai Master ke PHD ke. Ayah kata jgn jadik macam Ayah, sampai Master jek otak dah berkarat, dah malas nak belajar. Ayah gelak-gelak. Malam tu Ibu bagitau yg sebenarnya bukan otak ayah berkarat, Ayah sebenarnya dah pernah dapat scholarship offer buat PhD kat US masa 1992. Ayah nak bawak family pegi duduk US dgn dia. Ibu kata, ayah tak sampai hati nak tinggalkan anak ayah yg sulung ni yg nak amik SRP tahun tu sengsorang kat Malaysia. Ayah tak teruskan niat Ayah. Ayah berkorban supaya anak sulung ayah amik exam dgn tenang.

Masa kat US, pertama kali anak sulung Ayah dengar ayah menangis sedih. Ayah kata Ibu dah takde. Ayah kata dia rasa helpless. Ayah kata dia lonely. Ayah cakap betapa agungnya cinta dan sayangnya Ayah pada arwah Ibu. Ayah kata dia cuma ada anak-anak. Meleleh airmata anak sulung ayah di bumi orang. Itulah pertama kali Ayah memandang anak sulung ayah sebagai anak yg telah dewasa.

Masa anak sulung ayah dikecewakan, Ayah teman anak sulung ayah menangis pukul 3 pagi. Anak sulung ayah tau yg Ayah juga mengalirkan airmata malam tu.

Takde emas berlian dalam dunia ni yg dapat menggambarkan mahalnya kasih sayang Ayah. Takde gunung-ganang dalam dunia ni yg dapat menterjemahkan betapa tingginya sanjungan anak sulung ayah ni kepada Ayah. Terima kasih Ayah di atas pengajaran kehidupan yg telah diberi. Terima kasih Ayah di atas kasih sayang dan kesabaran yg tak ternilai. Terima kasih Ayah kerana mengajar erti ketabahan.

Sayang Ayah,
Anak Sulung Ayah

Happy Father's Day Part I

For the next two days, I am re-publishing 2 of my old entries. A dedication to my Ayah.

Caution: Gloating Daughter Ahead

I never actually comprehend what does my Ayah do till recently. When I was in standard 2, every time the teacher asked what's my Ayah's job, I'd say "ayah saya ialah Pegawai Penyelidik MARDI".

I didn't even know what is a pegawai penyelidik then. All I know at that time, Ayah always worked till late at nite at the dining table (our house was really small, so he didn't have proper working table). He would be smoking packs of ciggies and went through lots of books.

When I asked him, what does he do?

"Ayah Dr. Pokok" he replied with a grin.

Then when I was in Form 1, Ayah asked me to help him plot some rows on a big piece of mahjong paper. He asked me to put little X in rows and lines. When I asked him, what was it for, he said "Nanti senang ayah nak tanam pokok, tau kat mana nak letak".

(note: mahjong paper is that big white transparent piece of paper. Bukan kertas minyak tu.)

I couldn't even plant anything in my life. Tangan panas kata orang heheh.

Ayah and Ibu went to Mecca in 1994. The day they boarded into the plane, Ayah's research on new breed/clones/progenies of Liberaca and Robusta coffees was published in the local paper. It was about a new clone that he adn his team discovered or something. I kept that article till today.

By then, my understanding of Ayah's work was primarily revolves around him wearing a white lab coat doing his best impersonation of mad scientist heheh.

Ayah always brought funny funny items home. Once he brought home black pepper tea. I only knew it was a black pepper tea when my tea taste pedas. Then he brought home a packet of harmless looking asam jeruk. It turned out that it wasn't a normal asam jeruk, ayah said the asam jeruk was made from flowers which I couldn't recall the name now. When people planted flowers or pokok rambutan in their lawn, Ayah grew asparagus in ours.

The ultimate was when he's conducting his mengkudu (noni) research at home. He brought back a sack full of ripe mengkudu and started working on it in the kitchen. Ayah said mengkudu has lots of nutritional benefits (this was when no commercialized bottled megkudu/kapsul/powder available then. People weren't aware of its nutritional value, yet). However, Ayah said the mengkudu taste and smell was really bad. I never know how skunk smells like but at this point, a sack full of ripe mengkudu in the house was more than I could bear. Ayah was trying to make the mengkudu taste better for consumption. He blended the mengkudu, added OJ, honey etc etc and invited everybody in the house to be the tester. Ummi was the only one who braves enough to be the test subject. Ayah then marketed the mengkudu juice from our home. The responds were overwhelming, dapat laa tukar awning depan rumah, tambah dapur, tambah living room with the mengkudu sales. The direct-selling from home was eventually slowed down when corporation started to produce it for the mass.

Nevertheless, I am really proud of Ayah. Regardless what the agro journal findings are, for me Ayah was the first one who discovered mengkudu!

Two days ago, Ayah told me that he has published a book under MARDI. It was a compilation of research on herbs and other plants. Ayah worked together with several other researchers. Then only I knew that Ayah not only research on coffees and mengkudu, he also studied black pepper, pandan and even Tongkat Ali! I even googled his name, and found out that he has other research paper published out there and even being used as reference internationally.

Pokok Tongkat Ali

He showed us some of the things that he has researched and new breeds that he found when we went to Biotech exhibition last week.

Ubi Gendut hehehehe

So, when I asked him again what exactly he does, he said "Ayah tolong peladang kita tambahkan hasil. Ayah kan Dr.Pokok."

I couldn't help it but feel so damn proud of Ayah.

My Ayah is a Biotech Warrior!

Tata

The last day at work was...uneventful. The PM did not utter a single word to me, which was more than fine la kan. The day was spent clearing up some admin stuff and filed some final claims.

Other than the small tea party organized by my team members, the final day was just like any other day.

Not that I expect it would be different, though. It's just that, I feel too calm. My last day in the previous employment was quite an emotional one. Perhaps in the last employment, I developed friendship. In the current employment, it was just acquaintance. No emotions, no bonding.

Oh well, I am not good with goodbyes anyways (that explains all the emotional baggage hahaha).

Thanks Team Members for accommodating my situation with Ayah in the last couple of months. You guys take care, ok.

Bye for now nasi goreng kampung from Cold Storage
Bye for now Starbucks tepi kolam
Bye for now parking RM10 per entry
Bye for now the tallest tower in Malaysia.

Padan Muka Kuasa Dua

As part of 'retaliation' plan, I went to clinic today to buy an MC hehe. Padan muka PM. U want me to stay, I stay la...stay at home.

Coincidentally my nose has been semi-tersumbat since a week ago and my sore throat wasn't getting any better. No high temperature though, so macam demam-tak-demam la kan. I was pretty sure that the doc should have no problem issuing me an MC.

Masuk jumpa doctor, lain pulak cerita. The Doc suspected me suffering of resdung. Pergh, memula nak ambik MC memain..dah sakit betul la pulak. Padan muka sendiri.

I told the Doc that I couldn't take any kind of pills, tablets or capsules. I couldn't swallow those medications. I don't swallow,u see..ooppss, did that came out nasty? Hehehhe. Neways, all my life I had to crush the pills/tables/capsules...blend it with sweet drinks, then only boleh telan. Level macam budak 5 tahun.

I begged the Doc for ubat air.

The Doc warned me that I had to double the dosage because the ubat air are portioned according to kiddie level. Org besar (literally) has to take extra dosage.

So the Doc gave me ubat air. Lots of them!

Ultraman vs Kangaroo

Watching the Japan vs Australia game actually reminded me of few things:

1. Life is full of surprises. Good surprises, bad surprises.
2. Smooth sailing is a total myth.
3. Don't sweat it if somebody actually scores (read: living ur dream) before you. Try harder, gulp the Gatorades by gallons...you can be there too.
4. There is no such thing as too late.
5. Australians team is like hero cerita Hindustan. Dah nak hujung cerita baru menang.
6. Believe in the obvious: 3 goals scored at the almost-end of the game are sweeter than the 1 scored earlier.
7. Kangaroo boleh kalahkan ultraman. Sapa kata fat thighs are not useful?

Inilah ulasan from makcik, one of the World Cup females audience.

Sekian terima kasih.

ps:Takziah kepada USA kerana jadik lauuukkkkkkk. Read more of what would've been, what could've been.

pps: makcik tengok Germany vs Costa Rica game kat mamak...makcik tak paham, siapa aje yg beria2 sokong Costa Rica. Bergegar mamak tu bila Costa Rica dapat bola.

Vavi

Dear Zetty

Talked to your PM last Friday nite. She is shocked to hear that you want to leave on Monday. Fyi, the PM is not agreeable to yr last day. As I have arranged for yr replacement to come in on 14 & 16 June, the PM informed me that yr last day agreed by her is on 16 June 2006.

In any cases, pls discuss with the PM on this matter. We, at HR cannot act on anything without the approval of the project manager.

Tks & rgds
HR Manager

Seriously! What else to do that she is holding me till Friday!!! All reports have been completed as in DONE, DONE, DONE! Plus, the new employer is willing to pay for my short notice departure. WTF la vaviiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

Omen dan Bola

Pix courtesy of Cinematical

Went to watch The Omen with the gang last nite at Mid Valley. Personally I prefer the original version. Darker and more frightful. Maybe masa first time tengok cerita tu, makcik umur 7 tahun kot. After watching that movie, sibukla semua kengkawan check kepala masing-masing ada 666 ke tidak hehe.

Watching horror movies with friends is always an eventful one also hehehe. Shell's conclusion at the end of the movie made us gelak terkekeh-kekeh in the dark cinema. Last time tengok Long Khong ngan Fina pun ended up ketawa terkekeh-kekeh. I am so not watching horror movies with u guys anymore, potong stim betul.

Oh, ni ada lawak yg tahap suam-suam kuku. Tolongla ketawa kecil-kecilan.

HARAM MENIKAHI GADIS SEKAMPUNG

BERITA GEMPAR!!!!! HARAP-HARAP TENANGKAN PERASAAN SEBELUM MEMBACA LAPORAN INI, BAGI YANG TELAH TERLANJUR... APA NAK BUAT!!!!

Haram menikahi gadis sekampung . JAKIM telah mengeluarkan fatwa baru. Setelah diadakan perbincangan dan diskusi di antara para pemimpin, JAKIM dan ahli ulama' memberikan fatwa pada tanggal 3 Oktober tahun 2003:

"HARAM HUKUMNYA BAGI SEORANG MUSLIM LAKI-LAKI UNTUK MENIKAH DENGAN GADIS SEKAMPUNG"

Fatwa JAKIM ini telah menimbulkan perdebatan dan bantahan yang sangat sengit antara yang pro dan kontra. Bahkan banyak pihak yang menyatakan bahawa JAKIM telah mengambil keputusan yang tidak munasabah dan terburu-buru. Wartawan Berita Harian telah meminta pegawai kanan JAKIM untuk memberi ulasan yang mendalam sebab sebab JAKIM mengeluarkan fatwa sedemikian. Inilah isi wawancara tersebut:

Wartawan: Bagaimana JAKIM boleh mengeluarkan fatwa haram untuk menikahi gadis sekampung?

Pegawai Kanan : Bagaimana tidak haram, sedangkan menikahi empat orang wanita sahaja sudah berat, apalagi sekampung..........!!!

Hehehehehe... jgn marah ah.

Okay, dah..pegi sambung tengok bola.

p/s: AFUNDI Germany

Middle Name

The stress at work has become more unbearable ever since I submitted the resignation notice. Few friends commented that I was working harder than before, sadis la kan. It seems that the Project Manager (PM) wanted to personally make sure she squeezes the life out of me in the next few weeks. Memang giller tak cool la PM ni.

To make things more parah, the new employer wanted me to report duty earlier than the supposed date. Dah namanya makcik kan, sure la hidup kena dramatic. The new employer is willing to pay "settlement" to my current employment for my early departure. Of course la the offer doesn't sit well with my PM eventho I guaranteed her that I would finish all deliverables by then. She said she has the right to hold me longer at the current emmployment. She complained how her workloads are going to increase, how she needs to scour for new resources, how I put her in difficult position to explain my departure to the client etc.

Blergh.

Honestly I couldn't care less of whatever the problems she would face. Why do I need to giver her a break la kan? I quit mostly because of her anyway, so, why don't I make her suffer a bit kan hehehe. Mcm org Rembau selalu kata, jgn ingat middle name kau sorang jek Bit**...kau tak kira middle name org lain lagik.

La di da.

Oh, thanks to the tunjuk ajar from Raja Mengular...I managed to watch X-Men: The Last Men Stand on last Monday show pukul 3.50 petang.

Eh, bukan time keje ke tu?
Ha ah la.
Cuti ke time tu?
Tak hahahaha...

p/s: more details of the PM of the Year in 21/04 entry

About Being the Eldest

Being the eldest in the family actually giving one privilege to sort of "play parents". Experience the joy, the satisfaction, the responsibilities and the nerve-wrecking episodes. Biasalah adik-adik kan, bila pegi shopping with the eldest definitely the Kak Long or Abang Long will pay for the expenses. Personally, it feels natural to do so. Bila parents angin with the younger siblings, Kak Long or Abang Long ni jugak yg kena marah. Bila tengok the younger siblings ada problem, hati Kak Long or Abang long ni pun risau jugak. Yelah, being protective and all. Bila travelling anywhere, Kak Long or Abang Long ni sure teringat nak belikan souvenirs to the younger siblings. Biarlah tak mahal pun, tapi yg penting ada jugak la something. Bila time raya tu, Kak Long or Abang Long nak jugak belikan one or two pairs of new baju for the younger siblings. Kot younger siblings asked for help to pick them up anywhere, Kak Long or Abang Long ni gagahkan jugak diri pegi amik eventho tgh sakit, pening, demam or letih balik keje. Tak nak the younger siblings susah-susah angkat beg berat meredah hujan ke apa kan. And most of all, bila tengok the younger siblings receiving their diploma, berair jugak mata Kak Long or Abang Long ni.

Kak Long or Abang Long usually tak pernah mengungkit. All Kak Long and Abang Long did was out of love and being responsible. Tak pernah mintak balasan pun. So, bila the younger siblings sampai hati said something nasty to Kak Long or Abang Long...aiyaks, pedih jugak rasa hati ni kan.

Kenduri and Traffic

Went back to Rembau over the weekend for 2-in-1 kenduri. Kenduri arwah for Atuk and Ibu. And kenduri kesyukuran for my new job. Pukul 6 pagi dah start hiris bawang ok. Hehehe. By 10 am, lauk semua dah siap. We had labu masak lemak, udang masak lemak cili api, kerabu pubuk paku dgn kerang, ikan masin goreng, ayam masak merah and terung masak taucu. Thanks Seha, Sarah, Shell and Teemah for making it to the kenduri. Hope the super massive traffic jam was worth it hehehe.

Traffic is always bad anyways for that stretch between Nilai to Pedas Linggi, both ways. During weekends, one should expect to be stuck within that stretch for about 2 hours. Kot balik time cuti raya, especially if you are heading south...lagi tak kesian la dia punya jem. Sempat habiskan satu balang kuih tart nak tunggu dapat bergerak. In fact, sempat jugak exchanging phone numbers with the cute guy driving next to you. Ye dah sama-sama stuck dlm jem kannn hahahah.

p/s: sorry takde gambar food sebab semua bz makan.

Resignation Letter

Do you know there are sites that offer various range of resignation letter samples? Try to google for "resignation letter + sample". Here are some of the options:

• Resignation Letter Sample 1 is simple, friendly and courteous (just so that u didnt burn any bridges)
• Resignation Letter Sample 2 is formal and straight to the point. (if u jenis yg dah tak kosser nak cerita panjang2)
• Resignation Letter Sample 3 is formal, but grateful. (special for fresh grad that resigns from his or her first job)
• Resignation Letter Sample 4 attempts to thwart a possible counteroffer. (use this IF u sure that the current employment would counteroffer, kot tak buek malu jek)
• Resignation Letter Sample 5 is short and sweet. (untuk org yg short dan sweet jugak)

So, after rewording some sentences from the Resignation Letter Sample 1...I finally submitted it to my HR last week.

Naturally the HR Manager asked why did I decided to quit. Makcik pun guna la peluang ni untuk bagitau yg makcik tak happy with the current Project Manager. As if on cue, she exclaimed "Laa, kenapa tak cakap u tak happy with the PM. The Company can always shift u to other project".

Pergh, dan dan la kan! The rift between me and the PM is an old news. It is as old as Siti and Dato' K romance story! (Hajjah Wan Chik Daud kata ROMANCE bukan ROMEN hihihi...ye, lawak AF4). But typical HR Manager la kot, being all diplomatically correct only at the point of no return.

And as expected, tarak counteroffer. Nasib baik makcik tak amik Resignation Letter Sample 4, kan. Or else, sure tak kesian punya malu.

p/s: AFUNDI LOTTER