Short Trip South

Disebabkan terpanggil untuk pergi Retrolicious Concert, maka kena la pergi Singapore. Nasib baik ada Jetstar flight yang murah. RM60 nett per person. Dah la naik dari KLIA. I like! Lagi murah dari naik bas. Well... bas yg executive tu la. Bukan yang RM30 dari Pudu tu. Pergi je murah, balik mahal. So balik, plan naik bas pulak. RM75 per person kalau tak salah.

Hotel pulak, nak jugak duduk area Bugis, sebab nak pi makan di Wak Pariaman. Kalau boleh nak duduk kat dapur dia. Hahahah. Nak cari hotel murah, yang walking distance dari kedai tu, tapi tak sanggup nak duduk kat baackpackers hostel. Macam mana nak jadi world traveller ni? Surf punya surf, jumpa la hotel ni. Takde la murah pun. Tapi sebab nak dekat punya pasal, book je la.

Santa Grand Hotel at Jalan Kubor. Our verdict? Biasa je. Plus point, it's very near to Wak Pariaman (tapi jauh sket dari kedai murtabak), 5 mins walk to bus stop nak pergi Orchard Road and boleh la nak jalan pergi Bugis MRT and Bugis Junction. Facilities dalam room biasa je. Landmark Hotel tu lagi nicer, but mahal sket la. Satu malam je kan, so tak kisah la. Skang ni sangat suka naik bus dari MRT, sebab tak payah bersesak dengan orang and susah payah nak figure out to buy the ticket. Bus nak ke Orchard tu every 15 minutes. Bus no 7. I think the fare is about SGD 1.20. The bus stop is called Before Sultan Mosque on North Bridge Road.

Of all the days in the year, we choose to be here when people are eager to be married on the special date 10.10.10. Sudahnya, Wak Pariaman tutup pulak sebab ada wedding reception. Huk alo. Never fear, every dark cloud has a silver lining. The silver lining comes in the form of Kedai Hjh Maimunah.

It prepares authentic and delicious Malay lauk pauk. Sedap and murah. My lunch was only SGD 3.30. Pastu stress sendiri sebab menyesal tak ambik banyak2. We were watching the guy at the cashier punching the numbers and estimated roughly that a family of 5 can eat a big feast at an average price of SGD15-18. Semua lauk hidang and tengok gaya orang order macam esok nak start bulan puasa. No wonder the shop had to be extended a couple doors down and siap ada 2 tingkat tu. Unfortunately, Sunday the shop is closed. Melepas la nak try benda-benda lain pulak. Next time la ye.

We wanted to go to Universal Studio, but decided against it. Dah penat berconcert, ada pulak muntah kang naik rides. The hotel also told us that there might be possiblity that ticket were sold out because it's the weekend. Being the wuss and lazy we are, we like to agree with that very much. KIV for next time. We will plan a special trip just for Universal Studio. Duduk dari pagi sampai malam buta.

So now, where to go since we have the day to kill? Pergi Mustafa lagi. Tah apa benda nak beli pun aku tak tau. And true enough, I've run out of things to buy. Almost bought a PSP, but senses kicked in. Almost bought a new headphone, but yup inner senses said no. Damn you, inner voice! Jadi beli apa? We went crazy at the food section. My sister star purchase was a bottle of Nescafe. We checked the price in Malaysia it was RM24. She paid about RM11. Bangga gila. Lepas tu ketawa sendiri sebab, why the heck that we travel this far and end up buying Nescafe.

At 6.30pm, we boarded First Coach at Novena Square. Bosan jugak nak menunggu sebab there's no proper waiting area. Aku memang dah kiasu nak tengok movie onboard. Lama pulak nak tunggu pakcik tu on server dia. Only after the Custom check in JB baru boleh tengok. Nasib kat Kastam takde check and takde orang.

The movie choices were not that great, but I haven't seen 40 year old virgin, so layan je la. Mother of all horrors, cerita ni gila babi tak censored. Nasib orang keliling aku semua dah tidur, if not depa ingat aku tengok porn ke. By the time we stopped for a toilet break, news start to spread that there's a massive traffic jam from Simpang Ampat onwards. Ada accident. Alamak.

Turns out, it was a fatal accident. 13 people were killed. All the while we were stucked, we could see ambulances and police cars rushings from both side of the highway. After almost 2 hours of slow crawl, we reached the accident scene. It was too dark to see anything clearly, but we can see that a bus had overturned, a flatten vehicle and a banged up divider. The traffic from KL was at a stand still. Rupanya the accident occured sometime before 7pm. It was already 11pm when we passed by. I was thinking seteruk-teruk semua orang yang terstuck dalam jam ni, teruk lagi orang yang mati and injured dalam accident ni. Semoga yang meninggal tu sentiasa dicucuri rahmat. Read about it here

It was sad to read that those who had died are mostly teenagers, colleage students. It reminded me of the University days where we were the normal bunch of people taking these buses, for either a fun weekend in KL or going back home to Johor. Pastu sebelum naik bas nak kena tapau burger extra mayo dulu (patut la gemuk). Suka kalau driver tu drive laju-laju, supaya cepat sikit sampai. Mujur la umur ni panjang lagi. Alhamdulillah.

We reached KL around 1am. Nak terkencing yang amat. Nasib sempat sampai rumah. Nampaknya lepas ni idea naik bas ni akan diabandonkan.

Stay safe people.

Never Gonna Give Together Forever Up!

Debbie Gibson. Rick Astley. Singapore. I'm sold.

So as soon as I saw the email notification from SISTIC that Class 95 fm in Singapore is organizing a concert featuring Debbie Gibson, Rick Astley and Johnny Hates Jazz, I mentally booked my flights and bought my concert tickets. All those time, when I was practising those dance moves on Electric Youth, never would I thought I get to see Debbie Gibson in concert. And let me tell you about Rick Astley, when I was 7 I thot he was the cutest thing on earth (turns out he still is heheh). Regardless this was a few decades too late, I'm not going to miss this.

Concert was at Fort Canning Park. My sister and I, arrived 30 minutes before 8pm. Only to discover there was a long line to enter the concert. When I say long line, I meant looooooong line. Imagine, queueing up from KLCC all the way to Pavilion. Actually I didn't even get to see the end of the line, because we went straight up front, dengan muka selamba badak, and just cut in. Amazed that the 2000 odd people outside, patiently queue and not a single word of utter anonyance! If kat sini, dah selamat dah semua organizer kena pijak. Ada ke concert nak start, beribu lagi orang kat luar. Satu je entrance opened. (It reminded me of a concert not long ago in Bukit Kiara). They were stressing about safety and all, but what about them selling xxx amount of tickets in the first place when they know that the place can only accomodate x amount of people only. Aiyoo.

When we got in, the whole area was already packed. Everyone was prepared for a leisure night out, already spread their tikar and blankets on the grass, picnicking. OH MY.. thank god we sneaked in. There's no way those people outside can get in. The organizer told everyone that this is a STANDING Concert and not a sit down concert. Everyone gladly got up and squeeze in tighther. Again. Amazed. If kat sini, dah runtuh dah stage tu kena terajang dengan semua orang. I just wish that the concert were in a bigger venue so that it does not inconvenient anyone.

I stood 98% of the night from 8pm till almost midnight. Sweating and thirsty the whole time. Nasib tak muntah. Dah pukul 11.45 tu dah macam pening-pening lalat la jugak. Hehehe.

But I'm willing to forget all of this because the concert is simply AWESOME! It's like going to karaoke with 7000 people. Singing without a care in the world. Before the start of the concert, they play slide shows? Montage? Of things that had happened, movies and songs that were famous, toys that were first introduced each year thruout the 80s. The crowd keep on cheering at everything because they are all so familiar. Who doesn't know Madonna songs, Top Gun movie, Transformer and Teenage Ninja Turtle cartoons, Nintendo, shoulder pads... list goes on and on.

So first up was Johnny Hates Jazz. I only know two of their song (partly because I googled them before coming) - Shatered Dreams and Turn Back the Clock. During the rest of their set, I amused myself by checking out other people. Hehehe.

Next, Debbie Gibson. Though she just turned 40, she's all superfit and toned.

However, to my terkejutness, she sounded like Britney. Even looked like Britney during her first two albums. I pretend to not hear this and sang along to Electric Youth, Out of the Blue and Foolish Heart. Then came Lost in Your Eyes. Screeeammmmmm! She got the crowd to sing the first verse and everyone put their heart and soul into it. I suppose those lost teenage years came flashing back to everyone. Hahahahah.

She completed her set with Dancing Queen. Why? I have no idea. I was a bit disappointed that Debbie did not sing We Could Be Together and those songs from a more recent album like For Better or Worse and Didn't Have the Heart. Baru full blown jiwang karatz. But of course this is an 80s concert, so it's ok.

Next up, the cute, the cheeky, Rick Astley. He kick things off with Together Forever. Screaaaammm. He sounds great if not better. He thrown in a couple of his greatest single: She Wants To Dance With Me and Strong Strong Man (suddenly I like this song very much). Thenm to my delight he sang 'When I Fall in Love'. Hulamak...tercair kejap. This is my favorite part of the concert I would say (with Debbie's Lost in Your Eyes a close 2nd).

I can't believe he used to look like this:

Now he looks like this:

Finally, he closed of the great night with the song that was behind the Rickrolling phenomena - Never Gonna Give You Up.

With that, I've officially been - Rickrolled!

Jeritan Batinku

It blew me away! It blew me away listening to the MPO playing the score to Jeritan Batinku. If P Ramlee were around he sure would be very proud of it. Yup, it's my first time at the DFP. Arrived early and managed to sneak a shot. Our seats were at the upper circle. No complains because we were right in the middle and from where we were, we could see all the action going on. If you just let yourself go, you could really lose yourself with the music and the movements of the bow stroking the violins (ok statement poyo, but it's true!).Sighhh.



It was a concert. Nonetheless it was Sheila Majid's concert. MPO Celebrates 25 years of Sheila Majid. It was worth it! Over the years I've been to a few of her concerts. KuMohon at Stadium Negara with Anuar Zain and Dayang Norfaizah opening for her. Then there was the one at KL Convention Center a few years back. I guess this one is really special as she was accompanied by the MPO.




Highlights:

1. She is super toned! Am very envious of her toned arms.
2. Loved the instrumental/ score Jeritan Batinku and Dia by the MPO. Dia suddenly sounds like something that came in a Walt Disney movie. Mesmerizing.
3. Loved Sheila Majid on Emosi. Emo kejap.
4. Loved the crowd signing (termasuk la aku yang perasan suara sedap), complementing the orchestra.
5. Loved the seating at DFP. Didn't feel blocked like those at Istana Budaya.
6. The cute dude on Violin right behind Sheila. Hehehehe.

Check out the photos here: Gua website .These were from the 1st Oct performance I suppose. We went on the 2nd Oct. She wore a blue and glittering diamond crusted number that night. Check out the cute guy, in the close up picture (pic no 3). Hehaw.

p/s: I wonder how much does the guy on Cymbals is getting paid? Hmmm.....

Freaky Friday

..well, that was yesterday.

I wore baju kurung to the office today. The last time I wore baju kurung was I think more than 3 years ago. I have been there for almost 7 years. I ditched Baju Kurung after a good part of a year, simply because malas nak gosok. My normal attire would give the cleaners at the office a run for their money. Hehaw. Everyone was giving me the look. If I recall correctly, these were some of the remark:

- "Tebiat ke apa kau hari ni?" Accompanied by an arched eyebrow.
- "Why you dress funny today?" (my favorite).
- "Eeiii...baju kurunggg. Eh ni first timekan you pakai baju kurung?".
- "Aikkk. Ni apasal pakai baju kurung hari ni?" Accompanied by suspicious look.

Little that they know, sebenarnya aku nak pergi open house petang semalam. But before that, a lunch date with kawan-kawan lama dari zaman U. Mula-mula nak makan kat Saba...la tutup pulak Friday. Nasib kedai sebelah Ariania, serving Iranian food bukak. Sedap jugak makan kat situ. Sahabat-sahabat, thank you for a good time and lunch. But the funny thing was, of all the days, semalam la nak hujan lebat pulak. Langsung stranded dalam kedai sebab takde payung. Baru je cakap.. harap tak hujan...the sky opened up and pour it's content. Creepizoid... tapi sebenarnya suka sebab boleh lepak lama lagi....tapi lama tu dah jadi lebih sejam, melampau la kan. Nak tak nak kena la redah jugak hujan with high heels, baju kurung and all... Habis rambutku yang penat blowdry tadi. Tapi alhamdulillah, none of us jatuh tergolek dalam hujan. That will be the mother of all horror!

Later in the evening, a few of us from the office pergi open house pulak. This is the best part of all. Ada LAKSA JOHOR accompanied with SIRAP BANDUNG ICE CREAM SODA. Entah berapa gelen aku minum, sebab tuan rumah keep it coming aje. Heheheh. Pastu memang mengaku, akak makan laksa 3 round, complete with sambal belacan and condiment yang cukup segalanya. Gambar tak sempat nak ambik, sebab concentrate makan.

Yati, if you are reading this... THANNKKK YOUUUUU :) Memang best gila laksa kau tu. Nanti satu hari yang indah I shall attempt recipe laksa kau. In the meantime, now you know where to send the laksa if ada leftovers. Rain or shine, ribut taufan... akan kugagahi jua pergi ambik ;). I said it yesterday, I will say it again, laksa kau tu telah membuat Raya aku tahun ini lebih bermakna... Heheheheh.

Balik office pastu, melambak issue. Tergolek-golek jawab email, jawab phone. Ambik kau! Tapi tak kisah... sebab hari ni dapat makan best :)