"NI BARU LAKSA BETOI!"

Petang tadi aku and Azy terasa lapaq. So we were thinking of places that we can chill, and enjoy good food. 

So I suggested Pak Li. Azy didn't quite find that suggestion erm... menyelerakan.

"Jom kita pi makan laksa yang Wan beli hari tu," Azy suggested. 

"Ohh.. haa... best gak! Jom!" I agreed, dan dengan pantas, sepantas kilat aku drive menuju ke arah tempat tersebut. No, wheel cap tak tercabut, Alhamdulillah. 

That place is just 5 minutes away from my house. Kat tepi jalan, dari seksyen 7 menuju ke Bukit Raja, you'll see this lorry juai Laksa Penang and Cendol. 

Setibanya kami berdua di situ, kami nampak ramai sangat orang. 

Jejaka Malaya pun ramai. 

"Adoi... aku dok 'elok' ni la hang nak bawak pi tempat ramai prospect kan?!" Azy berkata sambil mata mencari prospect paling baguih. 

"Hang ingat hang ja ka 'elok'? Aku ni tak nampak lagu bibik baru 2 hari sampai dari Myanmar? Lantak la. Pakai elok-elok, tonyoh blusher banyak-banyak pun ada abang WTF tu mintak no tepon aku? Target orang lain, orang lain yang mai mintak nombor aku. Hampeh. Sudah, JOM!" aku kata sambil mengeluarkan diri dari kenderaan pendek. 

"Tudia dia punya melalut punya jeuh," kedengaran Azy berbisik. 

 

Sampai ja kat abang tu, aku order, "Laksa 2, cendoi 2. Satu tak mau kacang."

Huh, si Azimah ni. Becakap bukan main macam nak begadoh dengan semua orang, kat kacang takot. Pui! 

Aku melihat di sekeliling. Lalu bertanya, "Takdak wifi ka?" 

Abang tersebut terkedu sebentar, lalu menjawab, "Takdak, dik." 

"Patut ada la. Macamana nak check-in?" aku jawab.  

Abang tersebut tertunduk, seolah-olah merasa sesal tak langgan Streamyx. 

"Esok ni kalau dah pasang Streamyx, kalau nak upgrade Unifi, saya ada contact. Abang kawan saya boleh buat punya. Murah ja dia amik,"Azy pulak menyampuk.

"Dah lama meniaga?" aku bertanya abang yang sedang mencedok kuah laksa. 

"Boleh la.. awat adik?"

"Saja nak tau... nak boh dalam blog saya," aku menjawab dengan cool, sambil membetulkan cermin mata hitam ku.

Abang tu nampak excited. Dia tersenyum. Matanya bersinar-sinar dan bertanya, "Adik ada blog?? Bagus, bagus... ramai follower?" 

"Ramai... ada la dalam 25 orang," aku jawab dengan penuh yakin.

Entah kenapa, muka abang tu berubah. Macam nak bagi sepak pun ada jugak. Aku pun tak tau kenapa muka dia berubah dengan tiba-tiba. 

Lepaih tu, abang tu menghulurkan laksa kami. 

Kami pun cari port nak duduk makan. We found a nice one, actually. Bawah pokok, betoi-betoi kat tepi jalan. 

"Ha ni baru laksa betoi!" tiba-tiba Azy menjerit. Nasib beik tak terbalik mangkuk laksa aku.

Yes, memang sangat susah nak cari laksa Penang yang betoi-betoi kat KL ni. 

Kami asyik kena tipu ja. Tulis laksa Penang, tapi kuah macam ayaq mata punya ceroi. Yang aku tak paham, tak pandai buat laksa, nak meniaga laksa pasai pa?  Hish...! Memang boleh mendatangkan marah. 

"Weih, esok ni kita meniaga laksa jugak. Amik port betoi-betoi kat tepi lorry abang ni," Azy bagi cadangan. Tudia hati perot punya mulia.

"Meniaga laksa jugak? Kalau sama ja buat apa," aku jawab. 

Azy kalih tengok lorry abang tu, "Abang ni boh 'Laksa Penang', kan? Kita boh la 'Laksa Penang Ori'." 

"Haa... dalam flyer esok ni kita tambah lagi 'kalau tak pecaya kami orang Penang, tanya la CAMCA tu apa.' Ok, cantek. Baguih-baguih! Lepaih tu, abang ni boh 'Cendol Pulut' kan.... kita boh la 'Cendoi Pulut Durian'," aku pulak bagi idea.

Lepas kami habis makan laksa and cendoi tu, kami bayaq and left the place... 

Memang sedap laksa and cendol di situ. So sesiapa yang teringin nak makan, especially Laksa Penang, silalah ke situ... InsyaAllah puas hati. 

Nota kaki: 

Kejadian yang benar-benar berlaku sebenarnya sampai takat kami order laksa and cendoi tu ja. Yang lebih adalah khayalan aku dan Azimah semata-mata. Sekian. (Terasa nak bagi kaki tak? I guess that's why they name it 'Nota Kaki') 

Lorry Laksa Penang & Cendol Pulut at Seksyen 7 Shah Alam

 

 

Cendoi tanpa kacang

"Ni baru Laksa Penang betoi!"

DO NOT HATE. DO NOT WAIT.

I was rushing back home when I listened to this Ustaz talked about solat on IKIM fm.
(FYI IKIM fm has different and interesting topics everyday after azan Maghrib. Check it out!)

He said, solat adalah sangat penting dalam kehidupan seorang Muslim.
Rasulullah s.a.w sangat-sangat menitikberatkan solat, sehinggalah ke saat Baginda wafat, Baginda masih mengingatkan umatnya untuk mendirikan solat dan jangan sekali-kali tinggalkan solat.

Solat is the first thing yang akan dihisab di akhirat kelak.

Daripada Abdullah bin Qurti r.a., beliau mengatakan Rasulullah s.a.w pernah bersabda:

"Perkara pertama yang dihisab pada hari kiamat adalah solat. Jika solatnya baik, maka baiklah semua amal perbuatannya. Dan jika sebaliknya maka rosaklah semua perbuatannya." (HR. Thabrani)

Ustaz tadi menyambung, always doa that we are amongst those who perform solat, and remain to perform solat until the day we die. Not only for ourselves, but also doa for our parents, our siblings, our family, our friends, our colleagues, our neighbours and the rest of Muslims.

Even to those who don't perform solat in their daily lives.

Yes. Islam teaches us not to hate. So don't hate a person if he/she doesn't perform solat. In fact help them. Help doa for them, so that Allah opens and softens their heart to be back to Him. Doa yang diiringi dengan hati yang ikhlas, suci, kusyuk dan penuh keimanan, InsyaAllah akan dimakbulkan oleh Allah s.w.t.

"Doakan mereka. Ya Allah, rakan-rakanku sangat baik orangnya Ya Allah. Hati mereka baik, mereka selalu membantu aku dan orang lain, mereka baik kepada ibu bapa mereka, tetapi hati mereka tidak terbuka untuk bersolat. Ampunilah mereka, Ya Allah. Lembutkanlah hati mereka, berilah mereka kekuatan untuk bersolat. Bantulah mereka, Ya Allah..." the Ustaz continued.

After listening to the Ustaz, I was reminded how beautiful Islam is.
How it teaches us to act with kindness to everyone. Even to the ones who don't perform the one, the most important practice in Islam - solat.

Islam teaches us to; instead of saying "Haish... apa nak jadi dengan deni. Tak pernahnya nak solat. Tak takot mati ka?", we should raise our hands, menghadap Allah yang Esa, yang Maha Mendengar doa hamba-hambaNya and berdoa "Ya Allah, ampunilah dia. Jadikan dia seorang hambaMu yang mendirikan solat."

So friends, let's change to be a better person, a better Muslim.

Let's start tomorrow.
Let's start to solat.
Let's start to doa untuk kebaikan orang lain. 

One thing for sure, we will all be back to Allah s.w.t.
And one thing for sure, we don't know when our time is up.

"Solat merupakan senjata yang terakhir dari segala yang menghancurkan agama. Jika solat telah hilang, maka hilanglah agama dengan sendirinya." - Rasulullah s.a.w

*Sesungguhnya yang baik itu datangnya dari Allah, dan yang buruk itu datangnya dari kesalahan diri saya sendiri. Wallahu'alam.

SNOW WHITE, THE HUNTSMAN AND THE BANGSA MERAPU

For the past few days my Twitter timeline has been filled with "Snow White and The Huntsman". 

People check-in, leaving comments about it, bla bla bla. To be frank, I don't fancy Kristen Stewart.... (OK I hate her, I don't think she can act); but the hype is that good, that I was feeling left out for not watching it. So I checked with Azy, one of my bffs, and she said "OK jom pi!"

Jadi kami pun pi la tengok yesterday at Tropicana City Mall. 

After we took our awesome seats, the trailers started to roll. 

Lepaih tu, kami nampak this one cinema worker helping out some people find their seats. Suddenly seeing him (or her. Couldn't see cause it was so dark) holding that torch light looked pretty cool. 

"Huish! Ada lagi na orang keja bawak masuk orang tunjuk seat lagu ni. Aku ingat zaman dulu kala ja," Azy said. 

"Baguih jugak kalau aku mintak keja part time kat sini. Bawak-bawak orang tunjuk seat. Bukannya susah. Bukannya nak pakai tenaga banyak pn. I could really use some extra money," aku pulak masa tu la ada "light bulb" moment. 

And suddenly, the movie started. 

We were all quiet, concentrating on the movie. 

It started with a scene of a kingdom, filled with snow. It is all white, peaceful and beautiful. A queen is walking around and she sees a red rose. She touches it, and her finger bleeds from touching the thorn. Three drops of blood fall on the snow.... 

"Kalau aku keja sini, aku nanti bawak torch light yang besaq yang masuk utan punya tu. Yang terang gila-gila tu. Satu panggung nanti terang balik apa," I heard myself whispering to Azy. 

Azy dengan pantasnya menjawab, "Kalau aku, aku pakai helmet yang ada torch light tu teruih. Kalau mai interview aku bawak skali helmet tu. Confirm dapat keja." 

Damn it. 

Her torch light is much cooler!

Our eyes went back to the screen. 

Snow White is walking with her friend, William. She is holding a pigeon. An injured pigeon. 

She goes into the castle to see her mom and tells her mom about the pigeon. Her mom kisses her and tells her what a beautiful girl she is, inside and outside. Snow White smiles and says...

"Helmet yang orang dok guna nak gali lubang, nak cari lombong maih tu hang bawak mai keja? Gagah gila. Orang nak tanya seat depa kat mana pun takot apa. Takpun depa nanti kata 'org keja kontrak mana pulak telepaih ni'," aku bisik kat Azy lagi.

Azy membalas dengan sopan, "Kojaq." 

Snow White leads her army to attack Ravenna. Blood spills everywhere.... kill.... blood... die.... blood... everywhere.... Snow White looks for Ravenna. Only she can kill that devil. When she finds Ravenna, she says... 

"Kalau aku, lagi sejam cita ni nak habih, dah bukak siap-siap dah pintu Exit tu," aku bisik pulak kat telinga Azy. 

"Tak payah tutup teruih la dari mula cita lagu tu. Senang keja hang," respon Azy. "Aku tau... kalau hang keja sini, cita ni tak habih lagi dah dok kutip sampah!" 

"Tau takpa. Pi kat semua orang mintak bekaih-bekaih ayaq, bekaih popcorn semua aku nak buang. Tak boleh tengok semak-semak semua. Aku naik ketaq kepala," aku menyambung. Time tu memang betoi ketaq kepala aku imagine sampah sarap dalam panggung.

  

Snow White kills Ravenna. 

She is now the queen of her kingdom. She stands up before her people, looks at each and everyone of them with full of love, and says...

"Depa nanti kata 'ni kami tak habih tengok lagi cita ni. Tunggu la, sat lagi angkat la sampah'," Azy pulak sambung. 

"Aku nanti bagi tau teruih apa kesudahan cita tu."

"Keja tak dan sehari, kena buang keja teruih apa. Boss hang nanti kata ada jugak orang GILA lagu ni kat dunia ni," Azy said, while both of us getting up from our seats. 

"Tak payah la kot mintak keja kat sini na," aku merumuskan sambil keluaq dari panggung.

Oh, what do I think of Snow White and The Huntsman? 

Well... if it didn't keep us quiet, it wasn't THAT good. 

I'LL SEE YOU AGAIN

I had a dream the other day. 

At first when I woke up, I couldn't remember what it was. When I turned to the nightstand, I saw a framed picture of arwah mak tok and I, and my tears started to fill my eyes. 

I dreamed of mak tok. 

We were at the lawn of a kampung house surrounded by a lot of trees. So many that I could hardly see the sky. 
I was sweeping the leaves, clearing the lawn, just like how I used to do every evening back in our house in Dhoby Ghaut. Mak tok just stood there, looking at what I was doing. She seemed so at peace, in her kain batik and baju kedah. I remember her smiling at me.

And that was it. That was what I could remember.

My faith convinced me that mak tok is at a better place. 
She is doing fine, she is at peace. Only Allah knows how happy I am to know that. 

But the fact that I miss her so much started to make me cry.
While reciting Al-Fatihah for her, tears just wouldn't stop streaming down my face.

In my heart I prayed, "Ya Allah, thank You for making me see mak tok again. You know what's in my heart and You have granted my prayers. Please rest my mak tok in peace, Ya Rahman. Please let her know that she is never forgotten and that she is deeply missed. Please let us meet each other again in the hereafter, Ya Allah. Ameen, Ya Rabbal'alamin.."

Mak tok, I'll see you again in my dreams. 


Al-Fatihah.

Maher Zain - So Soon

Powered by mp3ye.eu

 

what happened in Redang. No, no. What REALLY happened in Redang: Part 2

Once I was done mandi, I came out, put clothes on, and started to check email. 
Kak Lina was still watching the movie. 

"Pompuan ni kan! Dah tau someone dok kejaq depa, boleh pulak buat benda bodo!!" Kak Lina yelled at the TV screen. 

I was like, Oooookaaaaay... Menonton dengan penuh perasaan Kak Lina ni. 
So aku pun melayan la.. 

"What happened?" I asked. 

"Tak la.. tengok la pompuan ni. Ada orang dok hambat depa, dia boleh pi telefon this guy! Bodo ka apa ni?!" Kak Lina bercerita dengan penuh perasaan seperti dia sama-sama melarikan diri bersama perempuan tersebut.

"Then they can track her whereabouts la... hmmm...," aku jawab dengan penuh cool dan chill. Then I continued to check my email.

Tiba-tiba...

"HA! KAN DAH KENA TRACK! MANA POMPUAN NI NAK PI PULAK?! JUST STAY WITH THAT GUY, STAY WITH HIM!!!" Huish! Marah sungguh Kak Lina dengan minah ni. Kalau ada depan muka mesti dah kena sedekah. ("Sedekah" di dalam konteks ini bermaksud "belasah". See, my blog is not that useless after all. You learned something new, didn't you?!) 

I looked at Kak Lina and said, "Huish.. chill, chill Kak Lina... it's just a movie." 

The girl went back to that guy. They were on a train, and they were alone. 
And then, they were getting close and closer to each other. And then, they started kissing. 

"AMBOI TGK SAT DALAM DOK KENA HAMBAT TU DAN LAGI NAK CIUM-CIUM SEMUA?! TAK PADAN DENGAN TAK CUKUP UMOQ! AMBOI BUDAK-BUDAK ZAMAN LANI LA!!!" 

No, no. That wasn't Kak Lina. 

That was me. 

what happened in Redang. No, no. What REALLY happened in Redang: Part 1

Kak Lina and I were in our room in Laguna Redang Island, Terengganu. 
We're here for work (yeah, right). No, seriously, we are here for work. 

Seriously!

So anyway, I was going to take a shower when I heard Kak Lina said, "OMG! My werewolf is in this movie!" 

Then I asked, "Sapa?" 

"Ala... I forgot his name. That guy from Twilight tu," Kak Lina answered. 

"Oh... His name is Lily's occupation," I said. 

Kak Lina looked confused. "What? I don't understand..." 

Oh my... Usually she would get this right away. What happened? Did the sea do this to her?!

I repeated, loudly and clearly, "His name is LI-LY'S OC-CU-PA-TION!"

"What....?" still looking confused. Yup, I think it's the sea. 

"What does Lily do? You remember Lily right???" 

"Lily, the tailor?" 

"Yeah!" I said, preparing to laugh with her. 

"What? I don't get it," she said, looking 10 times more confused. 

"OMG! TAILOR (Taylor)!" I just lost it. Well, can you blame me?! 


"OH MY GOD! I was thinking What Lily's occupation? Is that like a group or something? OH MY GOD! hahahaha," she said, laughing on the bed. 


"Who would name a group 'Lily's occupation', anyway?!" I said, and headed to the shower. 


But wait.... it IS kinda cool to name a group Lily's Occupation! 


- to be continued -

 

BELLA OH BELLA

I was very lucky to have been involved in Astro Bella launch campaign some time in February.
FYI Astro Bella is a new telenovela channel on Mustika Package. So if you're a sucker for telenovela, go subscribe that package NOW! (Astro, please give me 5 ringgit for promoting this, thank you.)

Anyway, back to the campaign.

You know how dramatic and over the top telenovelas are, right? Hero curang dengan maknya sayoq la, bapak mertua jatuh cinta dengan orang gaji la, mak ada scandal dengan drebar la. Macam-macam kejutan, semuanya drama gila. I get brain twisted thinking about it alone. So yeah, that was the idea for the campaign. HIDUP INI PENUH DRAMA. You get soooo dramatic, even over the little things.

I guess the best thing about working on this campaign is how much I could relate to the whole idea.
I admit it, I am a drama queen. Exaggerations, over-the-top facial and verbal expressions are in ME. It is so me that I strongly think that the definition of exaggeration should be changed to "Nurisfahanis Hashim".

I mean, come on, we all need a little drama in our life, right? It adds flavours and colours to your life. No? Well, at least it does in mine.

We launched the campaign with a full-page ad. The scenario was everybody getting dramatic over a broken egg at a hypermarket. We spent half-day at the hypermarket shooting stacks of eggs and an egg alone. No talents, nothing. Only eggs. I called it a celebrity egg, and I named it Ramona. At the end, they broke Ramona into two. And I was sad. *sniff*

After that, there was this follow-up ad, a different scenario showing how dramatic people can be over a teenie weeny sauce stain.

I was at the photo shoot, making sure that we get the best shots, the talents give the expressions that we want, stuff like that. (I wanted to upload the behind-the-scene video but it kept turning out as "error" once I uploaded it. Stupid technology! x( <-- see how drama I can get?)

Anyhow, shooting this was a bit like shooting a TV commercial. They had to really act it out for the photographer to capture the expressions. I was just laughing all the way looking at each of the talent's expressions. It was so much fun.

But then... while we were looking at the shots taken, Alan (the photographer) pointed something in the picture and said, "Here is empty, not very nice...."

Then I nodded, and said, "Yeah, it's not really nice like that, huh. It'd be good if we have someone to sit there."

Then Alan looked at me. I looked at him.
And I was like "Ooooh I am not liking the look he's giving me!"

Just as I expected, he said, "You go sit there, can?"

"You mean I have to sit only, or act dramatic like the rest?" Then I heard myself said that, and realised how stupid I sounded. Before he could register how stupid that question was to his brain, I continued, "Ok, I'll act it out as good as I can!"

So this is how the ad turned out to be.
See that oh-so-drama face on the left, having a tembikai juice alone like a loser? Yeah, that's me.