I'm...dreaming...of...a...white...Christmas...

Aku ari ni gi ler balai trafik Klang nak check saman aku.

Amik ko. Semalam aku check online saman satu je kan? Tadik check bawah nombor IC muncul ler satu tuh. Patutnya RM100...dapat ler discount bayar RM70 je, walaupun status online court date pun da tamat. Bodoh tul....

Ok le...tak puas ati aku check agik, kali ni ikut nombor keta.

Online takde hasil...konon free of saman kan? Matilah ko...ada LAPAN! Bincang discount ngan member abang angkat aku, tiba-tiba...usha bebetul..lor...ada empat tuh bukan dalam IC aku.

Pemilik keta sebelum aku punya. Kipert....baru teringat every year nak renew ada je saman hantu tuh.

Anyway, aku punya four extra tuh, dua da mati tempoh pun. So budget lari gila ngan automatic max fine.

Tapi...jeng jeng jeng...atas 'budi bicara'...member abang aku kata RM380 jer leh la...aku pun bagi RM400...round figure ler. So I spent that amount je nak bayar saman semua. Sikit tuh.

Teringat ada setahun tuh, aku penah ada 13 saman!!!

Bayar pun RM600 je time tuh....package deal katanya.

Merasalah...saman pun leh negotiate...cam hypermarket lak lagik banyak lagik murah.
Anyway...ari ni keja banyak paperwork je...yerlah...nak isikan claims dan sebagainya sebelum aku bercuti...apart from the paperwork nak mohon leave....which starts...TOMORROW!!!!

Yeaa-ba-da-ba-dooooooo!!!!!

I'll be back to work hanya in the second week of January!

Berapa ari ni sibuk ler sebab persiapan for Christmas nan ado setakat ni. I haven't done anything, and this is the worst year when it comes to planning compared to previous years.

Biasa aku seminggu dua before aku da shopping lengkap abih semua, tapi with five days to Christmas....I haven't beli anything pun yet. Kelam kabut ler start esok nak shopping sakan.

Yeah!! Retail theraphy....bonus lak da masuk. Apa lagik...

Ari ni nak gegas dari opis cepat sebab nak ajak Fiebie dinner (padahal call tengah membuta agik walaupun da 6pm...KEJI!!!).
Iyo lah...per pun...tak leh carut dia (walaupun keji!!!) because BIRTHDAY mentallydisturbed.blogspot.com (ala...yang blog tonjok mata lebam tuh) or more affectionately known as Fiebie, ESOK, on 21 December. Umur berapa? Tanya dia...or if ko kenal dia, count the number of eye bags to know (each bag represents 15 years at least). Apapun, HAPPY BIRTHDAY FIEBIE!!!!

Speaking of birthday...of course kena la also ucapkan a belated birthday to Zahid!!! You're 26 now, man! Hugs to baby bro for the big day which was semalam actually. Tapi yang tension nya..in true Zahid pesen, rosak lak surprise birthday party tuk dia. The surprise being the reason why aku tanak sebut kat blog yang there was a party for him...Tapi tengok-tengok, dalam keluarga Zahid dan juga extended family in ZA8FC da kompol kat Bora Ombak tunggu dia, si Zahid lak sneak in dari pintu belakang. Aku tengah dok isap rokok kat pintu kat one end of the restaurant talking with a friend, bila dia rush past, nearly bowling me over..ingat orang tuh cam familiar sebab dia cover muka...lor...rupanya dia lari masuk terus naik stage surprise kan everyone.

Kejiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!

Rosak surprise...patutnya nak surprise Zahid...semua orang kena surprise ngan dia. Not quite how it was planned. Rupanya the whole grand scheme orchestrated was spoilt by member dia yang pecah lubang lak pasal preparation, si Apai. Tunggu ko....

But it was a fun night....aku pelik gak keluarga Akademi Fantasia tak hadir...but who cares.
Still Edlin datang. Si Zain RuffEdge pun singgah walaupon lewat sikit. And of course, Nikki ada gak. Edlin dan Nikki took to stage with Zahid perform suka-suka, but it was mostly Zahid for the night.

Apapun, nak ler wish congrats kat keluarga ZA8FC sebab anjuran event besh gila babas ni. You guys rock tul la...almost two and a half years later, ZA8FC still going strong and loyal pada Zahid. Cayalah!!!! Applause tul la kat korang... nak sebut sorang-sorang, rasanya each and everyone knows kan your contribution. So pat yourselves on the back.

Tapi one person that night kena puji gila babs punya, si Aypol. Ala...si ensem yang PA Zahid, merangkap...erm...boypren seseorang penyampai radio jelita dan ayu dan anggun tapi banyak cakap.

OOPS!!!!!!!

(eh eh...terdengar paluan kompang tak, korang???!!!)

Jangan salah pic ni cam apa lak rupa dia.
Salahkan lighting, camera Nokia aku yang kureng vast...dan juga keberatan si Aypol nak jadi model.

Pada sapa yang mintak pic Aypol nak tengok muka dia bebetul...this was as good as Aypol's pose tuk aku gets.

Dia kata malu nak pose lebih-lebih lak (takut awek marah kot sebab takde skali dalam pic).
Ala....malu-malu konon...mana leh nih kang berbinikan penyampai radio popular kang kena get used to it gak kan?

Matilah aku mencarut....

Tapi kalao tak silap aku...(ingat ingat lupa lak), Aypol kan ada dalam video clip Wo!!!...

Korang usha sana ler kalau malas nak belek belek posting lama aku semua.

So walaupun surprise birthday party tak menjadi sangat surprise...

Apapun...tahniah ler gak pada Aypol sebab bukan senang nak handle surprise birthday party of this scale anyway.

Great effort. 10 out of 10 for execution. 0 for luck though. Merasalah dalam puji mencarut laks.
Apa agik jenis stok cam Zahid ni yang memang susah nak kelentong nak trap nih.

You did a good job...and if anything, Zahid is lucky untuk have a best friend yang leh harap cam ko.

Zahid lak...hope you realise, bro, you are lucky to have your family and friends as well as your career...so keep doing your best ok.
And one more time....HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZAHID!!!

Sebut Zahid ni....hah...ZA8FC yang hebat dan power, take note yeah....kita mulakan gerak gempur untuk kempen UNDI NIKKI DAN ZAHID untuk Anugerah Bintang Popular - Berita Harian 2006!

I know some of us think it's a little early to get going with the voting, but with the long holiday season coming up, with Christmas, Raya Haji and then the New Year, aku rasa baik kita kick off skang jer...

Kalao tak jenuh nanti nak wat semua last minute.

Miss President...apa lagi? Voting party....Mr Manager...belah Artiste United tanak organise sekali ke?

I'm rather surprised yang kedua Zahid dan Nikki tak tercalon ke kategori kategori utama...but what to do.

This is popular ma...and popularity at times is such a warped perception. I mean...look at the list pun da tau. Some of the people in it, you don't even know exist...but suppposedly popular.
Sometimes rich backers buying lots of papers and employing people to do the voting helps!

Oops!!!

Tak mustahil tuk meka menang, as Anugerah ERA pun da buktikan gabungan mereka yang meminati Nikki dan Zahid memang ramai.

Tapi minat-minat pun tak cukup ok kalao tak undi...so beli soratkhabar bebanyak dan VOTE, VOTE VOTE!!!

Kita make up for tertewasnya Caramu di semifinal Muzik Muzik Pop Rock aritu. Yang lain nak tick haper tuh, terpulang....tapi dalam kategori Duo/Kumpulan Popular, pastikan pilih Nikki dan Zahid ok!!!

Abih pun malam semalam da tengah malam. Nak hantar sorang sorang balik sebelum make my way home pun, by the time nak tidur pun da almost 2am.

Ok ler...leh tahan agik.

Or so I thought. Ni pala sentuh bantal je...lights out terus.

It's getting late. Nak call sayang aku dulu....lepas rindu kat phone pun...jadilah. Bila nak jumpa pun tatau...

Time to stop merepek-ing and time to pick up some food and stuff for Fiebie's birthday. Ciao all! Be posting soon...

One more time...remember to get your Berita Harian today and VOTE!!! Kalau sesapa ada banner nak promosi kan tuk undi mereka, again, leave a note of it dalam ruangan Comments aku. Aku akan link kan ASAP ok. Mari kita ramai-ramai mula kan kempen sekarang juga...

Ya ampun...dari tadi nak gerak tak berganjak...dah kul berapa da ni. Ok...I'm out of here...for real this time.

Nak tengok pic birthday party Zahid? Click below. If you have more pics of the event, leave your comment and I'll link you, ok!

Judd's Lair - tunggu dia update...pemalas tul

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Shorties are good!

Ni curik masa sikit nak blogging celah celah kerja yang bertimbun nih, and a bunch of appointments I have to rush for.

Just completed my interview with Inthira Charoenpura. Dia turun tuk empat hari tuk this little promo thing with the local media tuk filem Sumolah.

She seemed a little quiet and serious at the start, but hey, not all of us are morning people kan? (especially not when it's still noon...boleh?)
But things picked up eventually and we chatted on for about more than half an hour.

Really talented and down to earth woman. She's so tomboyish, and yet feminine in her own way. Very in her element as an actress tapi pada yang sama, away from every stereotype of a person in her situation.

After all, how many people can boast of being the highest paid actress in Thailand, be a columnist, as well as have three albums to define her as the new age rock chick!

Still on a film-related subject. For aspiring filmmakers, check out the BMW Shorties by clicking HERE or HERE!

No...no...I'm not forced by my sister to promote the competition...(ngan nada yang very the tak sincere).

Submit your short film of up to twenty minutes, and stand to win RM50,000 to make that short film of your dreams (not fantasies ah...don't believe we accept that kind of short films, even though there seems to be an abundance of those sort of local productions)

You can finally make that professional debut at international film festivals! For more info, you can also check out Yasmin Ahmad's totally fabulous musings in her blog, the storyteller.

Hurry now...only 56 days left (please, no America's Funniest Home Video like entries, ok) Take it seriously guys. This is 50K we're talking about.

Moving on... for those yang rindu Farhan dan Haziq, check out the Flashback showcase that'll be held a day after Christmas. Aku tak berkenan venue sangat, tapi if you guys are fans, I suppose it's worth checking out.

RM50 seems a bit steep, so the food and drinks better be worth it. Also hoping performance kedua Farhan dan Haziq, tak banyak lagu-lagu yang perform ketika kat Akademi Fantasia.

I want to see their growth, so hopefully...they showcase a more mature take of their abilities.

It appears blog aku nih dah jadik tempat adveritisng space lak. But I suppose some events are worth my time mentioning. Ok ler...nak rush abihkan keja nih. Lapar lum lunch...dan ngantuk sebab tak cukup tidur.

Malam ni lak ada event....pada mereka yang tau apa kena mengena event malam ni ngan Zahid, see you guys there ok.

By the way, aku pakai e-services ni (why the f**k it uses the name rilek I won't understand) top check my summonses tadik. Terkejut for two reasons. One was that it was a bloody short list.

Cara aku mandu aku budget aku da kena saman berpuluh da since the last time I checked sometime last year to renew my road tax and insurance.

Ni ngan aku punya road tax expiring on December 21, aku takde masa nak gi check dan bayar, ingat check online jer.

Mak aih...sekeping je!!!

Second part of the surprise....walaopon sekeping...dan dan jer tengok it's for, and I quote, 'Disobeying traffic sign'! Did I stroll into a 'No Beautiful People' zone? I'm sorry...seriously, since it was two months ago, at 3am I can hardly recall.

Tapi yang sakit ati nya, da expired benda alah tuh! Matilah ko...gila ker haper...tak penah pun dapat notification haper pun. Kira aku patut check tiap ari ker aku ekna saman ke tak.

Down with increasing the pay for government servants!!! Pemalaih tul...I mean seriously...cit...yang best thing nya...I distinctly remembering getting pissed with this arrogant traffic police who was freaking rude, and tearing up the summons as soon as he handed it over to me. Mana taknya...dia *ehem* sana...*ehem* sini...cam lain je (like we all don't know what that means...!!!)

"Bang..kalau nak saman...cepat sikit ye, banyak lagi keja I nak buat. I rasa abang pun kena makan ubat batuk tuh...kahak banyak kot..."

Sentap bijik dia...and he muttered somethign under his breath like, "kurang ajar".

So I tore up the summons as soon as I got in while my window was rolling up. Do NOT piss me off when I haven't had lunch!

Whatever!!!.... nak keji....aku pun leh keji.

Strangely enough...that summons lak takde...

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Meet Jack!

Where do I start?

Biasalah kan kalau aku tak lama posting mesti like because I've found love ke...lost love ke...

Tapi kali ni a little different.

Someone I love, terpaksa balik kampung, atas permintaan keluarga dia. Dia kini di Taiping, while I'm here in the Klang Valley. We're both making the best of it, tapi susah lah kalao nak berjauhan sangat ngan yang tercinta.

So dalam kesibukan of juggling my job, my side work, all the drama of people around me, sekali ngan my personal life, somehow, blogging seems to have been edged out....just for a while.

Aku sebenarnya hari ni pun hectic, dan memang keletihan, tambah agi pagi esok ada interview ngan Inthira Charoenpura (ala...yang lakon Nang Nak, akan berlakon dalam pilem Sumo-lah) at 11am. Ni pun da nak midnight da lum berambos dari opis.

Esok pas tuh abih, ada lak nak kejar another interview ngan botak...I don't know how I'm going to find the time to sort out my traffic summonses and then nak renew lak road tax dan insurance aku yang mati tempoh Khamis ni.

Mmm...ni lak nak update blog dulu sebelum nak e-mail pic baru kat yang tersayang, tercinta...dan terindu.... (over lak!) of my new crew cut (semi crew-cut ler).

Mula-mula ingat nak backdate...but then again, pikir...mmm...tak perlu lak.

I decided to leave that gap to remind myself of what took place this past week...just like what every posting and entry functions for when I blog.

It has been a week gak ler dia da balik kampung, and yes...memang rindu gila oink oink (sensitif lak sparuh orang kalau guna istilah tuh so ganti ngan sound effect!)

Still... life goes on. And we will be together again.... cuma dipisahkan beberapa ratus kilometer je...not that far (so unconvincing...)

So anyway...let's see, over the last seven days, what did I want to share with you guys...Mmmm...first of all yang da baca cita Marsha dan Kefli tuh, hope you guys now know the truth. Seriously aku malas tulis bab tuh...but sebab ramai nak tau apa yang sebenarnya, yang dah pun aku lama ketahui...mintak ler meka on-record kan so it's finally out in the open.

Benar ke tidak semua cerita yang benda-benda tak patut tu?

I don't know...they both swear to me benda tuh tak benar.

Oh well....anyway...couples are in ok....ari tuh call Sarah Raisuddin nak tau cita lak pasal jadik ke tak dia tunang 21 Januari ni. No komen ON RECORD katanya....erm....but also no denial or confirmation. Paham-paham ler that's as good as a yes. Good luck Sarah!

Balik soal Marsha nih, bumped into dia, Felix, Rich, Lotter and Burn on Friday.

Actually, not bumped into ler. Memang nak interview...pasal Christmas album meka.

Hah...jangan tatau...nanti aku review kalao korang nak.

Kalau tak, below are the albums you guys should consider SERIOUSLY about getting ye. More info on the albums below, tapi kalau for Christmas tuk sendiri ker, even as presents (depending ler sapa orangnya, any of these four albums are a worthy buy, and even make a good Christmas present).

Ok...of the four albums kat atas tuh, of course is the much awaited repackaged version of Nikki's Maharani. Kalau sebelum ni ada ler sesapa tak penah beli album dia versi ori yang first edition tuh, this is worth it. Ada dua cover, satu yang ko tengok ni, tapi kalao CD inlay ko flip over ada second cover.

Apa yang lebih kali ni? Of course the special inclusion of the Number One hit Drama ngan Ning and Yanie, yang sebelum ni tak penah di release mana-mana. Then there's also the bonus music videos of Caramu, as well as tuk yang single baru kuar kat radio, iaitu, Imaginasi.

Double CD and worth every sen. But if I am not mistaken, it'll only be in stores from next week earliest. Kumpul duit cepat-cepat ek...kang release je aku bagitau. Unlike previously, there should be NO PROBLEMS in getting this album anywhere sebab it will be distributed under Sony-BMG.

Second album pun ramai yang tunggu gak, iaitu album solo Felix. I can't say too much without actually reviewing it, so korang kena sabar ler ek.

Third is the live recording of Konsert Fantasia Mawi. Alah...yang Silky For Men dan Silky Girl punya konsert tuh. Again, got plus and minus, and again, the review should be up soon.
Last but not least is the Christmas album. Ada lagu in Kadazandusun, by both Felix dan Lotter...plus all the Christmas favourites. Worth it gila...erm...you know...

So before the reviews come, korang rush out and get, then leh post comments sekali about what you guys think of it (jangan komen pedas lebih tapi beli tidak...matilah komen berdasarkan suka ke tak suka, bukan bagus atau tidak).

Anyway, kat this little interview session ler sempat nak catch up with all of them (except Marsha ler...hasn't been THAT long since last lepak ngan dia pun)

So cerita ler nak catch up ngan memasing what apa....tengah lepak-lepak...ni ada a few pics pada meka yang lama tak serempak ngan any of them. Posing memacam ler...tapi nak amik pic lebih-lebih lak malas...paham-paham ajer lah kan.

Tengah lepak-lepak ngan trauma si Marsha nak carik transport ke Pandamaran tuk rehearsal Gegak Gemilang Astro, dia set ngan Aypol to pick her up. Of course...*surprise* Zahid pun ada join. Semua kompol (Man pun muncul) kat mamak jer bawah ofis Maestro minum.

Spent about an hour there, and then thinking of the damn Friday traffic...ciao ler balik to office secepat mungkin memang fat chance ler of not getting caught in the jam.

It's now almost bloody impossible nak lari dari sesak jalan kawasan Kuala Lumpur dan kawasan sewaktu dengannya....sooner or later aku naik basikal jer lah around KL...senang sikit.

Kurang kot stress aku, turun blood pressure kalau takyah hadapi jam.

Tapi silap-silap dari idup lebih lama sebab exercise konon...mati cepat sebab pollution...tuh pun kalau tak kena langgar lori hantu mana kang.

Oh...rewind sikit.

Speaking of Zahid....by the way...for those yang tau...jangan lupa esok ek! You know what I mean. Esok aku posting about 'that' thing kalao ada yang tatau what it is.

By the way, sapa yang nak tengok new haircut aku...thanks to mulot Marsha.

"Eh...rambut ko skang camni like si ****".

Aiyo...pantang aku nak disamakan aku ngan orang tuh. Si Felix geng aku ler konon kata tak...tapi pastuh sengih kerang busuk high-five ngan Marsha. Keji!!!

Immediately the next evening...bosan and all...went and lopped off my already short hair. Now I have this semi crew-cut...keji gak pendek sangat sebab takde rambut nak sikat....leh pacak sikit-sikit je.

(Ayang...suka tak rambut aku? Tak suka aku beli wig je...*merasalah feeling katanya*)

Anyway, tengok sampah sarap kat my desk kat office....you may have noticed I am not the most organised or neat person around. Tapi...lantak ler. Akui amik pic ni pun nak cepat sebab nak send kat si dia supaya dia dapat tengok pic rambut aku. Moka da berkilat minyak sekuali....lantak ler...

Anyway...moving on...last Saturday night kan, I got this SMS from Yasmin. She told me ler about this dog she saw kat SPCA booth yang up for adoption kat Bangsar Shopping Centre. The dog's name was Jack, and he had been a victim of abuse.

So in true Yasmin fashion, dia SMS kengkawan tanya sesiapa nak take Jack for adoption tak sebab kesian tengok.... now this is one woman...who's got a real big heart.

Told her I would love to tapi nak discuss ngan my sis sebab masih ala ala 'mourning' for my Princess. She said she would take me nak tunjuk Jack the next day kalau aku nak.

Lum apa-apa, Sunday afternoon, kakak aku kata nak balik rumah (as usually she does when she's not busy over the weekends). Tapi dia added this..."I brought Yasmin's Christmas gift to us."

"Let me guess...Jack?"

Tersenyum sat time tuh bak keta menghala pulang ke rumah. So it was to be Jack came to live with us. A sweet, bouncy, occasionally fearful...well mannered dog. Masaalah pun sebab he keeps wanting to rape my other pup, Mickey yang female.

It would be cute if only Jack knew how to pick his victims more carefully, sebab hampir kena gigit ngan Mickey yang ala ala pengkid sikit...ganas dan brutal!

So the end result is, over the next few days, Jack will be neutered. At the moment, my dad is lavishing attention, mandikan dia...tick medication etc.

So thank you Yasmin for the lovely early Christmas gift. Indeed, while some may not believe so, a dog, is a man's best friend. With some men being real dogs themselves...it's hardly any wonder I take to the authentic variety for friendship easier. Merasalah carut suka ati jer.

But this is is Jack...for those who want to see him.

Kalau tak silap, dia bukan full pedigree, mix of Terrier and something ker other. Tapi who cares. He's Jack. He's gorgeous...and he's obedient and loving and intelligent (already knows the basic sit and stay).

Ok ler...nak end this entry for now. It's past midnight, I promised my sayang I wouldn't be back too late.

Besides...hungry. The effects of that Burger King Whopper da mula da wearing off. Nak melantak ler...we will end this entry with a little promo for an event next month. Aku da lama tak promo Sunday Nite Live sessions, and I can't remember the last I went to (think it was Ning's)

The next one is Dayang's for January 14 dan 28, so sesapa nak feeling grand, booking ler tempat skang. Kalau tak, merasalah seperti biasa, dok kat celah ketiak orang kat kawasan tangga, berhimpit himpit jer menghilangkan bau perfume yang seliter ko taburkan sebab ngan harapan impress sesapa yang you bump into at Planet.

Hope you guys pop by tomorrow...ada ler benda aku nak update...kalau sempat (gelak evil sekali!)

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Tak tercapai akalmu!!!

So a few people asked me kenapa tak update entry immediately after malam Muzik Muzik separuh akhir tuh on Friday night. Jawapannya senang sekali.

Aku letih siot!!!

A week before with work, then a week in Mauritius, then a week preparing for the Caramu performance, and it ended with a nerve-wrecking Friday night which was disappointing.

No lah..not really disappointing. Nak kecewa apa?

After all the SMSes all the support in the world as the show went on air (termasuk Marsha - thanks luv!)

Then there was the support of fellow competing folks (thanks so much to my baby bro, Zahid yang all out and memberi semangat tak abih-abih, and also Mawi for the verbal support) and people in the industry yang yakin sangat Caramu akan layak.

And at the end of the night, there was all the frustration of everyone else yang tak puas ati lagu Caramu tak layak, termasuk dari pihak TV3 itself (no names mentioned)

And above all this, was Nikki herself yang prove to everyone she's getting better by day, able to look good, sing her lungs out and tak semput (sapa kata semput please dengar balik ek) as she shook her booty to the beat in four inch stilletoes without raising a sweat. Sapa agik yang mampu? Then there were our four beaufitul dancers yang semangat nak mampos! You gurls just rocked!!! With the limited amount of time, it was awesome.

So back to the disappointment part...nak kecewa apa? Oh...not qualifying ke?

Adat pertandingan kata orang kan...so nak kecewa apa.

Besides everyone knew who rocked the house!

Even lagu bagus cam Da Bomb tak dapat....camna tuh. Aku budget if one dancey tune was going to make it, it would be antara dua nih....tapi jelas some people have more rock-centric punya citarasa. Takperler...meka yang dok kerusi juri.

But apapun, aku kali ni takkan carut sesapa.

In fact aku nak puji orang sikit.

Hah! Terkejut ke?

Thanks to the production crew of Muzik Muzik yang all out memberikan sokongan (matilah gambar kak Kelly sebelah ni sebenarnya warning jangan carut dalam blog - merasalah takut ngan Superwoman daaaa!!!)

Thanks to Nikki for believing in herself as well as us. Thanks to Audi and Nurfatima for the great song (walaupon apa orang cakap or decide, it still is!).

Thanks to Vernon for believing in something different for Nikki in not making her a stereotyped pop star yang akan bertahan.

Thanks to Ning Baizura Hamzah for believing in new talent and spreading her sense of beauty and fashion as well as musical talent pada adik adik semua (yang direct and indirect).

Thanks to the crew on duty in Boboy the choreographer, Famee yang make dan Maya and Wanie for the hair job.

Thanks to the lurvely lah-dies of Floor Fever crew yang danced that night (hope you guys left with more sense of make-up a ho-licious attitude) and thanks to Zahid for being part of the family and Mawi for his support.

And especially to everyone who cheered Caramu on that night and every day and night, whether it be in Sri Pentas 2 malam tuh, or at home depan TV or anytime anywhere.

You guys are the reason Nikki is there to rip it up for all...and she'll continue being DA BOMB!

Aiyo...macam acceptance speech...cam lah aku yang bertanding dan layak.

But then again...the whole group of people above including myself....are winners in our own right.

Winners because people who saw the performance that night said so.

Not because four people sitting in front of the TV, on the upper level of Sri Pentas 2 said so.

So Nikki didn't get the final...no biggie. It would have been nice... but no biggie. Yang penting menang di hati peminat sebab ramai sangat approach dia at the end of the night. She won alright...big time!

It's ok to go down in a blaze of glory, rather than qualify tapi pada mata orang tak layak (oops...rasa nak nyanyi lagu dot dot dot lak)

Oh by the way, pada juri yang memberikan markah tinggi (tau ler sapa), thanks for believing in the song too). Pada yang dua kertu lain tuh...tima kasih gak labu....patut ler lagu korang sparuh masak. Oops! Matilah tercarut gak aku akhirnya...old habits are hard to break lah!

Reverse sikit...kenapa aku thank Mawi. Sorry ek...bukan nak tompang glamer haper nama dia ok. Tapi memang dia support Nikki from the start...as most of friends do for each other.

Masa pelancaran album Nikki during The Glass House Project, Mawi willingly came to spend time with Nikki there sebagai tanda sokongan.
Anyway, malam tuh tak sempat lak aku jumpa Mawi pas abih show sebab kelam kabut and all, so SMS dia ucapkan tahniah and all.

And then I got this reply.

Tak nampak sangat but you can roughly make it out. I blacked out the number for his privacy la of course sebab takkan nak papar nombor dia kat sini kan. Tapi dia SMS pakai line sama ngan one of my three ones yang tak store nombor dia, so the number popped out, hence the need to censor.

Apapun, the message reads, "Tq bro..ok nnti final aku balas dendam utk nikki..hehehe." Cayalah botak. Memang bananas in pyjamas ler ko!!!!

Well, whatever it is, aku memang akan support the one's aku rasa paling strong, which is Terlalu Istimewa, Mungkir Bahagia, Secebis Harapan and of course Warkah Untuk Laila, pilihan Anugerah Industri Muzik earlier this year for Song of the Year!

So anyway, another reason selain daripada letih was because Nikki ada show kat Melaka smalam, so drove up there temankan dia. Bukan aku drive pun...tompang je. Sayang aku yang jadik tokang bawak keta.

We got stuck for two and a half freaking hours in the crawl...gila ker haper??!!! It took that time to get to the Pedas Linggi exit tau...which usually would be max an hour jer. Sampai Melaka about 3.30pm after departed from KL at 12. Just on time for her show.

Walaupon kebulur, onstage ler terus. There was another show at 8pm. And judging from the support orang bagi, terbukti ler impak persembahan Caramu malam sebelum terasa. Nothing beats meeting the fans to feel REALLY appreciated.

Anyway...since we were starving, pas abih je, check in and ran out for some food. Can you believe it, we survived the whole day (no breakfast, lunch or tea apart from two doghnuts each??!!!)

Well, I had two and Nikki had two, tapi sayang aku only had one...from the six I bought kat rest area. Merasalah buy 5 free 1 gituh for RM9.50, tapi bayar RM10 sebab tax (ada abang depan aku ngamuk kata...kalau da RM10...lain kali tulis je RM10...jangan nak kelentong lak tulis RM9.50).

My fave doughtnut? The smiley face one on the left. Cute!!!

The last doughnut left was the one on the right, some chocolate thingie, and since aku dan Nikki da lahap awal-awal, orang rumah aku lak driving, dia stuck ler ngan the last one nak lahap.

It looked a bit gross...so no one touched it. Keji kan....but seriously....it does look like...uhm...well you know...

Managed to update my blog only today....so a bit outdated ler. But since bulk of people only read once back in the office on Monday so not too bad ler.

Apapun aku malas ler nak carut kali ni...serious. Kang orang kata sore losers, and no one here is. We'll just do better and better, and not really mind what people say lor... kalau ada rezeki tak ke mana pun.

Walaupun result memang TAK TERCAPAI AKALMU!

Matilah....but I'd like to leave beberapa persoalan untuk korang semua.

*Since perjurian 50% melodi dan 50% lirik, kenapa patut camtuh. Intipati sebuah lagu yang bagus memang melibatkan lirik yang bagus gak. But penting ke kalao melodi yang ala kadar, dan lirik yang tangkap muat lepas hanya kerana kata lagu lain melodi kuat tapi lirik busuk?

*Perlu ke penilaian lirik diberikan definasi? Yerlah...kalau ratapan bangsawan leh tuk kategori balada dan irama Malaysia atau etnik kreatif, lagu pop rock mana leh? How intelligent can a pop rock song be?

*Kelayakan juri untuk menilai genre. This one always an issue. Yerlah...kalao ko nak orang yang tulis lagu cinta jer, dan yang feeling cendikiawan nak analyse lirik lagu pop rock, dia carik ler bahasa berbunga overdose sampai tahap tercekik rumpai.
I mean, it's POP for crying out loud.

*Which brings me to the point. Rock banyak sangat sub-genre nya. And pop lak generally means ANYTHING yang popular so terlampau diverse nak longgokkan semua ala jualan murahan kain Kamdar yang akan jadik stok baju sesapa kat AJL nanti. Which mean reclassification of tiga kategori lebih perlu.

*Kenapa the POP ROCK in pop rock lebih dipentingkan. Apa masa depan fusion of R&B and hip hop? In other words... the pop that is today. Is this supposed to be just a fad? Rentak yang kononnya bagi orang muda ni. yang rancak...wujud lama da. Tapi bila nak diiktirafkan???
Or has everyone forgotten this started from zaman KRU, 4U2C, Feminin, Res2, Freshies etc over a decade ago? Ko hengat rock je orang minat? Even the rock in this country tak evolve sampai nak tiru muzik Indo...

*The fate to decide lagu layak tuh, betul ke layak dalam tangan empat orang saja (ketua juri dok tengok je keja sementara dua judge melodi dan dua judge lirik).
Apakah lak kesan personal bias kalau orang tuh rajin menyumbang pada artis yang ada dalam final dan mungkin digugat oleh someone yang decided better kalau disepak kuar. Oops....

Aku tak carut...saja nak bukak minda orang tuk berfikir. Positif atau negatif, up to everyone ler.

Check out the facts. And grow from there. No one can tell you that ko tak layak nak nilaikan something is good or not, but you have to be equipped with the knowledge too lah. Music is music...there is no wrong or right.

The only wrong in music is when you say it's not good.

Kalau korang nak layan more discussion on kontroversi Caramu tak dapek masuk AJL, surf on over to these blogs below. Click jer any of the links.

These are all fabulous people who know what they're all talking about for reasons of them being who they are.

Let me know if you have something to share and should be added to the list ok...

MUST CLICK READING - CARUTAN DAN PUJIAN (nan ado katanya) for SEPARUH AKHIR POP ROCK MUZIK MUZIK 21
mrmanager - blog Vernon, pengurus Ning, Nikki dan Yanie.
batdood - blog Audi Mok, composer lagu Caramu and many other hits.
fiebie - blog diva extrodinarire yang ala ala Ramlah Ram meets Zaiton Sameon but more intelligent though with the same fashion sense.
budiey - erm....peminat nombor satu Siti Nurhaliza?
judd - celebrity stalker numero uno!

So after all the damn hoo-ha over sapa layak dan sapa tak....this is the result of those who will be in Anugerah Juara Lagu 21.

Kategori Irama Malaysia Dan Etnik Kreatif
Hantaran Hati - Nik Nizam/Rosminah Teh/Bob & Aspalela Abdullah
Candak - Suhaimi Mohd Zain (Pak Ngah)/Lokman Ghani/Syura
Warkah Buat Laila - Ayob Ibrahim/Habsah Hassan/Zahid
Zapin Cinta SMS - Anuar Dahlan/Anuar Dahlan, Atie, Gee, Ahmad Azam & Azlee Senario/Senario & Adibah Noor

Kategori Balada
Mungkir Bahagia - Norkamal Hazami Ahmad(Hazami)/Hazami & Ita/Hazami
Terlalu Istimewa - Azlan Abu Hassan/Adibah Noor/Adibah Noor
Ku Seru - Mohd Faizal Maas(Ajai)/Habsah Hassan & Shuhaimi Baba/Misha Omar
Secebis Harapan - Zulkifli Mahat/Noor/Nora

Kategori Pop Rock
Lagu Jiwa Lagu Cinta - Mohd Nasir Mohamad (M.Nasir)/Rosli Khamis (Loloq)/Mawi & M. Nasir
Juwita Citra Terindah - Mohd Nasir Mohamad (M.Nasir)/Mohd Nasir Mohamad (M.Nasir)/M.Nasir
Diari Seorang Lelaki - Raizan Zainal Abidin (Neves)/Raizan Zainal Abidin (Neves)/Pretty Ugly
Tak Tercapai Akalmu - Aidit Alfian/Ad Samad/

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Caramu...dan caranya berbeza!

I will start posting ni ngan pic ni. Kalao korang tanya apa pic ni...then look a little closer.

Yeap.

This is not any restaging of any musical. Ni masa dry run untuk rehearsal Nikki untuk lagu Caramu bersama Zahid malam Khamis in preparation for Muzik Muzik, semifinal Pop Rock.

Salah satu sebab aku kesibukan nak update blog, selain dari kurang sihat after being back here, as well as nak lepas rindu kat sayang aku, of course ler sebab sibuk membantu tuk persiapan persembahan kedua adik aku malam ni.

Aku tatau ler berapa ramai yang suka dan sokong lagu Caramu, tapi personally, kami semua yang terlibat harap persembahan Caramu will just rock your socks off.

On Tuesday night, the first rehearsal to be held in a proper dance studio at Akarkarya was held (sebelum ni kat an apartment in Bangsar) seminggu sebelum aku ke Mauritius.

And the amount of work that went in...memang gila.

Speaking of preparations, I know this is way off topic, tapi nak bagik fashion tips pada meka yang fashionanly challenged. Look at the picture to the right as an example ok.

Now you KNOW you're a FASHION DISASTER if your belt matches your umbrella, especially when it's cheap and loud PVC yellow ala Phua Chu Kang punya boots ok!

Seriously...are you that bad off when it comes to determining that something looks atrocious?!!!

Saw this horrendous excuse for a slave to fashion masa gi Sungei Wang just two days ago and it was all I could do not to snap her pic and post it in here walaupon ayang aku bising kata jangan...tak baik.

Keji ok!

Erm...ok ok. Back to actual preparations we were talking about as in dance rehearsals for Caramu on Tuesday night

Dari kul 9 malam, hingga 2 pagi, Nikki and her four fly girls bersungguh nak prepare tuk a tight presentation of some slick moves courtesy of Boboy, the same choreographer yang ilhamkan tarian tuk Drama ketika Anugerah ERA.

Zahid popped in about 1am, to just know his position sebab dia relax sikit since it's a featuring and we are going simple in terms of the performance of Caramu.

Takyah cliche male and female lead nak work out steps together ler...nak dance around each other etc.

The theme?

Ghetto fabulous!

And with a touch army green, it's going to be hard and yet effeminate, just like the steps yang energetic tapi memerlukan kelembutan.

Ni some of the rehearsal pics.

Memang fun abih ler the session even though meletihkan sebab it was intensive, but at the end of it, the girls had nailed it down. I don't want to give too much away, tapi korang kena lah tengok imej Nikki yang lain kali nih.

And if you all loved the dance for Drama (kalau korang ada kat stadium yer, bukan cilakak punya sial punya angle hasil cameraman yang bertugas ketika Anugerah ERA), then you guys will love this one too.

Anyway, ni pic tuk warga ZA8FC...erm...of Zahid tengah sibuk SMS sambil sakitkan ati aku tayang beg Gucci dia. Argh!!!

Zahid mana LV ko! Aku nak aku nak aku nak!!!

Keji tau posing bag sakan....sudeh! Mangga Dua! Oops...akibat dengki!

Anyway, after the rehearsal, happy gaban sebab everyone dari dancers to Nikki and Zahid puas ati and confident ler ngan segala usaha they put into the show. Everyone I suppose is stressed to some amount, tapi yerlah...kita da buat apa yang terdaya, skang tengok nasib je whether it all pulls together tomorrow and a little bit of luck to see whether rezeki menyebelahi Nikki dan Zahid je.

Me? I have my own predictions, tapi sebab aku pun belong in this camp for now, I am avoiding from making my choices. Don't want to jinx anything. Dapat ke tak...tu out of our hands.

Janji...everyone says the show meletop! Which I'm sure it will.

Aku tenang bila tengok chemistry antara Nikki dan Zahid...after rehearsal both of them broke into an impromptu duet...mmm...ni ada peluang nak wat duet agik ni. Dahler sudah ada tuan pengurus di depan...pepandai ler ek nilaikan.

Anyway...moving on...tengok pic sebelah. Korang rasa kaki yang mana yang paling seksi!!!

If you guys said the one in the shorts and with the golden heels tuh, then you guys should know tuh ler kaki Boboy si choreographer.

Hah amik ko!

How professional can you get. Steps dia begitu menakutkan bebudak pompuan yang da kena amaran kena menari pakai kasut tumit tinggi (Nikki herself will be wearing four inch heels) and not sneakers or flats like most singer usually do for the added effect masa dance. So much so bebudak pompuan and Nikki herself pada mulanya felt it was not possible.

So after they put in the hard work to try anyway, Boboy put his money where his mouth is, and danced along with them...IN HEELS!

THAT'S COMMITMENT for you!

Anyway, the stress has not lessened. Two days kat Sri Pentas 2, Plaza Alam Sentral and I am also kind of tense. Mana taknya, camtuh ler competition. You have to out-psycho orang lain nak idop, tapi bertanding ngan semua kawan dan kenalan tuh yang susah tuh sebab you want it to be friendly. Things are after all easier, nasty.

Balik topik Plaza Alam Sentral sat ek...melencong sat je ni...this complex is really freaky.

I mean no matter how many coats of garish and loud red paint they plaster it with kan...it just seems simply hopeless.

Take for example how all the lifts, save one set, seem to be working. Nak naik Sri Pentas 2 nak kena naik escalator kalao susah sangat...aiyo...sampai tingkat lima tuh....

And this little thing I caught on my camera. Security camera pun takleh harap. Why the hell is it titled to the air vent? Takut ada orang curi grill air vent tuh ke???

One more day...just today je kena layan agik and I won't have to go there till the next event that I can't withdraw from.

Back to Muzik Muzik, ari nih punya rehearsal semangat sebab EVERYONE involved dalam kategori Pop Rock hadir, making this the first run yang everyone was present compared to the previous two days.

Dalam sibuk-sibuk, rupanya ada artis yang sempat beriadah.

Amik ko si Mawi dan Zahid sempat tuh melayan Playstation. Aku tak pasti sapa yang bak punya, but they were later joined by bebudak RuffEdge yang do battle skali.

Aiyak...

So much for hard work and dedication. Tapi I suppose meka pun nak unwind so takper ler....Everyone else seemed either pretty jittery or somehow resigned to the fact that nothing they can do can change the outcome of the competition.

Team Pinky Nikki was in full force with hair and make-up trials done and follow up rehearsals after the full dress rehearsal was done. Let's hope everyone is happy with the result.

Sebelum I end this entry, nak gak aku sebutkan di sini, kredit pada teman-teman gossip dari TV3, kak Kelly, Huda dan Ayong yang join pot luck gossip. Dah sebut nama dah kan nih...so kena rajin rajin masuk blog aku baca. Mana tau aku carut korang ke....(the evilest laugh possible!)

Apapun, whatever the outcome tonight, I hope semua peminat Nikki and Zahid, and of Caramu, akan cheer on, menjerit sekuat hati dan berikan sokongan if you guys are in Sri Pentas 2 malam ni...ok?!!!

And pray that Caramu akan layak ke Anugerah Juara Lagu ke 21 yang akan datang. Good luck too pada semua kawan-kawan lain bertanding.... see you guys di sana...disana...disana...

By the way...thanks sayang for helping out today, and also being so understanding of how sibuk I am these past few days. Not to mention me time to come online sampai berapa jam nak update blog aku yang utang entry tak abih-abih nih....love you, babe!

Everyone...cheer on ok for Caramu, 9.30pm over TV3 tonight!

*Untuk lebih info dan gambar mengenai persiapan terakhir Nikki dan Zahid untuk Caramu,KLIIK SINI or surf to http://mrmanager.blogspot.com

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Mauritius - Island Paradise Part 4

Sampai pun akhirnya the last entry on Mauritius. So we begin the end of this posting with a little stupid trivia.

Pala botak paling popular ni milik sapa (kuiz keji tajuk albumnya!)

Ni masa kita in the van nak jalan-jalan last call gituh. Kami tak ramai, so kali ni kami jalan memang kengkawan je ler. More enjoyable than most of the time in Mauritius spent with a large group.

Tujuannya?

Nak finish kan with more shots of the music video for Mawi's new single tuh.

We had barely pulled out of the resort, memasing feeling nak withdraw more money sebab budget kalao cukup masa nak shopping lagik.

Dalam lepak tunggu memasing beromen dengan ATM machine tuh, aku pun start ler snappy pics sendiri sebab I just found the sky so blue. Not to mention we found the sign of the Mauritius Commercial Bank appealing simply because ada sebut nama Mauritius. Bukan senang nak dapat sign board yang ada tulis Mauritius mah....

This is not exactly one of my favourite pictures, tapi aku suka sebab of the location.

Little did I know what I started.

Pas abih jer amik pic syok sendiri, everyone wanted to join in the fun, and when we started taking group photos, the poses got more and more, erm...nak kata artistic bukan...so became more berangan ler artistic.

Ala ala cover album punya pose la...cover majalah lah...apa saja ler tema, tapi memang most of the pics lawa lawa. Tengah tunggu kawan-kawan emailkan most of the better quality pics yang gorgeous nak mampos sebenarnya.

Yang paling cantik I have, take with my phone yang bawah jer.

It's a pic of me, Wan dan Mawi pose feeling mewakili Pop Rock (aku), Irama Malaysia (Mawi) dan Balada (wan). Why? Entahlah...pose bertema kot but somehow tak nampak ler mana relevan nya tema tuh.

Still I think it makes a nice shot for the album. What do you guys think? Ok so I'm no photography expert, but credit where it's due, I think the shot does work kan?

Ok ok fine...if nothing else the sky and the backdrop looks great and the pic has Mawi in it.

So moving on kami pun sambung ler the hunt for several locations to shoot Mawi's music video. Dapat ler beberapa tempat yang sudahpun di hafal.

One of these was beside the road facing a great stretch of coast line.

Benda pertama kami wat bila stop bukan terus shoot...tapi layan mamat yang jual buah sana.

Pineapple and much more fruits, washed down by ice cold fresh coconut. Aiyo...heaven. All while focused on this panoramic view.

Then it was time for them to go to work!

Sambil-sabil tuh, aku dan Marliah gatal carik lokasi amik pic sendiri.

And trust me, we had much to occupy ourself. Of the many locations, I think four in total we went to for the shoot, we had a lot of pictures ler.

Tapi the ones at the bottom are some of those from the first location, while lower kang aku bagik korang my favourite picture of Mawi during the music video shoot.

Memang cantik gila punya!

But meanwhile feast your eyes more on pics of people playing tourists in Mauritius, layan bosan ngan amik pic apa saja nak mengisi masa dan untuk syok sendiri.

The first two Mawi on his video shoot, then aku in the same lokasi layan bosan, third with Lydia dan Marlia in a three for no reason posing feeling ala Garasi and last one with Mawi in a mini forest yang memang picturesque gila.

Posing memang tak kira tempat atau keadaan la. Nak ada pic kenangan punya pasal. But I pormised nak share my favourite picture kan...and this is it below. This is one of the shots from the Langit Biru punya music video, so korang leh expect something like this coming out soon.

And yes, memang ni probably the first shot of the video (ala ala the video la not the actual video yet) yang korang dapat tengok.

Aku tanak watermark pic ni, so sesapa nak amik pakai, please credit and link my blog ok. Tu je aku mintak sebagai exchange nak pakai this pic anywhere korang nak.

We all had great fun traipsing around tapi sebab kesuntukan masa kami semua gegas kembali ke hotel nak send abang Ishak the cameraman balik nak packing. Kami yang lain da pun ready nak check out, so budget ada masa lagik nak shopping.

But by the time sampai, we all decided, there wouldn't be enough time to do so, so we had a round of drinks as those who could, freshened up for the long journey back that was ahead of us.

Kak Aina nak teruskan wat some last shots for the Mawi in Mauritius punya program dan kami berapa orang pun nak interview sikit, so alang alang together ler.

Lokasi korang akan tengok dalam program? On this swing.

Ditemani?

A mystery guest!

Sapa agik kalao bukan Dadu the Dodo. Dadu nih aku beli masa kat Port Louis untuk sayang aku. Si Mawi pegi dera dia.

Siot je...ko tengok kang kat program, dia cakap cakap ngan Dadu dan tak pasal pasal zionis abih belasah Dadu aku tuh... siot je! Siap penumbuk pelbagai! Kejam!!!!

Dahler benda tuh aku beli untuk yang tersayang aku tuh...sampai hati Mawi terajang dia.

Takper ler...aku pas da balik, ayang aku leh kata takper...sebab bukan orang lain yang belasah dia...Mawi gak...so takper. Keji...

Speaking of the extinct dodo yang ala national bird of Mauritius... I think they're so cute. After our almost two hours or so from the hotel to check in for our DIRECT flight balik ke KL, I noticed this souvenir shop (which was peddling barang in Euro...keji teramat keji!!!) ada this HUMONGOUS dodo kat luar kedai dia tuk perhiasan. Aiyo...nak sangat bak balik. Tapi confirm kalao aku mampu pun, I would need to spend more money on another flight ticket just to bring it back, because it's even bigger than me (if you can believe that).

Tapi comel sangat!!!
kan kan kan????

So sesapa pegi Mauritius pasnih, belikan aku dodo nih kalao nak aku terhutang budi seumur idop (iya iya je...poyo!)

Anyway my trip back wasn't all that rosy. In fact it was the lousiest end I could expect.

Yerlah...a couple pf hours before departure, at the resort aku da rasa lain. Aku da telan berbiji biji Panadol da. Aku da syak aku akan demam.

And then to make things worse sebab nak pastikan masuk awal, to get an exit seat, aku check in terus masuk. Didn't help. I didn't get the exit seat sebab stupid travel agent couldn't even fix that on the way back just like masa nak mai Mauritius.

C***i tol!!!!

And then when da masuk, we found out that Mauritius was the only f*****g airport in the world without a smoking lounge. The only place we could smoke as we couldn't go out again, or smoke in the toilet was in the VIP lounge.How do you get in? By flying business class, 'by invitation' (whatever that means) or paying 30 f*****g Euros (or about RM150).

P*****k!!!! Memang negara ni gila ler bab nak wat duit. So in the end, tahan almost 12 hours in total, with waiting time and flight time, before I could have a damn cigarette in KLIA. First puff pun da stone.

The silver lining? The nice people at Air Mauritius at the check in counter was so empathetic about keadaan aku yang clautrophobic and realising aku need leg room because I am taller than most Asians and hence need more space to avoid kicking the front seat every two seconds, bagik aku two empty seats near me, meaning seat tengah yang ada tiga kerusi termasuk aku punya...empty!

So I could actually lie down flat siot! I had a damn bed! Semua orang jeles gila ingat aku bodek haper nak dapat seat camtuh. Amik ko!Plus I also had a good seat for Dadu. Yerlah...pas kena belasah ngan Mawi aku pun pamper dia abis abisan...

Siap pasang seatbelt and headphones and all.

Merasalah mesti ada yang ingat aku da psycho ke haper.

Lantak la...with no nicotine for more than 12 hours or so...what do you expect me to be.

Blame the damn Mauritius airport for that!

Bigger men have killed for lesser a reason that nicotine withdrawl. Matilah aku tanpa berasap.

Tapi survive gak..and reach back KL in one piece with a gorgeous tan and a lot of pictures to share.

Not to mention a four parter for my blog and the longest entries ever.

Did I also break a record of sorts for numbere of pics posted?

Ah...the little things always make it worth the while...

More soon...but no more on Mauritius.

More important stuff to share...

And lest I forget...at least plain water is free, our airport has a smoking lounge at least, it rains here and I think being away from my sayang makes me just miss Malaysia all the more.

Nice holiday la...tapi lama sangat pun rindu segalanya kat sini.

Hujan emas di negeri orang, hujan batu di negeri sendiri....lebih baik di negeri sendiri...kan?

By the way...I left out a lot of juicy details.... if you guys want to know kena lah ask me personally lah kan?

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