Go the Distance

Although I don’t like the movie ‘Hercules’ very much, “Go the Distance” is one of my favoritest Disney song. I only like the original version by Michael Bolton, his deep voice goes well with the song’s theme of not giving up, achieving your dreams and being a true hero. Other versions just don’t work for me.

As it’s very difficult to find this video,  I’m posting the video on my blog so I’ll always remember this song. Until today, I have forgotten of how much I love “Go the Distance” until I heard it while was shopping for yogurt at Cold Storage this morning. My thank yous go to the person in charge of playlist-of-the-day at Cold Storage, Suria KLCC.

‘Reflection’, performed by Christina Aguilera in ‘Mulan’ is another song in a Disney movie that I loved. ‘Mulan’ is a great movie too!

p/s: This entry is dedicated to Hafizd as he introduced me to Microsoft Live Writer and this is my first entry using this software :)

Pelamin

My Pelamin

Sudah semakin dekat musim cuti skolah skrang neh and aku pon dah dapat like 5 invitations untuk weekend 30 & 31 Mei alone! Tu blom kire lagi weekend mase Hari Keputeraan Yang DiPertuan Agong lagi.

Musim orang getting hitched nie always reminds me of my own wedding (that was like over 10 months ago, sudah bukan pengantin baru lagi rupenye aku neh). Sebab aku sgt berpuas hati with the works of my wedding consultants (ehe...consultant ke?), I'd like to share them with those looking for ideas for their wedding (or sister's wedding, daughter's wedding, etc.)

I've shared some pointers on my hantaran, and now this is on My pelamin. Aku nye pelamin dulu was designed so that it can serve the following purposes:

1. As a stage untuk khatam al-quran.


2. Obviously, utk menepung tawar pengantin for malam berinai & bersanding.


3. Most importantly, pelamin aku nie mesti sesuai & masuk ngn sme tema2 baju for 4 different occasions (khatam - peach & pink, nikah - cream & gold, berinai - red, bersanding - apple green). So that dalam gambar nanti xdelah nampak pelik. Ehe~

Yup, byk sungguh event nye. Sbbnye ialah aku nie anak & cucu sulung from my mother side. And ibu ku mempunyai sungguh byk idea dan macam2 lah utk wedding aku hari tu. Seb baik aku x agree ngn sessi pakai baju jepun / jawa / omputih n macam2 lagi la. Die nak jugak suruh buat event tuh, tp aku mmg btol2 x minat. :)

Kembali kepada cerita pelamin, this was designed by mak andam aku la. Pakai fresh flower because aku nye believe is 'small things make all the difference'. Kalau nak save budget, pakai lah bunga plastic pon ok je. Tp fresh flower nie die sengal sket, die cepat je nak layu. Haha~ obviously. Aku nye pelamin nie dipasang pada hari khamis, and mase nak kenduri hari sabtu tu dah kna ganti bunganye.

Aku nye pelamin nie dibuat oleh Kimie Sri Andaman yg juga buat aku nye baju (baju nikah, sanding ngn bertandang), dah en kimie juga yg mengandam aku. Kimie ialah sgt berbakat make up kan org yg kulit gelap cam aku neh, xde la nampak putih melepak. Ehe~ Siler visit website Kimie Sri Andaman nie di sini. Kalau nak contact number die, tinggalkan komen nnti aku e-mail kt korg :)

p/s: Kimie penah kena panggilan hangit kat Hot FM. Kesian die, tp aku rase panggilan tu x jadi sgt kot sbb kimie nie cam tak cepat panik :)

The Associate - John Grisham

The author's picture is on the back cover. Such blue eyes~

As a Grisham fan, I'm proud to declare that Grisham is back!!

There was a few law books by Grisham not long ago that wasn't very captivating for me, then there was fictions and one non-fiction (proof that Grisham can write on things other that law stuff) and then there was The Appeal. Now, there is The Associate.

Similar to The Appeal, this book glued you to its pages and pulls you to the next page and suddenly you realized, eh, I'm nearly finished already. The ending, although not dissapointing, it's definitely unexpected. Try reading this book the you'll be like "Aaahhh, I know how this is gonna end," but believe me, when you do read that last page it's something else.

A very short synopsis on The Appeal;

Kyle McAvoy just finished studying law. His future is very promising and he's more interested in helping people rather than working in big firms, earning big bucks. The situation changes when Kyle was blackmailed into working with a big firm, because of a past incident that he wasn't even sure whether he was a part of. Thinking of those invloved in that incident, Kyle chose to work with the law firm, but being blackmail, he has to transfer confidential information from the firm he is now working with to a group of people, that Kyle thinks, can do anything and has unlimited resources.

I'm not giving any spoilers, so just read the book ya!!

p/s: Am now reading My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. I have to have a book to read all the time, if not, i'll be bored.

~d.r.a.m.a~

Click on the picture for a bigger view

This is not the real story.

Actually, Lulu (kucen yg kat bawah tu), x heran pon nak naik atas rak tuh. Yang die heran ialah, Makku (kucen yg berada diatas) tu bergerak2. Lulu nak keja Makku. Itu lah pasal die cbok perhatikan Makku diatas rak, sbb die nak kja, tp die x pandai lompat tinggi2. Kesian. So die tgk je la dari bawah.

Mase Makku lompat turun dari rak tu, trus Lulu kejar. Sengal~

Ohh...cerita2 kucen. Sape yg rase lonely, belalah kucen sekor dua. Bley jadi kawan derang neh :)

Hot Cats on a Hot Day

I believe this is my beloved pets first appearance on my blog.

Since I was in primary school, I have come to the conclusion that most sundays will be sunny and hot. The logic in my theory is that the word SUN makes up half of the word Sunday.

Malaysia is currently under a hot spell that is predicted to last right through September. Lately, it rained in the late afternoon, most of time right through the nite and sometimes lasted until the next morning. The rain does'nt have any effect on the temperature during the day. It is still hot when the sun is up!

I pity my cats in these hot days. Most of the time they laze around in front of the tv and sleep. It's like they don't know what to do or where to go because it's soo hot!! (2 of my cats are always kept indoors because they lack the capability to return home if let loose and these two also did nothing but sleep through out the day! Lulu used to be so active!!!)

Cats are a lazy species, i know. But the heat is making them ever lazier!! Need prove?? This is my felines activities yesterday afternoon~

Makku, the most senior cat at home. Sleeping the hot afternoon away.

Lolly, makku's daughter. Mmg die nie bijak sket. Apehal tdo kat atas carpet kat depan tv? Haruslah carik bilik n tdo atas katil. Baru standed.

This is Missy and this is her chair. Missy mmg tdo dlm position nie most of the time. Bersopan sket.

Lulu. Die nie the very definition of "curiosity kills the cat". Ske dok tepi pintu sbb sibok nk tgk ape jadi kt luar. Die tgh tdo tp biler org nak amik gambar je smpt bukak mate (kate penyibok).

Angels and Demons

This movie is based on the book of the same title. I've read the book especially for the movie and I hate the book. Read here to know why.

I would like to retype that this movie is based on the book of the same title. Being based on the book means that the movie can be tailored to appeal to those going to the cinema and watching the movie without the added advantage of having read the book. Having read the book (which i turned out to hate), i really appreciate that the movie is only based on the book but does'nt totally depend on it in a kind of oh-i-cant-live-without-you-way. I hereby declare that Angels and Demons (the movie) is so good and i like it waaaaayyyyy better that Da Vinci Code, although I hate Angels and Demons (the book).

The storyline is the same for both book and the movie. The pope died, the college of cardinals need to pick a new pope but the four prefereti (preferred cardinals) was kidnapped. Robert Langdon was called in because a group called illuminati (which was founded way back when) is believed to be behind this.

As always, for the synopsis, google it up or better yet just go and watch it. The movie running time is just a little bit over 2-hours, and it is a very fast paced, running-around-solving-riddles kinda movie, that I bet no one can be bored by watching this.

However, there are major differences between the movie and the book. I just like to highlight a few here, so that those has watched the movie but not read the book know about it. It doesnt change the plot much, but if these were in the movie, i think the movie will have a stronger (but complicated) storyline. Here goes;

1. Vittoria Vetra worked with her father Leonardo Vetra on the antimatter project but in the movie she was working with a partner (forgot his name already, hoho)


2. Robert Langdon seems to have more policemen at his disposal in the movie. In the book, mostly it's him and Vittoria solving the riddles before the policemen get into the picture.


3. Maximilian Kohler (the director of CERN, where the antimatter facility is located) doesn't exist in the movie but plays an important role in the book. Kohler was the person who summoned Langdon into the case, he was the person who realized that the camerlengo was the bad guy.


4. All four prefereti was murdered in the book and the leader of the conclave was chosen to be the next Pope. In the movie, Cardinal Baggia, one of the prefereti, survived from drowning and was chosen as the new Pope.


5. In the book Vittoria Vetra's father, Leonardo Vetra was murdered and branded with the ambigram Illuminati. In the movie, her working partner was murdered and he was not branded.


6. In the book, Langdon followed the Camerlengo into the helicopter to let the antimatter explode high in the sky. In the movie, the camerlengo did this alone.

Apart from some name differences from the book, these are the major differences that I've noticed and still remembered. If I watched the movie again maybe I'll find some more. But I'm glad that the movie is a little bit different from the book, because I think this is the first movie-based-on-a-book that I like.

p/s: yeah, i'm obsessed with reading & books. Thank you.

All is Fair in Love

I'm going to write this is english, totally. If I must mention something in my native language, i'll provide the best translation that I'm capable of. Today, I feel that I should be considerate to those who can't read malay (hehehe)

I was thinking about this when I was making a cup of tea for myself last night. The container with the word "SUGAR" is almost empty and this reminded me of one time when this container was actually empty and my husband wanted to make a cup of tea for himself.

"Sayang, gula dah abess la" ("Love, we are out of sugar")

I went to the kitchen, looked inside the cabinet, took out a new packet of sugar and poured it into the container. Problem solved :). I wondered why husband can't find the sugar himself (i know that he'll say i'm the one who organize the kitchen or something like that)

Then there was this one situation. It was after a meal and I've just cleaned the kitchen. Everything was up to my expectation of cleanliness level (which is quite high, i'm proud to say) except that the garbage bin is overloaded. Absolute yuckiness, with all those food waste and all. So, I said

"Sayang, sampah dah penuh la. Buang ek" ("Love, throw the garbage out, its overloaded")

Without a word, he opened the front door, walked into the kitchen, tied the garbage plastic bag, pull out the plastic bag with the garbage bin's pail like thingy so that the garbage wont drip (yucks!), took the whole lot out, put the garbage in collection bin and cleaned the pail like thingy. Problem solved. I don't know what he was thinking about though.

In the end, love is fair after all. If you think that it is not, that some people is getting this but you are not, remind yourself that although you might not be getting the same thing that another person get, most probably you are getting something else.

Who are we to decide whether love, or life, is fair or not, anyway. In one way or another, we will lean heavier to one side, sometimes for no reason at all.

Seating Arrangement

Husband and I spent the long weekend in his hometown in Alor Star. We chose to take a flight rather than drive. While waiting for Gate 2 at Lapangan Terbang Sultan Abdul Halim to open for our flight back to KL, I had the idea to write this entry.

I've travelled extensively (for my standard) since i've been attached to Bokor Project. Although I only travelled locally for my job, it is enough air travelling to know that a) I no longer like to sit in a window seat, b) I don't want to sit near the emergency exit and c) I don't want to sit in the last row because I've experienced these seats. My favorite is now the aisle seat that is not near the emergency exit and not in the last row. Other than these criteria, I really don't mind. Ohh...I also don't mind if i'm upgraded to business class or first class. :)

When I was younger and when air travelling to me was a REALLY HUGE DEAL, i really, really heart the window seat. I get to see the scenery outside while the plane is dashing across the tarmac for take-off, I lose myself while watching the clouds during the day and I get excited seeing city lights at night. I really like looking outside the window at that time. But after a zillion times on a plane, the scene outside never really change and you get bored. Plus, the restroom is a place that I visit a lot, seating in a window seat makes going to the rest room a challenge.

Now, FYI (at least for the domestic MAS flights that I've took) the last row and the three rows near the emergency exit (row 12 to 14 if i'm not mistaken) are non-reclinable. I really like sleeping in a moving transportaion, so non-reclining seats are not helping at all. So, I avoid these seats too.

So, under normal circumtances when I'm checking in, I'll say "Aisle seat please". Usually, when you specify your preference, the person behind the counter will get all chatty and say something like this "is 17C ok?". Knowing that 17 is not the last row and confirming that it is nowhere near the emergency exit, I'll respond "OK" with a smile.

Under abnormal circumstances, I'll ask the person behind the counter "seat mane lagi yg available ek?" for no reason at all. Then I'll be like "depan lagi boleh tak" and make a huge deal out of selecting a seat. Ohh believe me, if you put on a smile and talk in a chirpy-i'm-a-happy-person tone, the person behind the counter will treat your requests (no matter how silly) in a very nice way. This method is formulated and tested by me :)

Also, under abnormal circumstances, when the person behind the counter informed me that my seat is 17C, I'll be like "OK". This is me not in a mood at all (Naddie ialah xde perasaan, malas nak layan).

Like always, I know what I want right down to the seat I prefer. This help me get through the 2-hour-plus-ride-to-miri-or-labuan (am always going to these places for my job) solitary air travelling that I always had to endure, as most of the times I have to travel alone.

Travelling by air used to be big deal for me as I didn't get to do it that often. Now that it is just another mean of transportation, I missed these things;

• When we were younger, if we are going somewhere by plane, we'll be all excited and wearing our best outfits cause it is a big deal. Now, I get on the plane with my most comfy outfit (jeans, t-shirt, most comfy pair of sandals - kadang2 selipar je, yg fancy sket la sbb naturally aku xde la selekeh sgt).
• The adrenaline rush when the plane is speeding for take-off. I am trying very hard to feel that again, but no. Perasaan itu sudah menjadi biasa saje. Damm~

p/s: Those two picture are taken by me before take off from Labuan to KLIA. I was travelling alone at that time and the camera becomes my friend. Ohhh....that's the trip to Labuan when I bought prawns for the first time from Labuan to KL and the salesman cube nak ngorat aku. Siap sms tu coz his shop took my number as they send the prawns directly to the airport, which is a good service actually. But the salesman behaviour is not. Kinda funny tho, i'm beyond the age where I entertain random flirting texts from stranger. I'm married, duh~