Keukenhof - May 2012

It was the last week before Keukenhof. The tulips are already blooming. Ada yang dah nak mati pun. We took the bus from Schipol airport. A short ride and then it was a few hours of nothing but posing and posing somemore.

We met this kakak and her husband from Shah Alam somewhere in the park. Dia terkejut beruk bila aku offer dia, "Nak tolong ambik gambar kak?" after looking at the two of them juggling an iPad, a SLR, camcorder and a phone to snap pictures. "Eh, ada orang Malaysia...Ambik guna iPad dik, nanti senang nak upload kat Facebook" hamek kau Jah...hahaahha I wonder how did her pictures turn out. And I wonder who she is. But she was wearing a Burberry coat no less!

Now, let the pictures do the talking.

 

Amsterdam, Netherlands - May 2012

It's about 30 minutes train ride from Den Haag to Amsterdam. After last year's fiasco, we didn't get to enjoy Amsterdam. Well, a year later I still didn't enjoy Amsterdam. Orang beribu-raban! Hehehe tapi masih berjaya menjejaki HRC ye. Bagus jugak sebab ada sign everywhere... just follow the cookie crumbs. One thing that I like about Amsterdam is the selection of souveniers. Nak apa je, semua ada. Magnet dia pun cantik2, memang rambang mata.

Anyway this time around, we did something different. We joined a tour visiting places outskirt of Amsterdam. The tour company office is very near Amsterdam Centraal. Within walking distance. You can see all the tour busses lining outside.The tour took about 5 hourds and cost 36 Euros per pax. Quite fun actually.

First stop - Zaanse Schans ...

to see the Windmills. The old windmills was moved here to make sort of a park/ musuem? There's quite a number of attraction here (which I failed to discover). Wanted to go inside the windmills to see what's going on, but it seems far and I'm worried that I might missed the bus. You can also take the normal bus from Amsterdam Centraal and spend the whole day exploring this place. I have an officemate who spent half a day here.. which received a puzzled look from me. What the heck did you do there? All i did was take photos (and used the loo). And that last about 30 minutes? Hahahaha

I also spend time taking shots of this bicycle. Macam tak pernah tengok basikal. Ni la padahnya tak membaca before visiting a place. Tak tahu apa benda. Tak reti nak appreciate apa benda.

Next stop - Volendam

This is a fishing village. With boats and seafood stalls.. the works. We had our lunch here. After overload of kebab, seafood is a welcome change. Plus this stall ada Thai sauce. Then we also had this thing call Poffertjes. It's like small pancakes.. very light, very sweet.. very manis. Yummeh. Kat sini nothing much to see or do, except makan.. and take the ferry/ boat to our next destination. From the pier, we can see a lot of sailboat. Agaknya semua orang weekend pergi sailing. Also we notice a lot folks were out on racing bicycle. Another favorite past time I suppose.

The small village of Volendam. Taken from the boat to Marken. Macam nak hujan, and it was cold!

Final destination - Marken.

Marken was a sort of an island previously. But now there's a highway connecting it to the rest of Netherlands I suppose. Over here we can see how the people live in the traditional sort of way. Think the Dutch lady..milkmaid sort of outfit. All the houses here are quaint wooden houses. We visited a cheese and clog factory. The dude making the clog so the chomels (check him out below.. gambar kasi besar bior nampak)! And we had free tasting of the cheese. That was fun. Sebab free. Hahahahha. The boat ride from Volendam to Marken kejap aje, but it felt ages sebab it was cold. We set on the deck at the top of the boat when the wind is blowing in your faces, memang taubat kejap la.

From there, the tour bus was already waiting to take us back to Amsterdam. If you want to read more about the tour read here)

The Hague, Netherlands - May 2012 - Part II

Scheveningen

There's a beach near den Haag. So one fine day it was a holiday and it was sunny. We took the tram till end of it's line and came to the beach. It was overlooking the North Sea. Coolness. Literally. Sejuk ok, though the sun was out. Not many people as it was quite early. There's a long pier with interesting shops and eating places. We had an earlier lunch at a seafood joint. A lovely break from eating kebab... kebab and more kebab.

Madurodam

Another attraction here is a miniture park called Madurodam. It's a the next stop after my office if not mistaken. It has small scale of everything in Netherlands... from Schipol airport, to the duct, to the AJAX stadium. Kids would love this place. We sort of completed the whole place in like 30 minutes and dah penat. After making endless joke about being Godzilla around the miniture buildings, we were out of there. Hahah tak senonoh.

Cooking session with the team

One my 3rd day in the office, the team suggested that the whole bunch of us should go out and do something. The do something .. is going to this cooking place, where we are going to cook our own dinner. Exciting at first, the jet lagged just sets in. And I don't bloody trust myself with a knife or anything to do with fire! And bugger I thot I would be good at this, rupanya mcm terbanggang ok. We always see all those cooking show that seems so easy - aku pun boleh buat tu... Naah... not when you are with people you just met pastu ngantuk gila babi. Nak pecah telur pun malu2 kucing... (ok maybe that's just me). The menu looks doable (tapi ingredients all in english, some of it I have no idea what they are), so I ended up with goreng telur dadar aje. Hahahahahahahahahhahahahaha. They were all looking at me sideways... "I thot Malaysians all cook at home". (Not this Malaysian apparently). Turns out semua orang sangat terror. Even the guys! Malu akak yo! It was fun actually. We had  pumpkin soup, shrimp, lamb (i had tuna steak instead sbb lamb tak halal kan) pesto, guacamole, chocolate pudding (which I think had rum in it.... tapi aku tawakkal je la). We also had creme brulee. Aku sepantas kilat nak volunteer memblow torch the sugar! I'd put the pictures of everyone so engrossed in cooking, but nanti kang this will be traced back to me, so I put the picture of what I prepared je la.

The creme brulee (aku tolong pukul telur and heat the milk I think).. and burnt it to death

The disgusting looking turd... hahaha pesto in omelette by Moi 

The Hague, Netherlands - May 2012 - Part I

I have been summoned.

This is the first time that I will pay the mothership a visit. Pretty cool. I need to be onboarded for the new job. I should be there for about 2 weeks or so. And dengan tidak malunya, I asked my new boss if I could extend (at my own expense) my stay in Europe. Yes, just do it says my boss. Yeay boss :) Maka saya akan pulang ke 'kampung halaman' membuat hutang yang idak terbayar for the next five years or so.More of that later on.

Merasa la jugak naik Business Class MAS. As expected, sataynya memang tiada tolok bandingnya. Letak dadah ke apa. The flight is about 13 hours. Flight landed in Schipol at the wee hour. Bought me the ov-chipkaart. I took the train heading towards The Hague or Den Haag. The view along the way is very picturesque. Miles and miles of green farm land, peppered with the occasional herd of cattle and windmills.

I checked into Novotel Den Haag. Room's quite nice. But the toilet and the shower is separated. Bugger. But location, location, location. It's right smack in the shopping district. In fact, it's connected to Passage - with some interesting shops. And next door to Dudok, a famous cafe with yummeh apple pie. So this will be home for the next 2 weeks. First order of business? Tidur!

Woke up hungry around noon. Thank god there's a McD a few doors down. Lagi best, dapat guna credit card. Not many places that can use credit card around Hague. Bosan betul. Next order of business I need to find my way to the office. It was Sunday, and I'm expected to be front and center tomorrow morning. With the direction from my new colleague, I manage to hop on the correct tram and stop at the riight stop. The ride is less than 5 minutes and I have to to a bit of walking from the tram stop to the office. Less than 5 minutes. Needless to say, aku la orang yang akan melenggang kangkung jalan pagi-pagi tu. Everyone was like brisk walk brisk walk brisk walk.. and me..saunter saunter saunter... kalau boleh nak jalan backward.. or merangkak. Hahahahahha.

The weather is still cold, but not too cold. My light jacket did the trick. In the office there's heater. On the first day, aku dgn jacket bagai, berpeluh-peluh la kan. Cist. The tram ride is fun actually. Boleh la berangan kejap. I'm surprise that my colleagues mostly drive to work. I thot semua orang akan naik tram and bike and whatnots. Too bad I only manage to find one of a picture of the tram. Dah naik beratus kali, tak teringat pun nak posing. Apa la.

So I was in NL..or Europe from 6th May - 29th May. Lama gila. Will write soon what I did during those days, aside from 'work'. My sister came after a week, seeking refuge in my hotel room. Hehehe.

Train Live in KL, 16th June 2012 at KL Live

It had never occurred to me that I will get to listen to Drops of Jupiter ...live! Well, Train came to KL. Yipeeeeeeeeeee. It will be a small event I guess, since it will at KL Live. Lagi small lagi bagus, senang nak tengok semua orang. But then, semua standing aje la pulak. Can I survive this?

Nak tak nak kena la survive kan. Heheh so it was a Saturday. Nak brave the traffic satu hal lagi. Tapi nasib jalan clear. We parked at the next building to KL Live.. LifeCenter.. whatever you call it. Kejap aje dah penuh parking. Nak keluar dari parking kena naik tangga pulak. Kugagahi jua. Nak masuk KL Live.. tangga lagi. Sabar je la..

Right, we're in. Lepak kat belakang aje. Malas la nak berasak2 kat depan. Susah jugak standing only ni. Sebab if terstuck belakang orang yang tinggi, dah tak nampak.

On cue, Train took the stage. And wow the crowd. Nampaknya semua orang tahu lagu-lagu depa, kecuali aku (as usual). Marry Me was practically sung by the crowd. Heheheh. In between the set, ada pulak si Pat baling free t-shirt pulak to the crowd. Unfortunately we are too far nak berebut. And he was very sporting as well... siap ambik some phone from the front row, and took a shot of himself and the crowd. Sape yang dapat tu, mesti tak tido malam ni.

According to Pat, Train don't do encore. Tak sempat aku nak beli twisties hehehe. Here comes the moment that we have been waiting for. Drops of Jupiter. PERGHHHHHHHHH. best gila. And before you know it. Dah habis dah. The concert was short but it's definitely not a drive by ;). At the end of the nite, Train was giving out a guitar that was Pat was using while performing... Whhhhaaaattttttt????? And the band had put their signature on it... WHhhhhaaaatttttttttttttttttttttttt. Andddd... he gave it to... (wait for it...) ... ME! Whhhaaaaattttttttttttt? Hahahhah of course not. Pat choose a little girl from somewhere in the front row. Adik sape la tu. Dik kalau kau tak nak guitar tu bagi akak dik.

I wonder adik.. tu dah pandai main ke tak guitar tu eh?

p/s: ada gambar from the concert but it's in my phone..tunggu la lagi sepuluh tahun aku nak download and post it here..

Cranberries Live in KL - 4th April, 2012 - Stadium Negara

Mula-mula, memang tak minat sangat nak pergi. Tapi bila Kay ajak, aku game je la kan. Tak la tahu sangat lagu-lagu depa ni. Kononnya nak tengok satu konsert satu bulan. Beginilah cita-cita orang yang tiada hala tuju hidup.

Anyway, bila dengar the daily promo, eh rupanya, banyak jugak lagu yang aku tahu ek. So dengan semangat waja, download la segala mak nenek lagu depa and pasang hari-hari on the way to work. I think my favorite is Animal Instinct.

Come the night of the concert. Dah la Wednesday. Tak ingat aku keje ke tak pun hari tu. But I think the weather was ok, so hopefully tak jam la. Kay came over and drove both of us to stadium Negara. Traffic was clear. But now.. mana pulak nak park ni. Tempat parking haram sebelah stadium dah ada construction pulak. Then we realize, eh depan stadium ni ada sekolah. Maybe we can ask the Pak Guard to let us park inside. Success! Dia bagi masuk tapi kena RM10. Which I don't mind at all. Dah la dapat parking elok, ada guard plak and hanya sekangkang kera aje dari entrance. Tak payah susah-susah. Unlike most asshole yang kononnya drive VIP ke hape tah yang nak park jugak dalam stadium tu kalau boleh. Pastu nyusahkan rakyat marhain lain nak beli burger. Hahahah.

As usual aku memang benci nak kena check bag la apa la bila nak masuk. So seboleh-boleh nak makan jugak burger ke air ke apa semua bagi habis. Haha nasib tak tercekik. Aku rasa Kay berjaya seludup air ke masuk. Camera plak, as usual aku masuk dlm kocek rahsia hehehe.

The stadium was packed. Nasib tak panas. We sat to the right of the stage kot. Ok la jauh dari orang-orang. Duduk rapat nanti kang rimas. Tak sangka pulak ada stage for VIP ke royalties ke. I dunno why they bother to come and watch. Sebab kena control ayu semuanya, walhal the crowd dah frenzy tak tentu hala.

Dim the lights, here comes Cranberries! Damn, they were good! Semua lagu layan. Aku layan sambil duduk la kan. Pastu half way, lapar pulak, beli lagi burger. Hahahah. My love affair with bugger pijak memang tak boleh nak dipisahkan.

Then finally comes the moment. ZOMBIE. Seriously, everyone sang as if their life depends on it. Aduiii... cuba suruh ngaji? But I guess, yes that was one of the best moment in any concert that I have ever been to. Yang tak tahan tu, kitaorang dok perhati, yang those tadi duduk and haram tak response to any of the songs, tetiba dah up on their feet ... menyanyi dengan penuh semangat siap dengan hand gestures, macam la dia yang tulis lagu tu. Hahahahah gamaknya, ni je kot lagu yang depa tahu. Sure pi karaoke ni la lagu wajib.
The VIP stage masih tidak menunjukkan sebarang emosi. Borrinnggg!

It was good nite out. Good music, good company, dismal burger pijak. Posing mesti posing :)

But you see, it's not me, it's not my family.

In your head, in your head they are fighting,

With their tanks and their bombs,

And their bombs and their guns.

In your head, in your head, they are crying...

In your head, in your head,

Zombie, zombie, zombie,

Hey, hey, hey. What's in your head,

In your head,

Zombie, zombie, zombie?

Entah....

Avril's Black Star Tour - 18 Feb, 2012 at Stadium Merdeka

Avril Lavigne Live in KL! Not to be missed... walaupun clearly this is a teenage angst fest. Tak pedulik la.
I think we were in Johor siang tu. There was a wedding. Mujur la sempat sampai KL. Memang tak senonoh!

Petang tu hujan la pulak. Aduss mesti stadium lecak. Kensel nak pakai kasut baru. Selipar cabukku sila jalankan tugas anda. Konsert start 8.30 ke 8.00 pm tah. So sempat la nak solat dulu kat rumah. Dah siap-siap2 nak pergi, baru terperasan mana pulak ticket? Ya salam... ticket tak jumpa. LOL!

Korek punya korek, gaduh punya gaduh... finally found it in my sister's closet. Tadi bukan main dia mengaku takde pada dia. By then, dah pukul 8.30 kot. Gamble je la... lagi pun lagu2 yang starting tu tak best sangat. (Yes, dah siap check setlist ye).

So as usual any concert at Stadium Merdeka, mesti naik LRT than Monorail. And of course dalam banyak-banyak minggu, ni la minggu yang depa nak launch integrated system across the transit system. Tak boleh pulak beli ticket pergi balik. Kena beli token lain2. So to be save, masa sampai kat monorail tu kitaorang beli dah token siap2 untuk balik. Nak kena ingat plak mana token LRT mana token monorail. Arghh.. dah la dah lambat. Nasib masa sampai dah renyai2 hujan, so boleh la redah je.

We arrive dah almost 9.15 ke.. Avril pun nak balik dah. Hahahah. Tapi yang pasti, dapat la dengar dia nyanyi Wish You Were Here... Dapat la emo bila ramai-ramai nyanyi part Damn...Damn.. Damn... to be honest aku tau part tu je pun. Heheheh. Unfotunately, terlepas Sk8er Boi (notice that I'm using the 'correct' spelling..sighh).

Bila dah nak encore tu, dia bukak dah all the gate. So semua orang boleh rushing turun ke padang and grab a place front and center depan stage. Err.. termasuk la aku and kakak aku. Sekali tu tengok-tengok, padang tu gila lecak... boleh tersangkut kaki dalam selut. Gila cardio aku nak get across the field. Dah la rupanya dari bleachers tu nak naik ke padang tu ada longkang besar.. and ada pulak adegan panjat memanjat. Nak tersimpul urat perut aku.. terkejut dah la tak bersenam!

And Avril close with Complicated. Enough said... SCREAM, SHOUT and JUMP people! Memang best. Before balik sempat la ambik gambar amongst the throngs yang berpusu-pusu nak balik. According to my colleague yang berendam kat padang tu since 6pm, kasut dia dah boleh buang dah. Hahaha nasib aku datang lambat. Shot Avril semua goyang. So instead, letak la gambo perempuan  yang perasan ada teenage angst ni.Hahaha

Keje baru

This year marked my 3rd year being in the support team. So tibalah kita di hujung persimpangan... there's always the option to stay, but normally this is the window that everyone is waiting for to move to other role.

Setelah drama2 yang merepek meraban.. (maybe this is all in my head), tepat 1st April - I joined a new team. What a date.. 1st April. Macam April fool pulak.

So the whole of April, I was in zombie slash cicak kudung mode, completing all of the handover while trying to grasp all the new info from the new team.

Basically, hari-hari macam nak pengsan ok. Itu lah sebabnya takde masa nak blog memblog. My boss and other colleague are all based in a different continent. Aku sorang aje yang nganga kat sini. There are days that is nice sebab no one to monitor you. But there are days yang rasa nak hantuk kepala kat dinding sebab nak bertanya semua orang jauh.

At the moment, I have 1001 things to learn. And trying to adjust my working time. Hopefully things would be will be ok. Anyhoo the new job did bring me to Europe  for the most part of May, untuk handover (kononnya)... hheheheh. Will blog about the trip soon.

Huh?

Dah bulan September? I haven't blog for like a long time. Sampai nak login tadi pun tak tau macam mana. Hahahha.

So apa yang dah berlaku so far tahun ni? Hmm let me see... there's a the new job, a bit of travelling, concert... bulan puasa, raya and tah apa2 lagi. Let me trace back kehidupan setakat tahun 2012 ni and see what has been missed.

Good luck to me :)

Stand By Me

(Jerry O'Conell, River Pheonix, Wil Wheaton and Corey Feldman)

Hari ni, finally managed to catch Stand By Me on tv. Will Wheaton sangat comel :)

When the night has come

And the land is dark

And the moon is the only light we'll see
No I won't be afraid, no I won't be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me


And darlin', darlin', stand by me, oh now now stand by me
Stand by me, stand by me


If the sky that we look upon
Should tumble and fall
And the mountains should crumble to the sea
I won't cry, I won't cry, no I won't shed a tear
Just as long as you stand, stand by me


And darlin', darlin', stand by me, oh stand by me
Stand by me, stand by me, stand by me-e, yeah


Whenever you're in trouble won't you stand by me, oh now now stand by me
Oh stand by me, stand by me, stand by me


Darlin', darlin', stand by me-e, stand by me
Oh stand by me, stand by me, stand by me

2012 - Half way mark

Yikes! I didn't blog anything in May? So let this, just be a short entry so that takde la kosong, May takde post. I have been away for almost (almost) a month due to work in Netherlands and short trip (ngada2) to Paris. Also spent a day over the long weekend in Belgium. Makan cokelat and waffle sampai nak muntah.

The one day in Belgium was the day Chelsea played Bayern Munich in Munich. Memang kalau boleh nak pergi Munich hore-hore in the streets of Munich. But it's an 8 hours away on train. Gila! The whole day the news was talking footie. I made it back to the hotel with 10 minutes to spare of the match. Dapat la tengok both goals. Then extra time, then Robben missed penalty, then Tigeroo missed penalty... and CHELSEA is the Europe Champions! Finally. Roberto Di Matteo is LEGEN... (wait for it) DARY! So is Drogba :)

Well Done Blues!

Now.. where can I get my hands on them jerseys/ t-shirts...

Drama Minggu Ini

Aha... kehidupan macam rollercoaster eversince Feb tahun ini. Drama upon drama tak habis lagi. Drama yang dicari, yang tak dicari semua ada. Gelak melalak terberak all roll into one. Hopefully by end of the year things will calm down. Alhamdulillah for all the good things, yang tidak, semoga menjadi lesson learnt yang tidak akan dilupakan. Indeed, everything is part of the big plan :)

Somehow, I think this song describes aptly, what I felt on some of the days. Lawak pun ada.

Animal Instinct - Cranberries

Suddenly something has happened to me
As I was having my cup of tea

Suddenly I was feeling depressed
I was utterly and totally stressed
Do you know you made me cry
Do you know you made me die


And the thing that gets to me
Is you'll never really see
And the thing that freaks me out
Is I'll always be in doubt

It is a lovely thing that we have
It is a lovely thing that we
It is a lovely thing, the animal
The animal instinct


So take my hands and come with me
We will change reality
So take my hands and we will pray
They won't take you away
They will never make me cry, no
They will never make me die


And the thing that gets to me
Is you'll never really see
And the thing that freaks me out
Is I'll always be in doubt


The animal, the animal, the animal instinct in me
It's the animal, the animal, the animal instinct in me
It's the animal, it's the animal, it's the animal instinct in me [x2]

Little Pocket of Happiness

Looking at how sux (to quote Penny Hartz, if I may) the year had kicked off, these little pocket of happiness have been keeping me sane (in no particular order):

1. Happy Endings (season 2 just got better)
2. Penny Hartz  (..Ding!) and Max Blum
3. Barney Stinson
4. My Ipod playlist
5. Winning 1 million Deal or No Deal on iPad.
6. Discovered an 'aMahzing' blog - hollywoodspinster
7. Visit to bakeries...for one of these bad boys. Yummeh!

..so what's your current pocket of happiness?

Il est très beau! beau!

The guy who did not say a word won the Best Actor. Jean Dujardin!
Need I say more? *swoon fest*

.... ok enough!

The Year of Adele

She's 23. She won 6 Grammys. What's that again? 6. Right
Her performance of Rollin in the Deep?
BLEW MY MIND AWAY. LOBES IT.

p/s: Lobes Glen Campbell with Rhinestone Cowboy as well

Whitney Houston - 1963 - 2012

Whitney had a slew of hit records. I dunno why, but when the news of her death was out yesterday, the first song that I wanted to listen to was from her My Love is Your Love album. Perhaps this album was out when I was at college and I had lots of time to listen to it. Anyhoo, I thot this is one of the coolest song of that came out late 90/ early 2000 when everyone's writing was all about girl power and angst against their ex, boyfriend etc. The first verse always had me in stiches. If you had the time, do check the video clip in youtube for this song. . It was the new Whitney then. Very uber badass I must say. Don't look up the remix/club version though, yucks.

Ms Houston, you are indeed an icon. So this is: It's Not Right But It's Okay (which she won Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at 2000 Grammys)

It's Not Right, But It's Okay

Friday night you and your boys went out to eat

Then they hung out,but you came home around three
If six of ya'll went out then four of you were really cheap
'Cause only two of you had dinner
I found your credit card receipt


It's not right but it's okay
I'm gonna make it anyway
Pack your bags up and leave
Don't you dare come running back to me
It's not right but it's okay
I'm gonna make it anyway
Close the door behind you
Leave your key
I'd rather be alone than unhappy


I'm packing bags so you can leave town for a week
The phone rings then you look at me (why'd you turn and look at me)
Said it was one of your friends
Down on 54th street boy
So why did 213 show up on your caller ID
I've been through all this before
So how could you think
That I would stand around and take some more
Things are gonna change
Cause I won't be a fool anymore
That's why you have to leave
So don't turn around to see my face
There's no more tears left here for you to see


Was it really worth you going out like that - tell me
See I'm moving on and I refuse to turn back
See all of this time I thought I had somebody down for Whitney
It turns out you were making a fool of me


It's not right but it's okay
I'm gonna make it anyway
Pack your bags up and leave
Don't you dare come running back to me
It's not right but it's okay
I'm gonna make it anyway
Close the door behind you
Leave your key
I'd rather be alone than unhappy


It's not right but it's okay - [It's not right - so okay baby]
I'm gonna make it anyway [I can pay my own rent]
Pack your bags up and leave [pay my liability - take care of my babies]
Don't you dare come running back to me
It's not right but it's okay
I'm gonna make it anyway [get up and leave]
Close the door behind you
Leave your key
I'd rather be alone than unhappy


It's not right but it's okay [I'm gonna be okay, I'm gonna be alright]
I'm gonna make it anyway [I'm gonna be okay, I'm gonna be alright]
Pack your bags up and leave [I'm gonna be okay, I'm gonna be alright]
Don't you dare come running back to me
It's not right but it's okay [I'm gonna be okay, I'm gonna be alright]
I'm gonna make it anyway [I'm gonna be okay, I'm gonna be alright]
Close the door behind you [I'm gonna be okay, I'm gonna be alright]
Leave your key
I'd rather be alone than unhappy [there's no more tears left here for you to see]


It's not right but it's okay
I'm gonna make it anyway
Pack your bags up and leave
Don't you dare come running back to me
It's not right but it's okay
I'm gonna make it anyway
Close the door behind you
Leave your key
I'd rather be alone than unhappy


It's not right but it's okay
I'm gonna make it anyway
Pack your bags up and leave
Don't you dare come running back to me
It's not right but it's okay
I'm gonna make it anyway
Close the door behind you
Leave your key
I'd rather be alone than unhappy

Bagaimana pun jua....

AJL 26 - 2012

Opening

Act 1 - Ahvang Jamal with Alleycat's Senandung Semalam. Terpempan akak. Terpempan uols. Leather pants is totally forgiven. Guruh petir tu ada sedikit kureng. Tapi sebab suara dia best again all is forgiven. Kenapa la aku tak dapat ticket nak tengok kat Bukit Jalil sigh

Act 2 - Ahvang Awie pulak. Sepatah haram aku tak tahu lagu ni. Suka hati kau lah labu. Rambut kau tetao ganguan perasaan. Dah hujan pulak sekarang. Hebat pyro ke lampu ke apa benda ni. Company mana buat ni agaknya.Boleh la hire kalau nak buat birthday party sendiri lepas ni theme filem Jodie Foster & Bill Paxton - Twister.

Act 3 - Akak Sheila yang nampak kurus. Damn. Menyanyi lagu cari makan sejak 20 tahun. Err.... boleh tak panggil Ahvang Jamal lagi sekali. Dancers as usual nyemak aje.

Maka keluarlah MC berdua. (Please lah berdua aje) Baju yg gegirl cantik. Yg boboi pakai tie ke tuala kesat pinggan kat dapur tu? Mintak mahap saya tak paham sangat konsepnya. Err butang kat kot pun macam terlebih je. Right skang cue explanation about the night's theme - Air. Aku dengar macam white noise aje... the conclusion that I got? Saya nak buang AIR mendengarnya, sambil mengalirkan AIR mata?

1. Wanita Seluruh Dunia - Projek Pistol:

Hello ahvang2 on the trumpet, trombone and saxophone. Rambut Edrie tetap terbaik (masih tak tahu saloon mana dia pergi). Arrangement and the vocal surprisingly sedap. Cool idea adding in the brass section. Good job! If the lyrics have more depth, perhaps the song will have more substance and might stand a chance to win something tonight.

MC - bla bla bla bla bla deblab lalala yada yada yoya yoya ....Pistol Air. Main tembak-tembak Tah amenda.

2. Sedetik Lebih - Edry Halim/ Jac

Ok nothing beats Ah Vang Nuar I suppose. OK focus. Baju Jac cantik. Sweet color. Dia memang sentiasa pandai pilih what looks good on her. Anyhoo, I thot her voice was too edgy for the song. SO feeling to ada lari sket. Nevertheless, I think she did a very good job considering ni bukan lagu dia kan.

MC - bla bla bla super sub yada yada yada.. penyanyi yang digantikan. You are touching me. Nonsense.

3. Kekanda Adinda - Monoloque/ Atilia:

Ada makcik joget lambak...opps tu penyanyinya. Ok this is too busy. Semua benda nak letak. Nak main guitar tapi pakai kain pelikat. Nak letak angklong tapi ada drummer boy dari sekolah mana ni. This reminds me of the yearly inter school koir and band competition. Cuma aku tak nampak orang pegang recorder dengan castanette aje. Serious macam kelas muzik genderang sekolah rendah. I'm not progressive? Thank god. Next!

MC - pot pet pot pet pot pet.. Depa ni kena kejar train ke apa. Asyik tersyasyul aje.

4. Gadis Semasa - Yuna:

Aku memang tak tau lagu ni. So the first 5 minutes tu macam ... apakah ini? Nak nyanyi ke tak ni? Hmmm.. I can't decide whether I'm liking or dissing this song. There are parts of the vocal that shows some potential and exude coolness. What I can decide though.. is that I'm convinced that I am distrubed and keep on thinking how does one talk to the person sitting next to them with the head gear? Hoodie? On their head... hmmm. Eh dah habis pun lagunya. Good. But what the heck do I know. Suppose if Pharell Williams is producing your song, you must have some fierce music chops.

5. Kalau Berpacaran - Sohaimi Mior Hassan, Altimet & Ana Rafali:

Alamak, ada kedai-kedai kopi pulak. Ok jangan tengok gegirl nyanyi. Gediks la pulak (I guess the song calls for it). Dengar aje. Ok setan naik motor ye. I think this song is nice. They do not need the actors and the surrounding scene. But I thot Ana Rafali sitting amongst the dancers at the table, cool jugak. Tak perasan pun dia.

MC - tepuk amai-amai...belalang kupu-kupu.. tepuk biar ramai.... zzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Oh they were talking about something else? Sounds the same aje.

6. Cinta Muka Buku - Najwa Latif/ Ika Latif:

The video clips of all of the youtube cover version was a good idea. The couple berlakon-berlakon dating not a good idea. The chelo (errr.. tapi tak sedap) not a good idea. Pink is sweet, the dress is not. But against all odds, 16 year old performing for the first time at AJL, I still salute you. There maybe some jitters, but she still hold her own court. A for effort.

Anugerah Juara Mobile - err ye la buat la apa-apa yang patut.

7. Karma - Faizal Tahir:

Standy for over dramatize and flair. Err.... boleh tak terbosan kejap? Hmm esok rasa macam nak pakai suit kaler purple la pergi keje. Macam Barney? All I can say.. the scarf is nice. Hmm why is there no goreng pisang when I need one? Ohhhhh ada kacang pagoda.......BRB.

MC - ada kebakaran? Piano terbakar. Wow.. tak berminatnya.

8. Kisah Hati - Alyah:

Charlie Chaplin? Music Box? Not bad... kudos for idea (the music box..not the charlie impersonator). Tapinya...Tangan tak penat ke? Tak pening ke? I thot the stage looks nice. And her vocal and music sounds good. Baju pun cantik. One thing that I like about this performance is that, dia kuar sorang-sorang aje. OH damnnnnnn spoke too soon. Tu dia Hero Malaya Ah Vang Remi la pulak...sighhhhhhhhh

9. Sungai Lui - Aizat:

Ok bunyi akuarium sape pulak ni. Kenapa dia pakai seluar hijau? Errr... ada sand art pulak. Nice! Tapi if win best performance, mamat sand art ni la patut dapat duit. Hehehe As I said before the song is a great song. But there are better songs out there. So All the Best Aizat.

Australia Open break sat... alaaaa tak sukanya this si Joko menang. Sian Nadal.

10. Penakut - Yuna:

Selamat datang ke pameran lampu over stock dari China. Seriously? Seriously? Bila aku dengar.. ini tidak adil ... ini tidak adil, rasa macam pening plak. At least the arrangement is better than her first song I think. Whatever la.

MC - Sape buat rambut gegirl ni? Le buroks.

11. Awan Nano - M Nasir/ Hafiz:

Silence please! Herman Tino memang terbaek. Best opening. Oh pakai t-shirt kodi dengan track bottom je. Cayalah. The vocals was superb. But I don't really feel the arrangements 3/4 of the song tapi ok la. Ok aku memang kata Herman Tino kena datang. But I would've choregorafed it differently. Aku rasa Hafiz aje yang nyanyi with feel. This one deserve best vocal, best performance and best song. Ambik kau!

12. Seribu Sesalan - Ning, Jac, Shila Amzah:

Standby, semua nak tunjuk vocal chops masing-masing. Err apsal sorang lagi pakai kaler lain? Awwww... I think the night already peaked with Hafiz. So whatever left is not relevant dah. But still this is a good song. And the 3 ladies did a good job indeed. Ok the forums are buzzing about people's ass. Hahah tak senonoh!

Closing:

Tribute to Sudirman by Black, Azlan & Hazama. Soalan, sekarang ni seluar kaler hijau is in ye? Ok, seluar hijau, scarf purple tadi, julian lenon glasses..oh ott hoodie. Right.Hmmm

The music arrangements by Ramli MS, tak perlu dipersoalkan la. I thot it's unique. Tapi yang tengah terkinja-kinja atas stage ni apa ke halnya? CHow Kit Road.. Chow Kit Road.. my fav masa kecik-kecik. Hehehe. Actually terasa macam disconnected pulak. Apasal audience ni refer liriks? Takkan tak tau lagu ni? Mana kacang tadi...BRB.

The AWARD goes to

Best Performance - Alyah (Kisah  Hati) - Nice!
Best Vocal - Hafiz (Awan Nano) - Yeayyyyyyy! Alamak tak tukar baju ke?

3rd Place - Karma - Faizal Tahir & Audi Mok

2nd Place - Beribu Sesalan - 3 Suara. OK please be graceful people. Tergolek sudah...

Best Song - Awan Nano - M Nasir/ Budi Hikayat/ Hafiz - Yezaaaaaaaa.  Hahahahah M Nasir's speech memang best. And I think a big credit goes to Budi sebab aku rasa lirik lagu ni memang best.

T-shirt, track bot and Herman Tino Rawksssssss!

Congratulations! And Good Nite!

Whoa..

Punyalah busy, I almost forgot. Tomorrow is AJL 26. Sheila Majid will be performing the opening act. Yippeeeeeeee

Let's take a close look at the finalist:

1. Kalau Berpacaran oleh Shohaimi Mior Hassan/Ana Raffali/Altimet (Shohaimi Mior Hassan Shohaimi Mior Hassan / Ana Raffali / Altimet) --> A good song to start the night with

2. Karma oleh Faizal Tahir (Audi Mok/Faizal Tahir/Audi Mok/Faizal Tahir) --> Tak tau lagu ni

3. Penakut oleh Yuna (Yuna/Yuna) ---> Ini agak bosan, ini agak bosan.. eh lirik dia ini tidak adil, ini tidak adil..heheh opps.

4. Sedetik Lebih oleh Anuar Zain (Edry Abd Halim/Edry Abd Halim) ---> Aha, might win. Wish Ah Vang Nuar would sing this himself

5. Gadis Semasa oleh Yuna (Yuna/Yuna) ---> Tak tau lagu ni

6. Awan Nano oleh Hafiz (M.Nasir/Budi Hekayat) ---> My pick for Best Song! I lobes this song!

7. Cinta Muka Buku oleh Najwa Latif (Najwa Latif/Ika Latif) ----> Cakap la apa pun, sebab budak ni dari Batu Pahat, aku cakap lagu ni best. A 16 year old to write, perform and sing, market and brand herself out on the net deserves nothing more but total respect!

8. Beribu Sesalan oleh Ning Baizura/Jaclyn Victor/Shila Amzah (Kevin Chin/Tinta) ---> Aha, might also win. Also look out for adegan sabung menyabung suara. Might turn out beautiful.. or ugly :p

9. Kekanda Adinda oleh Atilia & Monoloque (Monoloque/Monoloque) ---> Annoying.

10. Wanita Seluruh Dunia oleh Projek Pistol (Boy Clifford/Boy Clifford) ---> Close 2nd Annoying

11. Sungai Lui oleh Aizat (Aizat/Anas, Aizat/Anas) ---> Lagu ni sedap, sayangnya there are stronger song out there.

12. Kisah Hati oleh Alyah (Manusia Putih/Manusia Putih) ---> Lagu ni pun boleh la. But don't think it can win.

So kita tengok esok, will I be singing a different tune, ke out of tune langsung with my prediction ni. Akhirkata, Awan Nano and Herman Tino rules!

Everytime You Go Away

Last week, me & my colleague discovered that some verses in this song indirectly represents exactly what we felt forthis particular bi-weekly meeting that everyone dreaded. Memang lawak. Either way it's a great song. I like the version in Rebound. How cute is that guy singing it at bedtime ;)

Everytime You Go Away - Hall&Oates, Paul Young and tah sape lagi

Hey
if we can't solve any problems
and why do we lose so many tears?

Oh
so you go again when the leading man appears.
Always the same theme
can't you see
We've got ev'rything going on and on and on.
Ev'ry time you go away you take a piece of me with you.
Ev'ry time you go away you take a piece of me with you.

Go on and go free
maybe you're too close to see.
I can feel your body move
does it mean that much to me.
I can't go on singing the same theme'cause can't you see
We've got ev'rything
baby
even though you know:
Ev'ry time you go away you take a piece of me with you.
Ev'ry time you go away you take a piece of me with you.

Can't go on singing the same theme'cause baby
can't you see
We've got ev'rything going on and on and on.Ev'ry time you go away you take a piece of me with you.
Ev'ry time you go away you take a piece of me with you.
Ev'ry time you go away you take a piece of me with you.
Ev'ry time
ev'ry time you go away - but I don't care -
You take a piece of me with you. Ev'ry time you go away -
Ev'ry time you go away - don't leave me all alone

And breakin' up a piece of me. Ey'ry time you go away.

You Can Do It!

I dedicate this song to the Australia Open 4th Round match between Li Na and Kim Clijsters. Exciting match, true fighting sprit from both ladies. Kim won even when she had to strap down her ankle. With a set down, she managed to claw her way back in the 2nd set, winning a tie breaker though she was 4 points behind. Let this be an inspiration for 2012.

Lobes you, Kim!

Keep Your Head Up - Andy Grammer

I've been waiting on the sunset

Bills on my mindset
I can get deny theyre getting high
Higher than my income
My income's breadcrumbs
I've been trying to survive


The glow that the sun gives
Right around sunset
Helps me realize
This is just a journey
Drop your worries
You are gonna turn out fine
Oh, you'll turn out fine
Fine, oh, you'll turn out fine


But you gotta keep your head up, oh,
And you can let your hair down, eh
You gotta keep your head up, oh,
And you can let your hair down, eh


I know it's hard, know its hard,
To remember sometimes,
But you gotta keep your head up, oh,
And you can let your hair down, eh.


I've got my hands in my pockets,
Kickin these rocks
Its kinda hard to watch this life go by.
I'm buyin in the skeptics,
Skeptics mess with, the confidence in my eyes


I'm seeing all the angles, starts to get tangled
I start to comprimise
My life and the purpose
Is it all worth it,
Am I gonna turn out fine?
Oh, you'll turn out fine


Fine, oh, you'll turn out fine


But you gotta keep your head up, oh,
And you can let your hair down, eh
You gotta keep your head up, oh,
And you can let your hair down, eh

I know it's hard, know its hard,
To remember sometimes,
But you gotta keep your head up, oh,
And you can let your hair down, eh.


Only rainbows after rain
The sun will always come again.
Its a circle, circling,
Around again, it comes around again


Only rainbows after rain
The sun will always come again
Its a circle, circling,
Around again, it comes around,


But you gotta keep your head up, oh,
And you can let your hair down, eh
You gotta keep your head up, oh,
And you can let your hair down, eh


I know it's hard, know its hard
To remember sometimes,
But you gotta keep your head up, oh,
And you can let your hair down, eh


Keep your head up, oh,
And you can let your hair down, eh.
Keep your head up, oh,
And you can let your hair down, eh.
Keep your head up, oh,
And you can let your hair down

1st Concert for 2012

Yes, it's Awie & Ella... at Istana Budaya no less.

There are 6 shows, and we chose the one in the afternoon. Macam tak kuasa nak keluar malam-malam and nak cari parking kat Istana Budaya tu kan. It's not that it does not have enough parking, it's just that there's no parking at all! Apakah all cultured people (kononnya) nak watch arts-whatnot-kesenian, naik helikopter nak pergi sana? Or naik bas atau kayuh basikal mungkin? Apakah.

Ahh who cares...

We only care about the show! And what a show it was. 2 hours non stop of songs upon songs. Awie and Ella playing tag entertaining the audience. No intermission. Bak kata Awie pun, boleh kena buasir! For the first time for a long time, I didn't even record any songs on my phone, sebab nak concentrate punya pasal. Dah la sekarang ni acik-acik kat Istana Budaya dah pakai laser beam power zass. Siapa-siapa yang nak capture picture or record anything kena la pancaran laser.

The concert is suppose to start at 3. Tapi biasa la, pukul 3 tak penuh pun lagi. Memang tak paham bahasa. I suppose half of them got free tickets, so suka hati la nak datang pukul berapakan. Macam open house gitu. The show start at 3.10pm. Nasib baik... kalau tak dah nak terlelap dah. Ada jugak orang yang masuk dekat 4.30pm. Salah print apa ticket? Tergangu aku nak feeling-feeling.

Awie and Ella was not disappointing at all. Very impressive energy and vocal performance, though they already had 2 shows before. I suppose back then, to make it, you must really, really have the chops. Suara depa memang maintain! Speaking of maintain, Ella tersangat la slim! 45 years old looking fine..Damn!

My favorite song? From Awie... most probably Tragedi Oktober. Oh of course, Iris! Then from Ella, (since she didn't sing 'menyonsong matahari' aku), perhaps Sembilu... it's because she got down and run around the crowd. That got everyone in shrieking frenzy. I also love Pengemis Cinta arranagements. And the closing ... I lobes Gemilang and Terima Kasih. Seronok dapat jerit2 macam orang gila. I just wish that Ella sang Permata Biru instead of Awie.

Akhirkata, boleh tak saya nak tahu saloon mana Edrie, Ella and Awie pergi? Edrie dengan Ella... sebab rambut is to die for! Gila cantik ok. Err... Awie.. supaya aku tak pergi kedai tu :P ..heyy but I'm still a fan!

Dengar kata lepas ni Anuar and Ziana pulak. Dah perform kat Espalande, Singapore... takkan tak nak perform kat Istana Budaya ;)

Better Things

It's already a week into 2012. Still feeling uninspired. Instead of writing up that resume or getting on that cross trainer, I'm browsing thru the net, looking for a pick-me-upper song. Here's some that I like:

1. Maybe This Time (from Carbaret) - performed by Kristin Chenowith
2. Home Sweet Home - Motley Crue (but do check the one with Sponge Bob on YouTube! hahah)
3. Stop Crying Your Hear Out - Oasis
4. Time of My Life (from Dirty Dancing, Patrick Swayze can't get any cuter!) - Bille Medley and Jeniffer Warnes
5. Call It What You Want - Foster the People
6. Tonight Tonight - Hot Chelle Rae (La La La Whatever!)
7. Smile - Charlie Chaplin

My favorite is this one from the Kinks - Better Things

Here's wishing you the bluest sky,
And hoping something better comes tomorrow.
Hoping all the verses rhyme,
And the very best of choruses to
Follow all the doubt and sadness.
I know that better things are on the way.


Here's hoping all the days ahead
Won't be as bitter as the ones behind you.
Be an optimist instead,
And somehow happiness will find you.
Forget what happened yesterday,
I know that better things are on the way.


It's really good to see you rocking out
And having fun,
Living like you just begun.
Accept your life and what it brings.
I hope tomorrow you'll find better things.
I know tomorrow you'll find better things.


Here's wishing you the bluest sky,
And hoping something better comes tomorrow.
Hoping all the verses rhyme,
And the very best of choruses to
Follow all the drudge and sadness.
I know that better things are on the way.


I know you've got a lot of good things happening up ahead.
The past is gone it's all been said.
So here's to what the future brings,
I know tomorrow you'll find better things.
I know tomorrow you'll find better things.

Here's to better things in 2012. Aminnn.

And for goodness sake, please let it be Barney and Robin's wedding!