The Devil Wears Prada

Korang dah tengok The Devil Wears Prada tak?

I've met characters cam Miranda Priestley before...worked with them before, and heck...I'm even related to one of them, cause my sister pun dragon lady gak bab keja nih.

And I admire strong female characters like that.

Tapi kan...ni satu story I want to share. Aku jenis aku, I hate people climbing the corporate ladder, and aku sendiri sampai mati pun, I really can't take being in a position of authority. I suppose it goes against everything I believe in to be 'part of the establishment'. Yerlah...rebel sampai mati ler kiranya.

Anyway, eleven bloody years or more in the business, there are a few, too few...people aku hormat. For their views, vision...for their efforts... for their sheer tenacity in wanting something, and the right reasons for wanting them.

Yerlah...journalism, like any other business, ada je people in it for the wrong reasons.
Generally, no matter what work you do, there's always three categories of people you deal with.

Satu, yang jenis I coudn't care les...I don't give a f**k about the world, aku sini nak carik makan, keja 9 to 5, or whatever hours ler yang allocated.

The second bunch is yang jenis gila glamour. You know the sort. Nak attention gila babas no matter what it takes, but they don't give a rat's ass pasal apa meka buat pun.

And the third is the type that they love what they're doing so much, yang meka akan hadapi all this bullshit of idiot colleagues or bosses, bad pay, horrendous hours and such, just to be in it.

I started out wat live sound...basically jadik sound engineer funfair gituh ler. Keja kalao ada event on the ground nak set up sound and lighting. Zaman aku wat tuh, lumayan. Mana taknya...tengah kolej aku da start, bayangkan. Ada satu job tuh, aku dapat RM800 for a three day job in Terengganu.

Hotel, makan minom...matilah sampai rokok dan nak makan durian pon boss yang bayar. Senior aku, abang Black masa tuh aku tanya, dalam sebulan berapa gaji dia, buta-buta leh cecah RM15,000 senang-senang. Lum agik peak season.

Aku rasa that wasn't creative enough...tak balanced for me. So aku pun switch to writing...

I started job ni as a cadet journalist sometime in 1996 ngan gaji RM790 basic. Matilah keji katanya. Keja McDonalds pun leh dapat lebih. Lepas overtime dan allowance, tolak EPF dan Socso, aku take home pay dalam RM800 something max. Ni ngan dok Klang, travel daily to Petaling Jaya where my office was, lum agik kira kos nak naik public transport hulu hilir to get to my assignments.

But I loved the job.

So aku tahan...and tahan. Initially senang ler nak naik. Yerlah...mana ler ramai sangat mamat Cina nak speaking Melayu...nak gi formal event kekadang yang perlu, siap ada baju melayu sendiri berapa pasang etc. Being familiar with the Malay culture made it easier for me. Being comfortable with it increased that ease.

Eleven years down the line, I'm tired. Tu aku banyak focus talents aku on something else. Aku bangga, after that period I have done some things I'm proud of. Never mind what contributions...if you have to ask, you won't value them.

And today, aku dapat ler pala baru masuk sini nak dictate to me seolah aku nih budak freshie.

I am offended....to put it in polite terms.

I don't know why I'm still around when aku rasa my talents are useful in so many other places.

But my sister slalu cakap ngan aku, there is no perfect employer or place of employment.

Which I've noticed having held something like four or five steady jobs since my stuying days.

Aku takleh cam dulu...sesenang tuh move on, because I have responsibilities. Yerlah...record aku dulu kerja, paling cepat, tiga hari dah quit sebab bosan. Record aku sebelum masuk line ni, paling lama hold one job, enam bulan.

Arghhh... anyway, this Miranda Pirestley wannabe is getting on my nerves. She's not even fashionable by Miranda's standards, or even by the minimal requirements, so tuh yang mememingkan lagik.

I can only say this so many times...I can only learn from people smarter than me. The rest, I tolerate.

Malas nak pikir. Tension aku...

Apapun, aku kind of happy...on a personal level. I'm with someone...even though trial period but I am fascinated by the person I'm with. And that's what makes me believe it'll work. God willing ler kan...

Semalam chat...we had our first 'argument'....and I think we got to know each other a little better for it.

I hope things will work out...aku skang sebenarnya takut ngan cinta ni. Kalau leh nak lari sebatu seolah nampak muka jalan tak siap tar, pusat penternakan jejentik Mama Rossa (hanya pada meka yang paham lawak keji ni).

But no pain no gain kan... (matilah tapi it doesn't apply to body weight...tuh kalao no pain keep gaining).

Anyway, that keeps me kind of upbeat, apart from the fact, ujung bulan ni aku akan gi Mauritius. Tak nak cakap more details, tapi aku akan pegi seminggu ikot skali bercuti ngan artis popular Malaya atas jemputan tuk join. Ko ado? Keji kan nak flaunt...well...about bloody time kan for me to take time off.

Plus...I got my statement of how many leave days I have left, and trust me...I have more than enough nak cuti panjang. Bilalah nak pakai rasanya.

Moving on...nak wish Nikki, HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY!!!

You're now a woman, luv...but to me, you'll always be my little baby sister. Kenal ko da almost two years plus now...you keep working it, and make all your dreams come true ok.

Applause pada semua kengkawan yang made the surprise party so special. Of course sini kena sebut marine specialist and beloved for playing host, official photographer, Ning Baizura impersonator, culinary maestro and all friends there (Radz, aku tatau leh link blog ko ke tak) who were there. You made the small gathering of family and friends...simply FUN.

Sori ek aku lambat berkejar dari opis. Bukan salah aku korang pepandai beli pizza banyak sangat sampai jadik parti pizza lak. Matila...muntah pizza dan kek terus.

Aku happy gila smalam walauipun letih.

Today apart from the stupid unnecessary stress I had to go through supposedly for bloody professional reasons, has been a pretty relaxed day.

And aku rasa nak je posting entry baru.

Berkali nak update pics kat sini tapi ada je halangan. Sebenarnya aku ni dependant samaada kalau kurang kerja leh wat kat opis jap, or pop in an Internet cafe if I have the time.

So finally, here's some pics of Nikki's private birthday party aritu.

Mind you kalao nak pics lebih cantik click HERE or HERE kerana hasil pics dari Nokia aku je...bukan hasil official photographer (matilah aku kena keji ngan seseorang pasni)

This first row of pics ni self-explainatory ler kan. Official photographer sapa lagik kalao bukan Miss Ning herself (matilah...tak bertauliah katanya). Yang dua lagik tuh aku nak Nikki on her own, tapi official marine biologist lak nyemak dalam shot. Seb baik dia host, takut kena halau punya pasal aku diam (matilah!)

And here's some more... first of course Nikki blowing out her cake. Second tuh...because aku kata aku bak pizza, entahler sapa yang pepandai order lagik. Jadik parti pizza lak. Third pic pun similar planning mismanagement punya pasal Tiba-tiba ada dua kek. Sebab orang tu di diet, terus tak abih.... (matilah again and again)

Erm... ok ler...tuh jer kot. Saja nak luahkan isi hati sikit. Nak gak feeling...miss you baby... matilah aku jiwang sekali sekala. Tak kena tol ngan aku ni.

But I guess...times likes this...we all become something that's so deep inside us people don't see it on a regular basis.

Out of here...