90's group: Innuendo

I thought the group Innuendo was awesome - great voice, not bad looking, great stage presence. Hehe.. always great voice + great looks, now that's a singer half-way to stardom. LOLs..

Years ago when this now-defunct group was on top of the local charts, I thought most of their songs were bloody good. I sometimes still get goosebumps whenever I listen to 'Belaian Jiwa'. Berhantu that song, I tell you!

So, I couldn't understand why 'Akhirnya' - one of their songs (a duet with one female singer) - didn't really score with listeners. I don't remember it doing well at most Top 10 charts.
At that time, I thought it was weird. My thoughts were along the line: "Don't these people have ears? Can't they tell how good Innuendo sounds?"

Well, yesterday I bought a compilation CD, and that song "Akhirnya" was one of the songs featured. After listening to it this morning, I now understand why it was 'all that' back then (well, neither will it be very much 'all that' now anyway).

Oh yeah, definitely confirmed this post which I wrote some time ago.
She cannot sing well laaa.

Well, the song is nice. Make that very nice. But now that I listened to it, I guess her voice didn't do justice to the song. I don't know how it would sound if it was sung by a more powerful vocal - I guess it was never attempted anyway.

And to that someone out there: No. Your theory is still wrong. I am just pointing out the obvious.
You know how good Innuendo sounds, and you, of all people, know how erm.. not-so-good she sounds :P
Probably explains why she needs all these duet with other singers.

Now that I think about it.. is there actually any song by Camelia, which is not a duet?

:P

I deserve a break :P

Ish.. the past few days have been sooooooo unbelievably busy!
Nak update about "The Girls" punya gathering at Mel's place pun tak sempat tau. (Oh, believe me, we did have fun! Mel's one of the best hostess ever. And her babygirl is wayy too adorable. I think I fell in love hehe..)

Anyway, I think I should be using my annual leave some time soon. It's almost August, and I still have 18 days to finish up. That's about 3-4 days per month for the next 5 months! Aiseh.. do I have the time? I know I've planned a 4-days off at end August/early September, and perhaps a week off during Raya. But that means I'd still have about 10-odd days of cuti. Hmm...

Pulak tu, tak boleh carry forward leave. MUST finish off by 31 December (oh yeah, I think HR dah remind a few weeks ago ehhehe).

* * *

I think I'll be off to Cherating for the end August / early September leave plan. Hehe.. not alone, mind you. Probably with Mak Abah. Believe it or not, I've never been to Cherating. LOLs.. did I hear someone gasping in shock? :P

Come to think of it, I must confess that I'm not much of a traveller. Oh, I do love seeing new places. I guess I'm just lazy going through the part of 'planning, planning, planning, the travelling to get there'.. Not to mention how I'd shudder everytime I imagine that I'd have to pack (and unpack, and pack and unpack again!adoi!).
Hehhe..

Let's see where in Malaysia that I haven't been..
Tioman, Redang, Cameron Highlands, Kota Bharu (OK, so I have been to Kelantan before. But I was probably 5 years old. That doesn't count, right?), Muar, Taiping.. Batu Feringhi, Kuala Terengganu, Kuantan..
Hmm, at the rate I'm going, probably it's easier to just list the places I have been to eh?

I think this weekend will be quite free. Which is a pleasant change, considering I've been quite busy lately.

Hmm.. I'll take up Sheils' offer to go for the sauna + full body massage + body scrub + mandi lulur (or was it mandi rempah? mandi susu? can't remember dah). Oh yeah.. I think my body needs some pampering lah.

But that's for next weekend la (note to self: confirm with Sheils, and Mel, and maybe Zue as well).

This weekend, I'll probably do some ironing.. hehe... I think the clothes rack is severely deprived of some freshly ironed items! LOLs..

Malaysian drivers: Arghhh!

I was stuck in the traffic somewhere along Jalan Pahang when I heard the sounds of siren. Looking at the rearview mirror, I noticed an ambulance trying to make its way through the morning traffic.

OK lah, late as I was, I kept to the side of the road as best as I could - and so did the van behind me. I saw some other cars trying their best to make way for the ambulance.
But I saw some cars in front of me - utterly due to their 'keras kepala' drivers - kept on trying to move ahead. Maybe buat-buat tak nampak the ambulance, and buat-buat tak dengar the siren's calls.
Oi.. ini emergency vehicle laa, make way la. Wonder what you picked up at the driving school.

Ended up, a couple traffic police officers had to direct those drivers (yang tak reti pemanduan berhemah tu) to make way for the ambulance to pass through.

And, as always, you'll see hoardes of vehicles trying to follow closely behind the emergency vehicles. Today those were only motorcycles - thank goodness.
The last time I gave way to an ambulance (hmm, it was after office hour + it was raining! So the traffic jam was a massive one), one extensively-modified Proton Wira followed closely behind the ambulance. When another car tried to follow suit, the car behind mine immediately moved back to the centre of the lane.. hehehe

* * *

Which got me thinking...

How come Malaysian drivers (well, city drivers mostly - and I'm not limiting myself to only the Klang Valley here) can be so uncivilised once they're on the road?

Road bullies, road rage (ni sampai dok bantai orang ni), inconsiderate drivers (bagi laa signal sampai esok pagi, jangan harap laa he'll give you a chance), stupid drivers (tak payah cakap lah.. too many cases dah. Especially those in the right lane - lane laju - and suddenly cuts in front of you to turn into that simpang on your left. Arrghhh!!), those already behind the wheel but suddenly had a case of panic attack (kekkeke, tiba-tiba takut pulak nak keluar simpang. Terus laa queue panjang kat belakang dia..). Hmm.. nanti list karang, tak cukup blogspace pulak.. Hehe..

*sigh*

* * *

I'm sure you've got your shares of Malaysian drivers' stories..

A trip down memory lane

There were 12 of us there. I was the last to arrive - ada last minute appointment at Pertama Complex pulak. Rushed to Pan Pac, and found out the their parking lot is full. So had to make a U-turn and park at The Mall instead. I reached the coffee house close to 3pm. Alamak! Everyone was there, and happily eating their hearts out.

Everybody - and seriously, I mean everybody! - stared at me. They said I'm the one who changed the most over these years! LOLs..
Khat gave me a big hug - girl, I love you too! Everyone just couldn't let go how different I look now compared to schooldays.

Raych even listed what was so different about me:
(a) I'm wearing tudung now
(b) I look fairer
(c) My eyes look bigger.
(d) My eyebrows are different (oi! Ini also can recall after 12 years? Aparraa..!)
(e) I wear spectacles.

So for a while I took off my glasses la (ini cermin mata yg rimless, mind you. Still kena take off jugak). They said: "Ok laaa.. but STILL different! Your skin IS fairer.." Aiyoh these girls. Mentang -mentang daku last sekali sampai! Every inch kena scrutinise, is it? ;))
Khat said "Take off your tudung la, then we can say how much you've changed from schooldays."
Chaits! Ada pulak such request hahaha..!

It was a wonderful gathering. The last time I saw these girls were during SPM exam weeks. Wahhh.. almost 12 years dah! How time flies, kan? Can't believe how I've totally lost contact with these girls. I guess my path definitely was different than any of theirs.

Out of the 12, only 4 are married. The rest are definitely unattached. Oh yeah, Khat did ask me (twice!), if I had a Datuk tucked away somewhere. This girl aa.. tsk tsk.. outrageous sungguh!

Well, glad to say, that I can definitely recognise most of them if we bumped on the street. Of course, everyone's better groomed now. Hehehe.. dah kerja, dah ada duit, dah pandai make-up - all along these lines lah.

I don't know what prompted this, but I brought along some old photos, and the old 'autograph' book I had in Form 5 - most girls gave me their best photos in that book.
Everyone had fun looking at the old pictures!

I had fun - didn't do that much eating laa though (this is one 'rugi' bit! hahaha!). For a couple hours, the 12 of us reminisced of our schooldays - the old friends, the teachers, the funny things, the punishments (famous ones being having to stand on the desks - lagi best when one of the girls was the Head Prefect! Hahahha! Imagine that!), the after-school activities...

Those were the days...

* * *

Oh well.. it's a cool Monday today. I'm barely able to keep my eyes open here at the office (semalam tidur lambat sangat I think).
Let's hope tonight I'll get some sleep lah.. (moreover after Abah forwarded an email about 'The healthy liver' - must sleep early and don't wake up late. Hehehhe.. ni macam hinting big time jer suruh tidur awal?)

Friday, I love you..

Ahh.. Friday. Nice day eh today? I can see it raining outside the window - sheesh, and I should be at home in deep slumber!
But it's OK.. it's Friday! Official office hour ends at 5pm (hehe, that's the official time lah. For me, the day will probably end at around 6.30pm, or 7. If I'm "lucky", I might even leave work around 8pm (aiyo.. lucky me :P)

I foresee a lot of food tomorrow. LOLs..
I'm meeting up with a few ladies who used to be my classmates in secondary school. Most of them I haven't met after SPM. Alamak! That's 11 or 12 years already!!! I wonder how they look like.

I sent them one of my recent photos, and everyone said I look wayyy different compared to schooldays. Yelah, last time tak pakai tudung, now pakai already. Hehehe, of course la different. They probably wouldn't recognise me if we bumped into each other on the street.

We're meeting up tomorrow, having high-tea at one of the hotels in KL. Not everyone could make it - at the last count, about 15 girls have confirmed their attendance. I suppose if they brought along their partners, we'll need a bigger table. Hmm, on second thought, maybe can get another table for the men - let the women chit-chat in peace, yeah? Hihihihii..

Hmm.. maybe after the gathering I'll just pop into the nearby shopping mall and do some window-shopping therapy eh? LOLs..!

* * *

On Sunday morning, I'll start another tray (or maybe two trays. Depends laaa..) of the baked macaroni (hmm, must go to Alpha Angle and buy ingredients tonight..).

LOLs.. a friend at work asked me to bring some for him the next time I make baked macaroni. After some talking, he asked me to bake for him one whole tray (which is a lot! One eating session, easily 15-20 people boleh makan). And he's paying for it. Hehhehe..

A couple days later, my friend changed his mind and asked for 1/2 tray instead. (LOLs.. I think I freaked him out a bit when I chatted with him - and he thought that 1 whole tray might just be a bit too much for him to eat LOLs. Sorry laa.. bukan saja nak takut-takutkan. But 1 tray IS a lot laaa.. takut tak habis nanti. Sayang jer, membazir).

So, I'll be packing 1/2 tray for him, and perhaps will bring some to work as well. I sort of promised Lin that I'll bring some for her - to rasa laa.. Hehe.. And must bring some for Anne as well. And some for the colleagues at the Dept.
Erks! Better make sure there's gonna be some left at home.

Hmm.. maybe I should make 2 trays then?

* * *
Happy weekend everyone :))
May you be surrounded by the people you love. Enjoy the weekend food!

Finding peace in one's solitude

After reading Nel's adventure, I was sorely tempted to do likewise. Take a drive by myself one Saturday morning. Go somewhere outside KL (remote / rural areas preferred), spend the night there. Drive back to KL the Sunday afternoon..
Oooohh.. I can SOO see the appeal!

Hmm.. although I must admit I lack the courage. Plus I'm lazy to plan where to spend the night hehehe. Plus I don't have my own car, yet. (haha! macam bagi alasan jer Yam ni. haiyaaa!)

Anyway, for now, I'll settle with spending the night at Rina's place tonight. Together with Sheils. I miss spending time with them laaa..
OK, not that there's gonna be much peace and quiet, and definitely NO solitary existance there.

But I think I'll find an equally blessed feeling with these two ladies.

* * *

Anne forwarded an article (well, it's more of a mail written in by a reader) from The Star yesterday, on the marriage 'institution' and such.

More cons than pros
GROUCHO Marx had this to say about marriage: “It is a wonderful institution, but who wants to live in an institution?” Some chuckles may be heard from those, who, like me, are sceptical about it. Nowadays, how many young couples end up divorced just after a few years being confined in such an institution?
Many dream of having a grand, but few can actually afford one. Some resort to borrowing large sums of money from relatives, parents, friends and even banks, just for the sake of funding the once-in-a-lifetime experience.
To an extent, I think it’s fair to say that a lot of us only longed for a wedding, not a marriage. We look at bridal magazines and surf the Internet for inspiration and ideas.
We go to other people’s kenduri or wedding feasts sometimes with our own agenda - to comment on the decorations, food and everything from the bride’s make-up to the bunga telur.
I’m saying this as an observer who always gets dragged into going to weddings every time the school holidays turn up. Every so often I would be asked the million-dollar question: “When is it your turn, dear? You’re not getting any younger, you know,” from the many makciks and relatives I meet.
Now I have a list of replies to that sort of questions, depending on who’s asking. I could respond using Marx’s statement if I were in a cynical mood, but I could also be more polite and put it bluntly as “God has not willed it for me yet” or “It’s not the time for me yet”.
A friend once told her recently divorced aunt off for being a Nosy Parker. This aunt has been pestering her to get married for years, and she’s only 25! She finally snapped by saying: “Yeah, right! And for what? Just to be part of the statistics, like you!” They are not on speaking terms now, obviously.
A sceptic I may be, but still, I don’t deny that there are a lot of fairytales which come true and the bride and groom live happily ever after. Tears, sacrifice, money, hard work, patience - these are just some of the elements vital to the recipe for a long-lasting marriage - and indeed I am referring to my parents’ 29 years of marriage.
I must stress that love may not always remain the top priority. Once one has admitted oneself to the “institution”, responsibilities and being committed to each other should come first. And the rest will follow.
Just to sum up: marriage is also like a hotel room. You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave!”
Nazreen
Mersing

Well... many may not agree to her letter (I wouldn't go on saying there's more cons than pros based on these arguments alone).
I think there are many other aspects to look at, but I'm just gonna make a generalisation that she's unmarried - and hence can't see the greener parts of that pasture.

Ultimately, I think it takes two to tango.
Two parties to make a marriage, but, unfortunately, only one to break it up.
Oh yeah, maybe I should add - one party plus a whole lot of things out there, to break a marriage.

Anne, I guess, when the time comes, it'll make its presence known lah.
In the meantime, enjoy the singlehood, woman.

I know it gives me time to do the things I enjoy by myself. You know, like baking macaroni.

LOLs.. kidding la, kidding!

Alhamdulillah..

Mak Abah seems to be recovering.
(And some friends I know in UK are doing fine, alhamdulillah!)

Though, my coughing fits seem to get worst. Hmm..

I took Emergency Leave yesterday, sebab batuk teruk sangat. I cannot tahan anymore and decided to take the cough mixture at around 8.30am. Knowing that I would fall asleep within 1/2 hour, I called up Jikin (after sending an SMS to the Boss, of course) saying that I'd be taking EL - must sleep off the cough mixture effect.

As expected, I think I fell asleep in front of the TV, close to 9am. Woke up at around 10am to move from the couch to the bed.
Immediately went back to sleep. Woke up again after 12.30noon.

Sheesh.. Power jugak ubat batuk ni eh?

And today after being back at work, my cough seems to be getting non-the-better. Makin teruk ada laaa..

I wonder if someone can die from having coughing fits like this.

It got to Mak first..

.. then me. And yesterday Abah.

Mak had fever + coughing + sneezing + runny nose since Sunday.

I got the cough on Sunday too. And this morning some runny nose as well. No fever though, alhamdulillah.

Semalam Abah pulak demam. No cough/runny nose/sneezing, insyaAllah. Just demam - and a bit of sakit tekak, I believe.

Hmm.. ni bukan demam AF3 ni. Ni demam sungguh ni.

I think Mak have started to recover, though her voice is not back to normal yet. I think Abah too has started sweating, so I hope that's a good sign lah. (hmm.. though Abah insists on going to work today. I rest my case!)

As for yours truly here, the cough is, at times, horrible. Mostly no phlegm, but it's so bloody uncomfy and it irritates me. Kena pulak coughing fits tu datang masa nak cakap / answer calls / explain something. Isk isk.. naik merah muka ni batuk tau!

The cough mixture the Doc gave me is supposed to make me drowsy, so I was to only take it at night. But since cannot tahan batuk punya pasal, I took at daytime yesterday, and today too. InsyaAllah takde pulak ngantuk.
Hmm... to say that I'm high on drugs, I think not. (BTW, how to tell if you're 'high'? Just wondering hahaha!)

Friends: Keeping In Touch

Dearest darling friend,

I'm not gonna admit that I'm the most wonderful friend in the world - 'cause I'm not. Sometimes I'd go into my 'semacam' mode and decide that I want to be alone for a while. Sometimes I'm the one who is sooo tak sabar nak meet up with friends and catch up on the latest going-ons (sometimes lah. As for The Girls the 'initiator/organiser' varies - could be Sheils, could be Mel, could be Darls, could be anyone in fact). I think my close friends might have accepted this about me (I hope!) a long time ago ;))

In the past couple of days I've been exchanging emails, with you - a most beloved friend. Our 'conversation' reminded me of the good old days, when we were studying, when we were living. I think you're one of the few people who know me very, very well. Hehe..

I do miss the days when we were students - not having to think about responsibilities eh? Other than study, study, talk, talk, study, everyone gathering to watch FRIENDS on the small TV (gosh, can you remember that?! hahaha), study, secure place at the university (we both applied for the same one - and got it!), living at a foreign country, more study, being a "family" (you girls were all the family I had over there - all The Girls), study, study, had fun, study, strawberry picking, graduated! Hehehe.. those were the days.
OK lahhh.. given that studying WAS our responsibility then.. But then, no bills to pay (erm, not much anyway), no reporting to the boss, no waiting for monthly salary to pay bills. LOLs..

But I guess, after university, we weren't that close anymore. Oh, we haven't changed much - basically I'm still the same old me, you're still basically the same person you were all these years. It's just... I guess we don't travel on the same paths anymore. You went ahead and pursued your future. And I went my way for mine.
You're a Government servant, I'm with a commercial bank - though we both deal with money :P
You're married with kids. I still have both feet firmly in "single-hood".

I look at your kids and doting hubby with a mixture of much happiness and a twinge of envy - one day hopefully I'll have something like that too.
You observe with slight jealousy at my 'freedom' - the time I have for myself, for my family (parents & siblings & uncles & aunties & cousins), and my friends.

Honey, trust me. The grass is always greener on the other side. Hehe..

Ah.. I miss talking to you. Miss telling you stuff, I miss hearing your stories. I miss spending time with you, exchanging views, gossiping like nobody's business. I miss your cooking too. Hihihihi..

My darling friend, maybe things will never be the same as they were 10 years ago, but please know that you're always, always close to my heart.

Love always,
Yam

The weekend that was wasn't

Nothing much happened last weekend. I took leave on Friday, so my weekend was a 3-day event.

On Friday, I settled car payment, settled Streamyx registration (way cute guy at the counter, BTW. *sigh* terlupa for a while that I had to wait around 30 minutes before meeting him. hiihih..) - and I expect the technician to come and install this Saturday. Actually I wanted to window shop (read: buy purse / handbag for work / a bag for jalan-jalan / shoes) with Mak after solat Jumaat, but somehow I fell asleep, and only woke up around 4.30pm. So, Friday wasn't a shopping day for me.

Was supposed to see the beautician on Saturday, but I was on a major 'malas' mode that day. Woke up early, but at 8++am - after seeing Mak off for her day-trip a.k.a rombongan - I decided to lie down on my nice bed, hugging my fluffy pillow. And ended up falling asleep. And woke up wayyyyy past 10.30am. *sheepish grin*
Plus, it was a gloomy day Saturday. It rained cats and dogs at our area. Of course no mood to leave the house.
So, no going to Sogo area for me that day. No seeing the beautician. No window shopping (again!)

Sunday. Woke up early. After 6.50am couldn't sleep. It's Sunday, blast it! Just let me sleep a little bit more, please?
The previous Friday evening sort of made plans with Darls to meet up - maybe Mid-Valley. Or The Curve (ok, I don't go to Damansara area much, so I was kinda blur when she mentioned this name LOLs. In fact, I've never been to the new Ikea @ Ikano Power Centre, OK? Too far lah - my excuse always. Plus, I'm sure I'll get lost :P).
Ended up cancelling everything. Tak jadikkk!! Sorry Darls. Seriously takder mood nak keluar rumah after the rain came on Sunday. Hehe.. sorry sorry!

Mak wasn't feeling well after her rombongan on Saturday (I think it was constant changing of temperature: one minute cold air-conditioning of the bus, next she's out in the sun (shopping!). Then back on the bus again.. mana tak demam?), so we just stayed at home.

I was supposed to do my ironing. Ended up watching Astro (can't recall pun what movies I watched, but definitely more than one!).

I swear it, the 3-day weekend was initially filled with things to get done, things to see, things to buy.
Ended up mostly at home, doing practically nothing. No window shop. No jalan-jalan. No handbags. No shoes. No new purse / wallet (I gotta get this a.s.a.p!).

N-o-t-h-i-n-g.

* * *

Let's hope the weekend non-activity was in no correlation with the week ahead.
Have a nice working week ahead everyone.

Oh BTW, I am soooooooooooo green with envy at the Government servants getting their 5-day work week.
(((sigh))) wonder when it's our turn?