Rumbles of Rambles

Entri Hari Jumaat. Tidak berapa TGIF sebab ini bermakna my week long WFH is about to end. NOOOOO! Its been kinda nice. Days lazing around, in between work watching my series. Dengan ini aku telah habiskan tengok 90210 and today Reaper. At long last aku bole start Lipstick Jungle.

Anyway another pointless rambles today. But with pictures. I say it had been long since I posted a round of pics. So lets get on with it. And setelah aku berusaha cari atas bawah on my USB for the phone then hari ni baru la jumpa (rupanye bawah katil jee) and can posted pics. Let me remind you, the reason why my entries so lacking in pics sebab sifat semulajadi yang malas berganda-ganda untuk mentransfer gamba from camera/phone to PC. I don't know why, I am just built that way.

So first round of pics is umai! MIL remembered that my family (mainly my BIL) love eating umai the last time they are there. So she brought the main ingredients of umai to us via my husband. Sambal belacan cili tumbuk, limau nipis and the flesh of ikan tenggiri.

In process of campur the ingredients dan mengaul-gaul.

Looked at how pink the tenggiri is. Oh for close up

Yes it does look kinda dodgy but think of it as another variant of sushi.

Its a local dish from Sarawak where you put in fresh seafood in with various ingredients as above. I think the ingredients may varies from one household to another but it basically is raw fish digaul with cuka, cili and limau to 'masak' it. And Sarawakians usually accompany it with sagu (the combination of crunchy and squishy is nice). Pretty darn great. Depends on what fish you want to put in, tapi my MIL prefer tenggiri. Tho my husband said the last weekend he went back they had some umai obor-obor. That sounds delish!

So the dish is served to mainly the men in the family. Adik-adik aku yang before this didn't get to taste it before at Bintulu sudah dapat rase. Alisha nak lain kali? Hehe. Tho I did think my MIL punyer is more superior. Adelah tu mende terkurang or terlebih.

As only the tenggiri being supplied adalah banyak so ada la plak leftover. Which I gave to Fasha (few days later) since umai is best eaten fresh . I think she didn't much like the taste of belacan or cili(?) that came with it, tapi die bedal jugak. Hehehe.

Mengingatkan aku yang pagi tadi I found her at dapur with tupperware bergelimpangan sebab die kelaparan and cari makanan. Hoh. And so I end this entry with a pic of Fasha yang makin bulat, membulatkan diri.


Oh gamba ni gelap la. Ah. Lantak la. Aku malas edit mahupon cari gamba lain. So there's pics and that's that.

Laters!

Correction: Ops! Silap! In the umai tadek belacan la. Just cili tumbuk. But letak belacan mcm sedap jugak je. Hurmph....

Merchant of Bollywood

Around last week, went to watch the Merchant of Bollywood musical at Istana Budaya with Gohan terchenta. We bought the ticket monthss back (to get the discount) and almost forgotten we were planning to watch the show.

Gamba kelam tatkala intermission

And as usual, I am not in a chatty mood so... point forms ahead.

The good:

• Good opening number
• Incredible dancers with great energy and flair. They can go round and round tirelessly.
• The cast, especially the female and male lead have great chemistry which make it more enjoyable.
• Beautiful dance. The classical dance was exquisite. The modern one is just as energetic and fun.
• The enthusiasm of the cast in lifting up the crowd cries and fervor for MORE!MORE!MORE! And the cast oblige.

The meh:

• The stage sets does not varies nor impress. But the cars prop are cute.
• The songs are kinda "I never heard that". Maybe I am not that familiar with 70s Bollywood.
• The first act was a bit of a doozy. Only in the second act things seems to be a bit interesting
• The storyline is too simplistic. I guess I wished there was a bit more in the story.

Summary:
Great fun. Go for the dances and hot chicks with toned abs shaking and dancing. (which the guys sitting right at the front when we were there seems to be enjoying)

Tagged Three

I owed Adek a tag. So here it is, sementara I am bored while watching 90210. Few things to blog, but lazy to type out lengthy ones, so tags could filled the time perfectly while watching an idiotic show.

THREE NAMES THAT FRIENDS CALL YOU:

1. Dila
2. Dils
3. La (Ni Gohan je panggil. Gile pemalas nak sebut 2 syllables)

THREE THINGS YOU’VE DONE IN THE LAST 33 MINUTES:

1. Watching 90210
2. Trying to find a plastic cover for my books and realizing I had used it all.
3. Reading blog.

THREE WAYS TO BE HAPPY:

1. Read a really good book with snacks and drinks right beside you.
2. Watching a great series with snacks too.
3. Going on vacation.

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE SONGS AS OF NOW:

Urm none? I don't really listen to songs nowadays.

THREE THINGS YOU LOVE IN A GUY:

Geezzz.... 3? Its hard to think of one. Heh

THREE PERSONS YOU MISS:

1. My husband (sebab die kat Bintulu)
2. My friends
3. My family

THREE GIFTS YOU WOULD LIKE TO RECEIVE:

1. Books and graphic novels
2. Belanja makan. Hehe.
3. Cold hard cash?

THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO FOR NEXT VACATION:

1. Italy
2. Jordan
3. Cameron Highlands? Hehe . Dah 15 tahun tak pegi ok?

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE HOBBIES:

1. Reading
2. Surfing (the net)
3. Jalan-jalan

THREE FAVORITE CARTOON/ANIME CHARACTERS:

1. Rogue
2. Pocoyo!
3. Snow White from Fables. (Well, kira masuk la untuk graphic novels)

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE FAST FOOD:

1. A&W. I like Mozza Burger and Hotdog.
2. Domino's Pizza
3. Ramyly's Burger.

THREE FAVORITE DRINKS:

1. Coke
2. Root Beer
3. Tea (almost all types of ice tea)

THREE THINGS FOUND IN YOUR HANDBAG/PURSE/WALLET:

1. Loads of receipts.
2. Very little money.
3. Various cards.
Yeah. The usual stuffs.

THREE FAVORITE COLORS:

1. Green for the formal dresses.
2. Black for casual.
3. Purple for accessories

TOP THREE U LOVE SO MUCH:

1. Family
2. Cats of all shapes and sizes
3. Friends of all shapes and sizes.

TAGGED OTHERS:

Malas. But you can do it if you want. I promise I won't judge~

Concerning Various

Okeh. Mari random rambles.

1. Husband had left for Bintulu. So girls jom jimba-jimba? Ops. Mahu kena panah petir ni. Takpe he said " No jalan-jalan sangat". Jalan-jalan jee die cakap jangan. So MAKAN-MAKAN takpe, OK.

2. This is my last day at the office. In the next 2 weeks, my office would be moving smack in the middle of Midvalley. At the Gardens specifically. I foresee some dire financial circumstances that will befall me.

3. I would certainly missed eating at Krathong, Maju Junction (Sedap gile tomyam die) and gerai bawah pokok (they have some pretty decent kerabu perut).

4. I am pretty bummed that I can't go to Bintulu this weekend for reason that I will tell you girls later. Dah teringat masakan Sarawak yang sedap. In the mean time, aku ulang, mari la cheer up aku.

5. Next week for the whole week, due to office gigih in the process of mempacking, me and several others will be working from home. Wooot! Ini makna, aku boleh kerja dengan memakai baju tidur dan tak payah mandi awal-awal pagi. Takyah mandi langsung pon boleh, kecuali I don't think my family members would approve.

6. Finished reading Sleeping with the Fishes by Mary Janice Davidson. It merit a just OK la. A bit of a crappy writing. Rather vulgar and shocking. I guess it was shockingly vulgar to me after the prim story weaving of the Historian. Which made me realized it more that I always preferred Brit writers, especially chic lit ones. Probably that I like their type of 'dry' humour and writing. Back to the author, I did bought several of her works, on her vampire series. Let's see if I liked that better.

7. Hurm... Tadek idea dah. Blog later!

The Historian

Kenapa sudah lama tidak belogging?

I was granted MC for 3 days last week. Boring days indeed with my computer not functioning (motherboard lebur) and I can't accessed my series. I did manage to finish watching Angel Season Five finally. So now, for another set of old series rerun. Haven't decide yet on Dexter or The Tudors. Though if I had finished 'acquiring' Felicity, I would surely watch that first.

So in between time staying in bed and couch, I immersed myself in the book The Historian. Like any serious novel, I was afraid it is going to be tedious or pointless like The Geographer's Library. But I did enjoyed reading it.


The story is about a young girl discovering a series of letters in her father's office. Thus from there she learned her family secret and legacy on a quest for the truth about Vlad the Impaler.

So more and less, it is about the history of vampires or Dracula to be exact.

Well then, why I like it? I'll make it on point form for me to easier write it and take less time ( as I need to do some work :D), and I am not writing an article anyway.

1. Vlad the Impaler. Those who are fascinated on the legends of vampire and Dracula so called, will enjoy reading about Vlad the Impaler.

2. The book pace is set beautifully. When you had reached around 50 pages and more it will be hard to put down. It is a thick book. About 800++ pages I think.

3. The beautiful description. I especially love the description on Istanbul (one of the places that I would really like to go).

4. It makes you yearn to become a historian. Opening dusty forgotten old books, looking at old maps figuring out 500 years ago this place is where, looking at an old rich place steeped with history and knowing the stories behind it.


Some flaws:
1. The ending is a bit anticlimactic after some very intriguing buildup. Though it is ok enough

2. The letters addressed to the daughter is a tad bit descriptive. I meant, yes the father wants to include all... but these letters was written in a hurry and meant to include all his experience, but it will work more if he had written a journal before and thus leaving the journal to the daughter.

All in all. I like it. I intend to read it again in a few years after I forgot most of what had happened. Or when the movie is coming out. Heard that a movie is in the making, the script is being made as I typed this. Standard fare Hollywood, hope it doesn't sucks.

Jiran sebelah had a birthday party

We ate some nasik and bihun.

Lepak a while.

Take some goody bags back.

Give our thanks.

Can we know please have your 2 kittens?

I am feeling pissed

For no apparent reason.

Actually there is.

Tapi malas nak cakap kenapa. BOLEH? Hahaha. Just some silly stuffs. And also I am a little bit worried, tapi sedikit sahaja. So I wished my husband; who is now at Kuantan for training, is here untuk manjakan aku like that... Hikhik (Gelak manja yang saiko). And to push me to do things that I actually should have done instead of procrastinating.

My computer rusak and it annoyed me to no end. This means, I can't access my series. Tho I can internet-ing if I am using my work laptop as the wireless seems to be working. But my work laptop sucks!

And I can't download True Blood. Actually I can. But it is kinda slow and I obviously can't download it at the office. Tsk. Tsk.

Oh. Currently am reading Fables. Happy!

Am thinking... Subway for lunch la!

What do I do for a living

Heh, Dila tag on What do you do for a living?

Hoh. Her job is interesting, so banyak la gamba2 menarik.

I wished my job is something like what Samantha Brown have. Travel sana sini. Stay at the best hotels. Sambil-sambil itu, gi flea market cari buku. MENARIKKKK WOOO.

Picture from http://www.travelchannel.com/

Or even something as boring as a writer


But my job is basically my laptop, viewing these


Kalo free, tengok series time lunch hour. Hehehe. Boleh?

So itu aje. Tak mnarik pon ok. Hehehe. SAHM pon aku rase lead more intesting days than moi.

Because I am bored

Lalalala. I changed the layout, cause I gotten bored of the old one. Orangish Blackish! Also because I am bored.

So the blog list as usual, menyakitkan hati aku. Kalo nak tuka, abes la sume link dikumpul and need to re-add again. Tension aku. So the list will be expanded bit by bit. And I missed my old blog formats of 3 column and this is sorta OK, so I revert to the 3 column plak.

The love affair with the fangs

*thump* *thump*

Oh, I was just feeling the vein at my throat and I was suddenly pulled to the scene of past week True Blood when Jessica eyes was peeled on the pulsing veins on Hoyt neck. Her lips open slightly, eyes ablaze with hunger and just at the right moment she gulped down the feeling and asked for Tru Blood. Awesome moment. I was feeling blah about the show on its first season but the second part of the first season and this second season is pretty terrific. Genius even. And Jessica walking into the bar looking like a mixture of sultry and innocence, THAT was the highlight of the show, second only to mimic-ing Bill tone and accent.

I had looked through some of the new shows that will be premiering this fall. The only thing that really catch my interest was Vampire Diaries ( a more tone down Twilight-esque series about vampires). Yes, vampires is so IN now thanks to theTwilight mania. But I swear I had always liked them before Twilight, even before Buffy, right around the time of Bram Stoker: Dracula that have Gary Oldman, Winona Ryer (cause I was obsessed with Winona Ryder then) and wooden Keanu Reeves.

Then came Buffy, where I am kinda blah about Angel, because he is so woefully depressing during the whole 3 seasons. Though I loved him in Angel because in that show (Angel), he and the writers are painfully aware of how ridiculously broody he is. But of course the vampire that stake a claim in my heart, is the bleached peroxide blond Spike. James Marsters so revelled playing that character.

In True Blood though, Bill Compton does not set my blood on fire. Nor does Eric. I meant after watching him going through a man intestines with his bare hand and mouth, urgh, no thanks. I like a more refined killer. Can or not like that hor? I do like Sam though. Comel gile tengok a grown man transform to a cute dog. Kawaii~~~

So, back to Vampire Diaries. Took me long enough. Well, why am I interested in Vampire Diaries. The obvious teenager filled angst described as slightly better than Twilight? Heck, I love teenage angst, but that's not it. The heroine is not as creepily needy as Bella? Who knows, maybe the heroine will be worse. But I will be watching because of this


Ian Smoking-Hot Somerhalder.

Yes, Effi, he may looked like a douche. But he is a hot douche in a leather jacket. Some allowance will be made for His Hawtness. I had been pining away after him ever since the early demise of Young Americans, a stupid series in the year 2000 about boys in some elite school. It is also the first time I noticed Kate Bosworth before she becomes all Twiggy-like. In that series Kate Bosworth character fell in love with her half brother (Not Iam Somerhalder). It is all very icky to me.

So Vampire Diaries. Tengok je la if it will be any good eh... After all I would need another vampire heartthrob to replace Spike with.

The disasters that are Heroes and 90210

Got no idea to blog. So aku curi idea from Watch With Kristin articles on how to fix Heroes and 90210.

We'll start with Heroes first.


The best things about it at first:

• People who have superpowers
• Geeks factored in and considered cool
• Sylar
• Clear defined arc with characters working together to "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World"
• The wonderful HRG complicated character.
• Hiro and Ando wonderful adventures in USA-land and Hiro-land.

The horrible things that start unravelling as 3 seasons past:

• Sylar. The.Most.Self.Absorbed.Yet.Annoyingly.Boring.Villain.Ever.
• Sylar sudden Daddy's Issues.
• Sylar doing good and overcoming murderous impulse and just ... his storylines are beginning to piss me off.
• Hiro becoming self-power-obsessed and continue to be childish with no character development.
• Ali Larter keep on coming back after being dead. One time you are back after being dead, its fine. 2 times is pushing it.
• Mysterious disappearance of recurring characters and how the writers just completely forgot they even existed. (Hello Caitlin. Hello Monica)
• Each and every character becoming a bore.
• Storyline was setup, idiotic endings without any means to tie up loose ends.

Fix Heroes?
These are the suggestions thrown out in the articles.

1. Kill everyone but Sylar and Jack Coleman's H.R.G.

2. Going forward, use only Sylar and H.R.G.'s given names of Gabriel Gray and Noah Bennet, in order to detach their characters from the existing bankrupt mythology.

3. Take Peter's original power of being able to absorb (sans brain-slicing) other powers and give it to Gabriel, but with the following caveats: Gabriel can only absorb powers intentionally, and every time he does that, he automatically loses an existing power, but he doesn't know which power he will lose until it's gone

4. Resurrect Kristen Bell's electric Elle.

5. Get Gabriel and Elle together as a superpowered Bonnie and Clyde, running from the law (in the form of Noah Bennet) and trying to redeem themselves. They can brood beautifully about their past misdeeds and try to create a functional relationship while moving from town to town using their powers to help the helpess. Meanwhile, Jack Coleman's Noah gets the thankless but essential job of hunting them down and trying to destroy their fragile relationship.

which are actually a pretty good idea! But I do like Angela Petrelli... so maybe in addition

1. Retain Angela Petrelli as the head of conspiracy for the new organization Noah Bennet will be running.

2. Sumbat Claire on campus and just let her have her Girls Gone Wild moments with bouts of heroics in saving people, with hilarious results of intervention from well meaning but creepy uncle Peter.

3. or.... for the writers:Stop introducing new plots, villains, heroes; get your shit together and just resolve your storyline clearly.


Now for the more terrible show 90210, for reason unknown I kept on watching



The best likable things about it at first:

• A reboot of the much beloved show, Beverly Hills, 90210.
• Reappearance of Brenda and Kelly. Woot!
  
• The wonderful Jessica Lowndes as Adrianna. She is the only reason I kept watching.
• The satisfactory feeling when the drama teacher mentioned that Annie sucks at acting. Heh.

The horrible things that start unraveling even from episode 1:

• Annie. Enough said.
• Rob Estes painful departure from cool cop in Women Murder Club to goofy dependable dad-principal of Beverly High.
• The Spring Awakening production episodes, where Annie was asked to show her talents and being praised for her awful(30x magnified) dancing/singing talent.
• Anna-Lynne McCord overacting and curled Singa hair. And whenever she sashayed anywhere.
• Tori Spelling plastic surgery face and boobs which just filled me up in horror whenever she appears on-screen.
• The terrible, terrible fashion.
• Blaming Dustin Milligan (Ethan) that his storyline does not work, when it is clearly the main characters (Annie and Dixon).

Fix 90210?
There's no clear suggestion thrown out in the articles (as it just started to pinpoint the problems) but probably most people have no idea how to salvage this sinking ship who is still afloat due to the good graces of it predecessor.

Maybe they could...

1. Killed off Annie. Her parents can adopt some weird chicks from the slums, Veronica Mars style who would then start giving snark comments on Naomi's hair and Silver's obsession with leggings.

2. Stop making Naomi as a sex kitten. Tone her character down a bit. She is more interesting when being tone down. And asked the actress to close her mouth. Her mouth is always agape.

3. Gah, just cancel it off altogether and reboot My So Called Life. That would be more interesting.


Oh and I found it perplexing that many series focused on high school life, rarely campus or college years. Felicity was damn good ok.

Weekend & Games

Start with the weekend post first because, tomorrow is Friday!

The girls asked for a get together, and I was dying to try out some briyani at Zahrat restaurant after reading Peej's entry on her blog. You do not want to read her blog while hungry I tell you.

So kami berlima bersama skandal, husband and bf masing-masing (minus two yang tidak bawak plus one), decided to go there last Saturday night.

Peej had warned in her entry that it took some time for the order to come in, esp the one we ordered; Maghut Lamb and Chicken, so Sheema came prepared with UNO!

The winner = Sheema! Hoh! Ko jampi kad tu kat umah ke sebelom bawak? Hehe. But it does helped passed the time dan buat kami-kami ini kurang pikir lapar di perut.

Bile nasik tu sampai harus lah semua serbu Tak sempat aku nak amik gamba extra pon. Ni je yang ade. The kuah sedap, pedas. I like! Like I said we ordered the Maghut Lamb half kg and Maghut Chicken half kg. So the lamb is simply superbly delish. The chicken (pictured above) is quite good too. Bila teringat balik, terliur aku. It was quite cheap too. We ordered the Hummus with 3 breads, multiple drinks (almost each ordered 2 drinks for themselves), a salad, 2 maghuts, 3 desserts, the bill came up to RM170++. For eight people makan okeh. Best. But I think the next time bile ramai macam tu kena order 1kg each pulak because the guys makan macam tak puas.

Memang patut pegi lagi. But parking is a bitch, and pastikan kereta tak akan diblock oleh sports car pak arab. Hehehe.

Ok, that's that. The pics I promise aku upload this weekend in Facebook okeh? Rugi la Gohan ko tadek Facebook. Muahaha.

So now the games.

The past weekend, we had also been playing Monopoly and UNO. It was fun playing those boardgames and cardgames after I had not touched them for years. It helped that I have a brother yang super obsessed with boardgames and cardgames too. Hehe. Kalau main 2 orang ngan my husband je, gile mandom.

Then a few days back, my husband bought Monopoly Deal. A new game of Monopoly where you can play Monopoly via cards. Monopoly card games!

Gamba dicuri dari sini

It was super fun! Like any games, it takes a bit of time to adjust, then after you knew all the rules the games is pretty addictive. And I had won 3 times out of the 5 times we had played this! Woohoo! Because when I played Monopoly the boardgames, I rarely win. I think I won only once kut before. My brother said "Ko memang loser." Hehehe.

This game is best when you are playing with 3 or more. Great to bring along when you are travelling, or when you are simply just plain lazy to spread out the boardgames. Tapi kalo free weekend ni, I think I will still spread out the boardgame.

Now this makes me stoked to buy Cluedo. Tak penah main, but it sure looks fun.