Raya 2011

This Year's Raya is very the simple. And low key. We practically Raya on the first day of Syawal. Only. But it's fun nevertheless.

The five of us after the Solat Raya at home.

Then we made our wy to my brother's place in Shah Alam to beraya with Mak and my  brothers and their families.

And then we rushed back to receive Yan's brothers and their families.... fun, fun, fun!

Clearly sederhana tetapi meriah proportion punya raya.

David Archuleta Live In KL!!

I don’t think I am qualified to be a DiGi Angel but I’m trying my luck here.

Okay, I want to watch David Archuleta performs live next Tuesday in Stadium Negara.

Here’s the thing… my eldest daughter Alia (she’s currently walking around believing that she’s Mr Archuleta’s future wife….and I went: huh???????) will be going with her best friend, Iman and somehow I got “manipulated” into becoming their chauffeur for the evening. And yes, I am merely a driver for the day as I don't have a ticket to get in and watch.

And I still blame myself for agreeing as just what am I supposed to do while waiting for them to enjoy the night away – I can see, feel and smell the traffics in and around the area already. Oh drag!

So, I think it will be awesome if I can get in to watch David Archuleta too with the wife (well, she’s a huge fan of Archuleta too and thinks that boy is a good “menantu” material as well and I was like ???????).

Nevertheless, I’m sure with David Archuleta crooning, it’ll be an amazing date night for two middle aged parents like us. After all, he’s a way better singer than JB. Hoyeah.

Archuleta if he decides to become my son-in-law.

“Brought to you by DiGiMusic Pluz, the first DRM free MP3 music download service in Malaysia”.

Yang best dan yang klasik

Dua minggu lalu ketika lawatan bulanan kami ke MPH, kami bawa pulang Pecah karya Khairulnizam Bakeri dan karya klasik To Kill a Mockingbird oleh Harper Lee. Macam bagus sahaja padahal di rumah sana masih bersusun buku yang belum dibaca. Tapi sudah memang dasar semulajadi… beli jangan tak beli.

 

Lagipun Asma sudah lama kepingin mahu membaca How To Kill A Mockingbird setelah lewat setahun lalu dia dapat membaca To Catch a Rye oleh J.D Salinger  (yang tak ada apa-apa cerita pun tapi entah kenapa tetap menarik, katanya ketawa).

Oh satu perkara, malangnya MPH Subang Parade tiada kedapatan Kerana Terpaksa oleh Ilham Kalsom aka Elviza Michelle (rakan blogger saya yang sekarang belum ada kesempatan berjumpa). Dengar khabar, cerita yang itu amat menarik….. mesti cari.

Tetapi sekarang saya sedang membaca The Throne of Fire (beli last week di Popular Sunway), buku kedua dalam siri Kane Chronicles hasil penulis kegemaran saya masa kini Rick Riordan. Ketika ke situ, juga masih tak ketemu Kerana Terpaksa… wah payah sungguh mahu membeli.

Apapun, entri kali ini saya mahu bercerita pendek mengenai Pecah (nak reviu panjang-panjang pun sudah ramai yang berbuat demikian). Saya baru tamat khatam buku itu dan saya amat menyukainya. Seperti biasa Asma sudah membacanya terlebih dahulu dan dua perkataan yang keluar dari mulutnya ialah: “Best Giler!”

Kini saya sudah pun membacanya (walaupun terhegeh-hegeh cuba membaca pantas sebelum rasa ngantuk menguasai diri) dan saya amat bersetuju --- Pecah Memang Best Giler.

Garapannya amat bijak dan saya kini berangan mahu jadi sebijak Khairulnizam Bakeri dan menulis novel sebaik itu. Bilalah agaknya tu?

Sebelum itu saya mahu baca lain-lain novel terbitan Fixi jugak yang rata-rata menerima ulasan baik. Hmm, tunggu gaji hujung bulanlah.

Mainstream ke Mior?

Ceh! Rupa paras pon tak mainstream !

As we race towards the second half of 2100, it just dawned on me how mainstream I'm not.

Okay, I admit that I am a rather prolific FB user (you can’t get more mainstream than that, can you?) but I am such a klutz in so many other popular areas.

Like, I don’t do BPL so I could not hold any decent conversation whenever the mere mention of Manchester United or Chelsea or Arsenal pops up. Attended a dinner once and suddenly everybody at the table started spewing English football data and facts, left and right. And, of course, I just sat there like a total miserable loser.

I used to like watching endless reality shows on TV but not anymore … not even my favoured The Amazing Race and Top Chef. And I stopped watching American Idol two seasons ago.

The thing is that I now find it funny that Malaysians are generally crazy about football in England and a singing contest in America. This is 1Malaysia, right?

Speaking of 1Malaysia, or Malaysia as many of us know it, I also steer away from sharing my opinion on the many political related issues. Although I do have a strong opinion about certain stuff, I’ve decided that I’ll keep it to myself. It’s just that I’m too old with a heart not nearly strong enough to be arguing about those issues. Lagipun, I do have hypertension and it certainly doesn’t do me any good to have me agitated about why certain leader is doing what to another leader. After all, harga gula tetap naik jugak kan?

Oh, don’t get me wrong, I don’t have anything against English football and US reality show – I used to like it too at one time. But I grew old.. so I guess my interest .. err.. sort of evolved.

Today, I still read fiction a lot but have expanded (kunun2nya) my reading to authors like Jiro Akagawa, Ilham Kalsom and Khairulnizam Bakeri, among others. Real brilliant stuff, there.

And as for TV programmes, my current favourite shows include Criminal Minds, Law and Order SVU, White Collar, NCIS and Hawaii Five-O. Rather nostalgic, actually as I grew up with detective series like the older Hawaii Five-O, Mannix and Policewoman. But no, I don’t do Glee much.

I love Tanyalah Ustaz over TV9 too and find TV9’s weekend morning talk shows Nasi Lemak Kopi O quite interesting.

That’s pretty much it. And I’m enjoying it.

(Nampak sangat entry kali ini tiada arah tuju.. oh! Well)

A Note to my Princesses!

Dearest Alia, Asma and Arissa

I am writing this to you because some words are better said early.  I am your father, and if I don't tell you these, no one else will. Remember the following as you go through life.............

1. Do not bear grudge towards those who are not good to you. No one has the responsibility of treating you well, except your mother and I. To those who are good to you, you have to treasure it and be thankful, and ALSO you have to be cautious, because, everyone has a motive for every move. When a person is good to you, it does not mean he really likes you. You have to be careful, don't hastily regard him as a real friend.  

2. No one is indispensable and nothing in the world is important enough that you must possess.  Once you understand this idea, it would be easier for you to go through life when people around you don't want you anymore, or when you lose what/who you love most.

3. Life is short. When you waste your life today, tomorrow you would find that life is leaving you. The earlier you treasure your life, the better you enjoy life.

4.  Love is but a transient feeling, and this feeling would fade with time and with one's mood. If your so called loved one leaves you, be patient, time will wash away your aches and sadness. Don't over exaggerate the beauty and sweetness of love, and don't over exaggerate the sadness of falling out of love.  

5. A lot of successful people did not receive a good education, that does not mean that you can be successful by not studying hard! Whatever knowledge you gain is your weapon in life. One can go from rags to riches, but one has to start from some rags!  

6. Check your temper always. Better still, leave you anger (which most probably are unwarranted anyway) at home. Nobody likes foul-tempered person. You don't like those person and don't ever be one. If you meet someone who is one, be the classy one - be gracious and stay calm!

7. You honour your words, but don't expect others to do so. You can be good to people, but don't expect people to be good to you. If you don't understand this, you would end up with unnecessary troubles.

8.  If you want to be successful, you have to work hard and smart and pray a lot! There is no free lunch!  

9. No matter how much time I have with you, let's treasure the time we have together. 

Love,

Bapak

p.s: Now girls, go find yourselves kind hearted, Allah fearing princes to be your soul mate. Start looking!!!

(As much as I wanted to claim that I wrote this letter myself but the truth is that this is actually an edited version of a letter from a renown Hong Kong TV broadcaster cum Child Psychologist to his son. It came into my inbox and of course I've edited and added some points .. you know to correspond with my relationships with my daughters... but the words are actually applicable to all of us, young or old, children or parents.!)