Damailah Di Sana...

Idola - Azlan The Typewriter

Pupus Kini Lunak Suara
Lenyap Sempurna, Tiada Terkata

Namun Masih Ada Di Dunia
Pengorbananya, Perjuangannya

Ku Nyanyikan Lagu Yang Kau Laung Dulu
Untuk Sembuhkan Duka Lara Ku
Walaupun Tidak Bersua
Bagi Ku Engkau Lagenda
Damailah Di Sana Bebas Di Angkasa
Lahirkanlah Jiwa Abadikan Cinta
Moga Bercahaya Di Atas Kurnia
Sentiasa Bersama Dengannya

Luput Kini Tutur Bahasa
Hilai Tawanya, Senyum Manisnya, Hei..

Namun Masih Ada Di Dunia
Pengorbananya, Perjuangannya

Ku Nyanyikan Lagu Yang Kau Laung Dulu
Untuk Sembuhkan Duka Lara Ku
Walaupun Tidak Bersua
Bagi Ku Engkau Lagenda
Damailah Di Sana Bebas Di Angkasa
Lahirkanlah Jiwa Abadikan Cinta

Moga Bercahaya Di Atas Kurnia
Sentiasa Bersama, Ooo…
Berpandukan Teori Hidup Mu Yang Lalu
Ku Sambung Perjalanan Jauh
Yang Harus Ditempuh Durinya

Hilang Tiada Tumbuh Ganti Larut
Meninggalkan Rasa Pilu Sedih Sebak Hiba
Kerana Engkau Idola, Wooo…..
Lahirkanlah Jiwa Abadikan Cinta
Moga Bercahaya Di Atas Kurnia
Sentiasa Bersama Dengan Nya

Damailah Di Sana Hei…
Bebas Di Angkasa
Lahirkanlah Jiwa Abadikan Cinta
Moga Bercahaya Di Atas Kurnia
Sentiasa Bersama Dengan Nya, Oooo…

Namun Masih Ada Di Dunia
Pengorbananya, Perjuangannya

Komposer: Audi Mok
Lirik: Azlan

You would be 35 today and receive some silly text from me...but Allah has a better plan for you.
Insha Allah, you will always be in my thoughts and prayers, my friend.

Al-Fatihah

AJL 27 - 2013

AJL is here again with it's 27th edition. This year's theme is Gabungan Seni dan Musik or is it Ekspresi Seni. The website state Gabungan Seni dan Musik, the host said Ekpresi Seni. As promised by the production team behind the ere w('anugerah berprestij') show, the theme will allow lots of creativity in the  artists' performances as well as the grahic display to be used thru out the night. We'll see..hmm

Opening - Mek Sah kuar nyanyi Bunga-Bunga Cinta juara tahun 2003. The graphics had already started with Mek Sah standing in front what appears to be a haunted house from a cartoon/animated film. And I suppose the reason why she is wearing white, is so that they could flash more 'graphics' on her.. started
with obor-obor motif.. then when the chorus kicks in.. yes you guest it.. daun-daun berguguran.. cumanya.. kat Malaysia ni takde mapple leave.. tapi daun yang gugur tu daun mapple leave. Macam mana tu? Ok lah di maapkan sebab mana pulak nak cari motif daun jambu ke.. daun pisang ye tak?

Next, Ziana Zain. Yeay. But then, she's in a 80s MTV music video singing a song that I don't know. I would have forgiven her if she sang anyone of her classic :(

Ziana was followed by Faizal Tahir with Anti Gravity.. hence a space ship projected behind him, complete with some dude floating in space. It could be him, but at this point I don't give a rat's ass. It looks errmmm amatuerish? And then I lift my head and take a look again at Faizal Tahir. Perhaps he's staying in Bandar Sri Permaisuri that do not have water for the pass 8 days.. muka macam tak mandi.

Opps... that concluded the opening. What just happened? I'm not at all pumped up? Here comes the host... they introduced the songs.. with some I dunno.. let's call it 3D effect? That.. was quite entertaining. The ombak.. the pelangi.. the bintang... but they could do with lesser stuff in the background.

Perhaps just the two of them, white background and the effect.

Let's move on to the performances.

1. Ombak Rindu - Adira & Hafiz
Komposer : Nurzaidi Rahman
Penulis Lirik : Nurzaidi Rahman

How was it? - I didn't watch Ombak Rindu, neither a fan of Aaron Aziz. So Whatever monolugue he was rambling left me bemused.But the fans seems to love it.The stage lit up with Adira hidden somewhere in the middle of ... I want to say a coral reef? But then after there's more light... and the smoke clears up, rupanya dia duduk celah2 bunga. Hafiz pulak diri atas kotak kot? Let's not even discuss what was The songs is nice.. I thot both of them did well..all is not lost... but wait... here comes Haron again. On stage. To carry away Adira. Kenapa Hafiz tak boleh angkat?

2. Patah Seribu - Shila Amzah
Komposer : Shila Amzah
Penulis Lirik : Shila Amza

How was it? - Ada monologue jugak. It's not necessary. Somehow, I might have mistunderstood this.... but macam dia kata bila nak mati nanti ada orang akan call? Erk... I don't really like her baju. But whatever. I thot her voice is brilliant. Though her concentration might have been messed up with the monologue. The music arrangement... maybe the original sounds better. Ohh.. masih ada asap2 atas stage. Ni lebih yang performance tadi ke? I thot the backdrop looks good though. Good choice of graphic.

3. Simetri - Hazama & Amy Search
Komposer : Audi Mok
Penulis Lirik : Firdaus

How was it? - I'm not a fan of this song at all. I think there are better songs out there. Kuar asap lagi. OK.. ni macam metal tapi rambut macam rasta? OK, let's stick with the song and the performance. Ermmm.. still not a fan. OOwwwwwwwwowww.. Eh wait.. is that Edrie Hashim with the fab looking hair on guitar?
That hair is definitely *swoon* factor. Lama pulak lagu ni.. I need nourishment STAT!

4. Idola - Azlan & The Typewriter
Komposer : Audi Mok
Penulis Lirik : Azlan

How was it? I thot the voice and the music were superb. Best Vocal so far. So I take that this is Phantom of the Opera theme. Azlan and the band tu smart la jugak. Yang backup singer macam mime tu ada sket ganguan perasaan sebab ada certain tu aku tengok macam Amish pun ada. Hahahaha.

5.Pelangi Senja - Stacy
Komposer : Taja
Penulis Lirik : Tun Teja

How was it? - Errmmm... Ok, I love the song. I love the video clip. I love Stacy. But let's be honest, the performance were a bit here and there. I like the idea of them bringing the kayu bakau pier on the stage. Macam video clip la kan. Aku ganguan perasaan dengan dancer yang nak bawak train of materials kat baju Stacy tu. I think it's disturbing her... then the music were too loud. And the backup singer sounds odd. I think the hair and dress for stacy is wrong. Arghhh whyyyyy.... but I have to say this. I admire her determination... she wants it bad. All the best Stacy. I lobes u no matter what.

6.Lagu - Bedroom Sanctuary
Komposer : Bo Amir Iqram
Penulis Lirik : Bo Amir Iqram

How was it? - Ok la. I appreciate the simplicity of the performance and the singer sticking to originality. Sempoi. And the gimik pun boleh la di maapkan. Entertaining.. but maybe not going to win anything. Walau apa pun, good job bro!

7. Tanpamu - Amir Jahari
Komposer : Amir Jahari
Penulis Lirik : Amir Jahari

How was it? - I read somewhere that the 'entourage' for this performance will be the biggest and kecoh in this AJL. Hmm... yang menepuk ni aku rasa mcm salah key. Yang lain tu ok la. I think he should just go with the 'stompers'.... dah kecoh sangat aku tak dengar dia nyanyi. And kenapa dia aje yang kaler-kaler muka. Apa ke maknanya? If aku tutup mata, the music arrangement is quiet good actually.

8. Teman Pengganti - Black & Malique (RJ)
Komposer : Malique
Penulis Lirik : Malique

How was it? - Ok openingnya... aku sudah terpukau...Pastu Black appeared from the turning platform. Nice... Then the wrapper who looks like a representative from MIC appeared and rapping out. Ok lagi... then things turns into circle. Hahahah I think the timing for the platform is a bit off. So bila part Rap,orangnya ngadap belakang. Bila part nyanyi orangnya kat belakang. Aku gelak gila. Nevertheless the song and the performance is good. I think the song should win something.

9. Terukir Di Bintang - Yuna (Aizat)
Komposer : Yuna
Penulis Lirik : Yuna

How was it? - Hahahahhaha I lobes this one. I'm not really a fan of Yuna nor Aizat. But I thot Aizat did a great job. Misai dia tu betul ke tak? Macam misai gatai.. but it suits the character i suppose. The expression on his face is priceless. Hahahahah.. as if to say.. "aku ni nyanyi lagu orang je". Hahahah. The performance was sweet. I vote this one wins best performance!

10. Ku Akui - Hafiz
Komposer : Ajai
Penulis Lirik : Ajai

How was it? - Honestly aku tak pernah dengar lagu ni. But overall, I thot the performance was good. Hafiz's voice was superb. And the music accompanying him was brilliant and not over the top. Erkk.. maybe this could win something as well? Best Vocal at least.

11. Andai Ku Bercinta Lagi - Mojo
Komposer : Edry Abdul Halim
Penulis Lirik : Edry Abdul Halim

How was it? - What can I say about a sudden resurgance of the French Revolution on the stage? Lagu ok la.. suara pun boleh la.. tapi costume dari kain langsir tu and Ms Marsha yg dah mcm bride/ Mary Antoinette... aku mcm blur batak kejap. Oh ada Edry tadi. Tak perasan.

12. Anak Kampung Jimmy Palikat & One Nation Emcee
Komposer : Jimmy Palikat
Penulis Lirik : Jimmy Palikat

How was it? - Sekampung bah, naik pentas. Takde kuda aje. I lobes the kebaya worn by Mimi at the begining. Aku memang suka lagu ni. I think the lyric to this song is honest and sincere. Whatever happens, kudos to Jimmy Palikat and One Nation Emcee. Though there's a lot of people on stage, everything works well. I would suggest to the tourism board to use this performance to promo Visit Malaysia Year 2014!


Interlude - Rock Never Dies.

Rock Legend with Guitar Heroes.Sessi goreng keropok lekor berlarutan selama 5 minit....tahan sebab tunjuk Edrie Hashim dengan rambut lawa. Another 5 minutes... sabarrr (mcm sabar aku tunggu air 8 hari dah takde)...

Rahmad Mega with Bayangan Gurauan. Hoo... here comes Rempit Me. Heheh.

Aris Ariwatan with Lamunan Terhenti... OMGGGGGGG Lagu wajib karaoke. Tapi awat mcm off je dia nyanyi. Apa ni abang? Frust akak uols. Apa pun, I lobes this song to death. Hahahahah.... lalu kau menolak (pause)... berbalas renungan... takde yang lagi best dari emo nyanyi part ni kat RedBox.

Joey of BPR with Seribu Tahun Tak Akan Mungkin .....wheeeee suara bro ni best siut. Lepak aje. Ni pun lagu fav akak.

KE TEPI SEMUA.. this is how it should be done: Ramli Sarip! Kamalia... WOWWEEEEE... I think Ramli Sarip has single handedly redeemed the night. Suara power gila.

And now the result...(who cares.. they had me at ..Tiba-tiba langkahku terhenti... tadi)

Best Performance - Teman Pengganti - Black & RJ

Best Vocal - Ku Akui - Hafiz (lagi... 2 tahun berturut-turut...) well done Hafiz.

3rd Place - Ku Akui - Ajai/ Hafiz

2nd Place - IDOLA - Audi Mok / Azlan and The Typewriter.

Juara Lagu ke 27...(drum roll please..): HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHA. Terukir Bintang - Yuna.

Please appreciate the irony here: Yuna has not won.. but when she's not around, her song won. hahah Aizat menang dengan misai gatai.

Good night all!

Siapakah pilihan anda?

The finalist for AJL 27 base on order of appearance tomorrow. My fav is no 5 and 12... but i think (tuhan tolongg..) no 6 might win.

1. Lagu – Bedroom Sanctuary

2. Teman Pengganti – Black & RJ

3. Patah Seribu – Shila Amzah

4. Idola – Azlan & The Typewritter

5. Pelangi Senja – Stacy

6. Ombak Rindu – Hafiz & Adira

7. Tanpa Mu - Amir Jahari

8. Ku Akui – Hafiz

9. Terukir Di Bintang – Yuna

10. Andaiku Bercinta Lagi – MOJO

11. Simetri – Hazama & Amy Search

12. Anak Kampung – One Nation Emcees & Jimmy Palikat

p/s: posting via blogger apps in iphone ..coolness (syok sendiri mode)

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.