EUH - II/2005

My flatmates semua dah balik, except for Kath. And myself. Itu pun Kath akan pindahkan all her stuffs by tonight as the flat inspection is tomorrow for her. Fiona left last Wednesday, Jane last Friday, Lolly & Sumi this afternoon, and Kath tonite. Huhuhuhuhuhu ... tinggal la aku sensorang kat flat ni. And the TV and microwave pun dah diambil semula. Uwaaaaaa... what a day. Helped Lolly & Sumi just now with their things, byk gak. And goodness, the amount of food yang kena buang punya la byk - sama ada dah expired, dah tak larat nak pack / angkut bawak balik dan yang dah tak nak dimakan. I felt so bad nak buang food tu semua (not my food you know but my friends') sbb masa aku kecik2 dulu, Opah aku kata jangan buang barang makan, tu rezeki katanya. Sebab tu la jugak, bila makan kena cuba abiskan apa yg ada dalam pinggan tu, kalau idak nasi tu menangis. Sampai la skrg ni, aku masih percaya cakapnya tu.

Anyway, I can only move into the new flat by besok or lusa. Dah tu, it's quite a distance jugak. With my junk yg byk ni, it easily requires me to make a few trips to shift all the things. Apa nak buat, nampaknya kena la guna trolley Coles tu. I am going to miss my flatmates much... Here's wishing all the best to Fion & Sumi, may you gals find what you are looking for. To Super Lolly, have a wonderful holiday in Sydney and don't forget to text Ruud, hehehehehe. To Janet, happy savoring the roti canai & the nasi lemak, and Kath, good luck in your clinicals and have a jolly Xmas too. Muah muah ...

Only in Malaysia by LAT

Satu Hari di Hari Isnin

What a day! I have never been as pissed off as I was today. I didn't get any dosage of my Internet routines until now. Yup, I was blocked to go online by those ********* ! Why? I suspected it must be my downloading some pics that Lolly sent me last nite through the msger. Eh, tu gambar aje la, bukannya pornographic pics. Buduhhssss ... I went to uni and there I was in my workstation figuring out what the heck happened to my PC, until I realised that I was not allowed the access to go online. I was on the verge of bursting into anger when I said to myself that it would not help at all. So I went back to the flat and started working on the draft that I have left untouched for 1 week. Well, it is still in progress though. Just bits and pieces to write, delete, re-write, re-type, etc etc etc. Ok, in other words, no Internet is also good so that I can focus better in my work, hehehehehe. Now I am not angry anymore.

Another highlight of the day was the Australian Idol 2005. After sitting in front of the TV for more than an hour, we were finally revealed that Kate has won the Idol title. Bravo gal! Though I have always had my preference on Emily, I thought Kate did fairly well too. She surely has sheer determination to win after trying for 3 consecutive years, and she is just 19. She won herself a contract with Sony (I think) and a Mazda. Emily, on the other hand, has always been one incredible singer. She is definitely going to make it big here in Australia. And I bet si Radio Besar mesti unhappy as Emily didn't win - itu kan fave singer dia. For me, if others can't appreciate the differences in others' talents, then s/he not really tasted what life is. Sometimes, you ought to realise that things do not get around to be in your favour all the time. Winning or losing isn't about being on the centre stage. It's having the courage to face the challenge and to believe in what you are doing that matter most -- like in the Impossible Dream -- as what Kate sang tonite. After the Idol punya show, we watched Queer as Folks and one French movie. Thanks to Super Lolly, now I am addicted to them too.

What else, hmmmm. I had quite a busy week minggu lepas actually. Let's see ... I went out to lunch with K. Yuss and her mates at the Monties Brasserie. I think the food there is quite delicious, and the ambience is certainly great for a get-together. I met Marie, Jean, satu makcik SPore (tak ingat dah nama dia) and Tim. LOL, terkejut bila nampak si Tim kat situ and he too. Makcik-makcik tu semua semuanya dah 60 lebih, but still studying. And Marie and Jean are actually half Abo. although they look as if they are pure mat saleh. They told me about their childhood - and I just couldn't believe what they have gone through. Not a sweet, but an unforgettable one I can assure you. Respect la sama dorang, walaupun dah ada cucu masih ada will to keep their mind ticking. Tim seperti biasa cakap byk and he apologised profusely when I first arrived about provoking me during the one day conference. Come on mate, I am not that easily offended la. Sheeesshhh ... kadang-kadang the state of being overly-concerned macam tu can really irritate you. The lunch went well, I enjoyed the company of the makciks and the chicken laksa.

Apa lagi ye ... ha, I went out to lunch with Sophie last Friday. Lepas lunch ngan geng K. Yuss, I think I should also do that with my other mates. So, I had lunch kat Engineering ngan Sophie. She isn't that bad actually, dia pun tak de kawan. Amin wasn't around and hehehehe, bagus jugak. Kalau bercakap ngan dia mesti tak bleh menang. Ada je benda yg tak kena. But I don't ignore them as much as before. And I think Sophie told him in Swahili that we went out together. Amin kata maybe we should do that more often memandangkan aku dah tak "skema". Cheh! Mulut laser betul. And he said that they have to appreciate the relationship with a Malaysian, duuuhhhhh.

Next, I had a haircut last Saturday. I told the hairstylist to make it short, so short it is now. After months tak gunting rambut, finally ada la rasa ringan sikit kepala. And tak de la selebet teruk sgt ... tapi masih selebet sikit. I really miss my trips to Sam's place. No one can beat him ... but Danae wasn't that bad too. At least it was better that the one that I had at Verona's.

Then, I went to Freo with Lolly last Sunday. Huh ... gi shoppinggg, makan kat Cicerello's lagi. I had seafood tray and Lolly had the grilled garfish. The serving was big ... and needless to say, we all punya perut pun jadi sekenyang yg boleh. Lepas makan, pegi melawat the Maritime Museum. Kat dalam museum tu ada byk maritime nyer historical exhibits. Melaka, Muar, Pahang, Penang, Pulau Sembilan, tu semua ada masuk lam map yg dilukis pada tahun 1657 (kalau tak salahnya). Can you believe that! Terasa macam going back to the past pulak. I was really amazed with some of the artefacts that they have there. Menarik sebenarnya ... Hehehehehe ... I like Freo during the weekends. Ada ramai orang, but semua pun santai saja. We had ice cream from Simmo's at the Cappuchino strip and as usual gi Market Square. Singgah at one secondhand book store - Elizabeth's. Best woooo ... dan jumpa quite a number of Malaysian tourists too. I talked to 2 masa dalam bas. The husband was nice but the wife, aiseehhhhhhh ... show off nyer lady. She must have thought that I might be one selebet looking student who's trying to make a pass at the hubby. Alooooooo makcik, ppl are trying to be nice to you, so tak yah la nak eksyen. Macam la aku ni kebuloq nak sgt kat laki hang. That's the reality here actually. Even the OZs greet and talk to you bila they see you, paling koman pun exchange smiles. Orang kita??? Hampehhh ... dia ingat dah cukup bagus datang bercuti di Perth for 1 week. Kiss my arse la kakak ... I should listen to K. Yuss, tak yah nak tegur orang dari Msia. Dorang bukannya appreciate pun. Kalau Datin tu tak pe la gak, ni alahaaaiiiii ... kerek semacam je . Mentang-mentang la aku pakai baju yg dah faded, jeans buruk, bawak beg plastik hang pandang rendah kat aku. Tak pe la ... biaq pi apa dia nak pikir. Yang aku tau ... the "real" aku adalah jauh lebih vogue dari apa yg dia pikir. Hahahahahaha perasan le plak ... bapak aku kata, biar orang ingat kita miskin, kita tak berduit, kita bodoh, kita tak tau apa-apa, as long as you keep your cool. Yang penting, kita tahu siapa kita yg sebenarnya.

OK ... this is a long post. Better stop here. Nak bobok ...

Malaysia di WA

This event took place the very evening after I had the DoP. Jadinya, sambungan cerita hari Jumaat. K. Yuss came to pick me up at the residence to go to the Convention Park in East Victoria. Ada sambutan Hari Raya untuk semua warga Malaysia di WA. Penganjur? Kelab UMNO cawangan WA. We all bukan ahli, tapi turut dihantar jemputan. Sambutan kali ini untuk meraikan hari raya bersama semua pelajar Msia di sini, yang bekerja di sini dan juga warga Malaysia yg telah berhijrah ke mari. And that was the first time I saw many Malaysians under one roof. Ramaiiii ooooo ... Melayu, Cina & India and ada jugak several OZs. Dewan tu besar and berkumandang lah lagu2 raya yg evergreen tu ... sedihhhh gak rasanya.

Abg Ramli dah beli kereta baru, kale merah gitu. Rata2 semua orang pakai baju kebangsaan. Nasib baik lah aku pakai baju kurung, kalau idak mesti rasa out of place. Hehehehe ... apa lagi, pakai baju raya, ada gak yg pakai "lain2", LOL. Biasa la kannn, bila lagi nak melaram. I met all my kakaks yg dah lama tak jumpa. Semua pakat marah sebab aku tak gi Open House tu ari. But I felt really good. Pengerusi Kelab UMNO kat sini is a lady, jgn memain2. She is a very nice lady, K. Jumi namanya. Tapi dia kata panggil Aunty je la. Hehehehe, tak le sampai nak panggil makcik. Bersembang ngan all the gang, K. Zura as usual dgn motivasinya, Eda tak berapa sihat, Nazlida ok, Hani tgh bahagia sementara Amran ada kat sini, K. Ijan ok, haaaa ... K. Sal lost weight gila2 since I last met her, K. Adlina maintain vogue cam biasa, K. Chik pun gitu. Abg Musa & gang bukak korum bersembang ngan begitu rancak lagi ngan konsulat kat sini. Jumpa orang Swak gak, K. Faezah. Dia kenal Tina, which reminds me that I should email her soon. Dah lost contact since the Morib "expedition" that day. Pendek kata, semua pun riang ria di hari raya la lebih kurang. Makan pun soooodaappp. Ada satay, nasi minyak, laksa, kuih muih, dll. And the best part is that, this sounds so "hiaw hia" ... I saw 2 cuties. LOL, masih sempat lagi dalam hiruk pikuk tu. Ada byk undergrads yg attended the makan2, but one boy was just outstanding. Well, dia dok mengadap aku bila makan, and whenever I looked up, dia mesti tgh tgk meja we all ... tu namanya perasan kannnn, ngan budak pulak tu .... haihhhh ... and then, there is this one man, very fair, dressed up rather formally ngan baju kemeja batiknya. Maybe he's one of the VIP kut, sbb he was ushering in the guests. He came over to talk to K. Ijan & K. Zura. Nak tanya K.Zura kang obvious la plak ... LOL.

Apapun, I enjoyed myself very much that Friday. Siang gi conference, malam gi makan. I wanted to type in this part earlier, tapi bila balik malam tu penat sgt. Tu yg sekerat-sekerat. And semalam gi shopping kat Carousel. Orang punya la ramai sbb the mat salehs dah start shopping for Xmas. Dorang nyer barang untuk Xmas memang banyak, colorful pulak tu. Bermacam2 jenis food, decoration, etc. What did I buy? Jeng jeng jeng ... a bag. I kind of spent a lot juga, butttttttttttt ... I didn't do any shopping for myself for quite some time. So, I am not going to fret on what I have bought yesterday. Cheers mate!

Sebelas Sebelas Dua Ribu Lima

Power to the People

Artist: Jacqueline Jong, 1968 Victoria University Library, Toronto, Canada

Provocation was the theme for today. To tell you the truth, I was too nervous the night before to even think about the title of the conference - a DoP (acronym). I just didn't know what to expect. And the first impression I had when I arrived at the venue confirmed that. There's many OZs for sure, but nearly all looked disntinguished and "associated" to the theme of the day, except for yours truly la. But at 6.30pm today, I was walking back to my residence with a smile of my face. I have had a really wonderful day. I made new friends, and I got to learn more about culture.

There were 13 small groups altogether. The topics varied according to the interest of the participants (pre-determined earlier). I requested for the Culture group, and after a short coffee break, we headed to the lecture theatre for the Opening of the conference. There were 3 different speakers to welcome the participants to the day's event. The speakers were certainly thought provoking in each of their presentation. So I thought, hey not bad for a start.

I had a really great bunch of people in my group - very talented , far-sighted intellectuals - that is minus me. Hehehehehe, there were 3 OZs, 1 Welsh and 1 Chinese and we also had a sit-in member, a very wonderful Aboriginal lady. All of us are from different backfrounds such as journalism, language, geography, Aboriginal studies, media and nursing. We quickly became adapted to the topic, discussing things from our own personal views. I learn many new things that have never interest me before. Being already provoked, it lingered in my mind that there I was, listening to this one white man talking about some Aboriginal tribes in my own country that I myself have never taken the effort to know about. This man was narrating his experience in my country with my people. I felt so malu. But I was glad to discuss that out. I explained what they should know about Malaysia, and I believed that the discussions have brought them greater understanding of how things are in Malaysia. It was good as I get to see things the way they see it. We also talked about country, nationhood, ethnicity, race, skin color, resistence, art, geograpy, place, home, traditon, religion, beliefs, education, theory of "whiteness", identity, and loads and loads of other things. Meriel, Qian, Julie, Shaphan and Tim were really great thinkers who just worked as things cropped up. Our discussions were not theorectical at all when compared to the other groups, yet distinct. We just went with the flow - for nothing is definite. And the presence of Mingili was inspiring. She talked about her people. Being such a unique person and one who is very proud of her backgroud, I admire the respect that she has gained from the rest of the community here in WA. I know that she has seen so much in her life and she will always remain as the first Aborigine that I really have the chance to interact with. Needless to say, the experience was awesome. And yeah, we went to the Gallery too for the closing of an exhibition by some final year students. And do not ask me about it, as I am totally lost when it comes to appreciating arts as such. At least, Meriel said she could appreciate the sculpture.

And after not standing in front of an audience for quite some time, I was also nervous when we had to present our "provocative piece". But I did it! And I was very proud doing so. My voice might have shrilled, but I was proud to "show" them my country. Each one of us said something in our own mother tongue, and Tim sang an Aboriginal song. If you were to sum it up, the "provocative" piece is just like the language of culture - Shaphan said that statement was profound, hehehehehe. You just can't define what is precisely the thing that you call culture. It's dynamic (this is Julie's), it's too subjective to be categorised into fixed order or class. Afterall, as pointed out by Tim, we are first and foremost just mere human beings (if I quoted that correctly).

So, we had several workshop sessions where we interrogated the borders, unpacked the assumptions and produced the provocative. And the organisers were so thoughtful by specially providing me with halal food. I was touched. The day ended with a sundowner, not that I drink, but it was just a session to wrap up the whole group thingy and we promised to keep in touch with each other. I really hope so.

Kalau ada sumur di ladang,

Boleh saya menumpang mandi,

Kalau ada umur yang panjang,

Boleh kita berjumpa lagi ...

Though it had been a long day, I was happy that I attended this one-day conference. It was a conference with a different approach, exactly a new experience to me. All in all, I had a very provocative day, of being provoked and to provoke (I hope).

Malam Rabu

The Secret Life of Us traces the lives of eight twenty-somethings living within a Melbourne apartment block who are all looking for the same thing - love, romance, success and anything else that's worth going after.

So they say ... I kinda like it. Though it's been running for more than 1 season here, tonite was the first time I watched it. Something like The Last Man Standing. The Secret Life of Us ... how apt ...

http://www.triotv.com/secretlife/

James Bond 007

I am supposedly to attend the Raya Open House skrg ni. Tapinya tak pegi. Sakit perut la, "diarrhoiea" gitu. I felt so bad

Anyway, I attended my Residence Gala Dinner 2005 last nite. That was my first social formal event here. Well, semi-formal as they termed it. The theme was James Bond 007. I went with my flatmates, except for si Radio Besar - Jane, Lolly, Kath & Fiona. Kath drove us there in her new car. Semua orang bergaya last nite, with dress masing2 and make-up lagi. I thought of wearing my baju kurung, but later put on my skirt and blouse, and the heels. Geeee ... it has been quite some months that I have not put on any make-up on my face, have not used any heels or even have not had the needs to melaram ... until last night. Tiba2 je terasa nak "over" sket. But as usual, my state of being "over" is usually an understatement. Gempak je lebih. But I am glad I did take the time to pamper myself a bit. My dad always reminds me that, try to respect the occassion even if you don't feel like it. By that he means, your attire and your demeanour.

Sooo, there we were. Put on our wristband (if you don't, you will not be served your food), and greeted Tom, Wendy and hubby at the entrance. Tom gave us a pen - with a message in it. The idea was great but it'd been better if they vary the messages . When we got in, nearly all the tables were filled up. We ended up shifting to 2 different places, till we decided to join Lolly's friends from China. The venue for the dinner was actually at the Hockey Stadium. We thought it'd be an open-aired event, only to discover that it has a bar attached to it too. Quite a big one too. No BYO alcohol, but the soft drinks are free flow. Ade finger food and dips. The pies were really nice, the dips were great too, except for the sandwiches. I went for roast lamb and beef, with a bit of pasta, gardern salad, fried rice, baked potatoes, etc. The rice was not good but the lamb & beef roast were really tasty. Tender and succulent. Jane told me that the roast chicken was also good. All the food served mmg halal, as to cater to the Muslim students attending the dinner .

I was glad that I put on the dress that I was wearing. Most of the OZs really dressed up to the occassions, though it was a semi-formal one. Tapi ada jugak la beberapa yg ala-ala syok sendiri bawak pistol & machine gun. Hehehehehe ... As compared to Asians, it could easily be seen how different our definition of "semi-formal" was to them. There were those who dressed up really gorgeous, and at another extreme there were also those who just dressed up casually, really really "casual". Saw some cuties too, tapi semuanya mcm budak2. Terasa tua plak, hehehehe . We snapped some pics, and left before dessert. Jane nak balik, and Fiona not feeling well. I knew that Lolly wanted to stay longer though, and as for me, either way was ok. No qualms on that. Well, Wendy told us that there would be a dance session after dinner, and we missed that. Not that I have a date to dance with, but who knows ... LOL Though we left early, I had fun. What a Bond nite ...

Malam Raya ...

Telefon Mak.
Deme raya esok.
Dia tengah sibuk masak nasi impit & kuah kacang.
Itu kegemaran ku ...
Line pulak tak berapa clear.
Dia kata tak dengo,
Jenuh juge bertempik ...
Cucu Opah Nab sebelah tengah buat bising.
Apa nak buat ...
Dari dulu memang macam tu.
Masa kita orang kecik dulu pun, bising gak.
Dia sampai pukoi 1 tadi.
Pergi market, beli ayam, beli lemang.
Rumah bersih katanya ...
Dah bentang carpet dah.

Sembang ngan Apak.

Pasal research ku, pasal flatku, pasal menu berbuka malam ni.

Aku cakap, nasi dengan lauk udang semalam.

Masa bercakap, terdengar orang bang, azan dari madrasah.

Sayu rasanya, macam aku ada di rumah.

Tak lama pas tu, Mak kata takbir raya.

Aku tak ada.

Selamat Hari Raya Mak, Apak

Selamat Hari Raya Opah, Tok.

Tahun ni, Ita tak dapat balik.

Tahun ni, Ita tak dapat ke kubor jumpa Opah, jumpa Tok.

Telefon Mak Nyah.
Mak Nyah tak sihat,
Gaut ngan gastrik.
Katanya ..."aku dah tua, udah 60 lebih"
Sedih aku dengo.
Ya, kita tak sedar.
Kita semakin tua, deme pon sama juga.
Katanya lagi ...
"Opah kamu dah tak de, Tok kamu pon tak ada"
"Wa kamu, esok genap le 100 hari"
Orang ramai di market hari nih.
Tumbang jugak le sekor dua ayam katanya.
Anak cucu semua balik.
Mak Nyah sibuk nak kenduri pas raya ni.
Acai nak kawin.
Dengan orang Juru.
Mak Nyah kata nikah ari Jumaat depan.
Mempelai sana ari Sabtu
Aku tak dapat balik meraikan dia & isteri.
Tapi aku tumpang gembira.
Kami rapat masa kecik, walaupun slalu "bercako" org Perak kata
Aku anggap dia macam abang aku sendiri
Walaupun bila dewasa masing-masing dengan jalan sendiri
Semoga berbahagia Acai ...

Sembang ngan Abang.

Katanya telepon dari mana ni? Dari Ausralia ke??

Ya ... aku kata.

Abang ngan family sampai kol 4 tadi.

Dok kat Langkawi katanya bolehhhhh laaa...

Bleh makan angin sana katanya.

Ari Sabtu ni balik Kedah.

Sebab ari Isnin K. Balkis kerja.

Dan nak simpan cuti nak balik kenduri minggu depan.

Betul gak tu.

Sembang ngan Akak.
Dia kata baru balik dari rumah Opah Cu.
Penuh rumah kenduri tadi.
Akak singgah rumah sana jugak.
Mak tengah masak rendang.
Kegemaran ku juga ...
Akak kata dengo suara ku ngan clear, macam kat Msia
Dia kata, raya kat tempat orang macam dia beraya kat Sabah dulu
Tapi kan, di Sabah kalau tak de lemang tak pe.
Masih di bumi Msia, masih bleh dengo lagu raya.
Tapi kat sini ... Mana kan sama ...
Katanya lagi, tahun ni tak buat kuih raya.
Tempah aje dari orang Lenggong.
Kuih kampung, mesti sedap ...
Abg Hasan balik esok, si Hafizi dah masuk Darjah 2
Katanya lagi, K. Balkis mengandung semula.
Anak no. 5, hehehehe ... rezeki namanya tu.

Acai & Amir blom balik.

Mungkin besok aku telefon lagi

nak bercakap ngan Acai & Amir.

Rindu gak pada si Kurus tu.

Dia ibarat adik pada aku.

Masa kecik aku slalu gak buli dia,

Tapi aku sayang dia masa dia dok ngan aku & Opah

Sampai skrg, aku masih ingat dia budak lagi.

Dah bleh jadi bapak budak, dah 25.

Lepas Acai kawin, dia pulak.

Mak Nyah kata, semua pulun orang utara.

Amir pulak orang pantai timur.

Misi gituuuuu ...

K. Yuss telefon jugak.
Katanya jangan raya besok.
Orang Indon raya besok, PR raya besok.
Tapi masjid kat Perth raya ari Jumaat.
Jadinya kita di tempat orang, ikut saja ari Jumaat.
Iya jawabku.
Bersembang tentang Open House.
Maaf pintaku, sebab tak datang & tak dapat menolong.
Tak pe katanya.
Jangan lupa datang ari Ahad.
Ada Open House.
Aku kata, mungkin kut nanti aku bawak Maruku.
Yang akan ku beli di Coles, kiranya ada.
Ala-ala macam Deepa-Raya.
Ya... aku akan pergi nanti.

Itu lah malam raya ku tahun ini.

Malam raya jauh dari keluarga.

Malam raya yang sunyi,

kecuali bunyi radio beso si S****tra yg kuat nak mam*** tu.

Malam raya yang tak de panjut,

Malam raya yang tak dengo bunyi meriam buluh dari kampung beca

Malam raya yang belum pernah aku rasa

... sungguh sungguh jauh dari semua orang

Salam Lebaran dari Perth

Selamat Menyambut Hari Raya Aidilfitri

dan

Maaf Zahir Batin