Of Ketupats and Rendangs

What would probably bother me most this week is the fact that I barely started reading my notes for Thursday's Investment finals. But then this weekend came about. I was again, sidetracked.


My Saturday was a slow-burner. Woke up at 12 and staight away slumped my ass in front of the laptop (and PC; football manager bebeh) right after showers. The previous night was wasted with Adam and Azhar at Manggo. I miss my Banana Shake fix. Got a text from Pa'e while I was there. He's having a get-together late in the afternoon. I smiled happily whilst replying, haven't seen the old gang since July. So after a lil' chit chat with Ibu, off I went to Shalam to meet up Zhaf. I tell you, thank God that he knows his way around. Klang is such a bitch to tame! Once you get distracted, that's it. Bye-bye. You're lost. So there we were, all 6 of us. Laughing our heads off at Razi's antics while trying hard not to spill the laksa that we were eating. I can't stop munching the spicy mini eggrolls that Pa'e had to take it to the kitchen 3 times for refills. It's so damn good!

We stayed a while more before splitting. Akim's been bugging me forever to check out the new Cash Converters outlet in Sunway. Well it was ok. I think Buy Sell Trade has a lot more to offer. But then I managed to get myself the now-rare Least Wanted Hits compilation (RM9) and a Therapy? single (RM3). Hehe. It was already 8 by then. Ibu called and told us to get our own dinner since she's too tired to fix up anything. We were practically stumped as to where we'd go to satisfy our unattended tummy. Akim needed to stop by Toys 'R Us for a birthday present that he was due to give. I had a blast oggling at the new Lego, revving the many motorized Hot Wheels on display, checking out the latest Batman stuffed plushie figure, laughing at the weird doodles we made with Etch-A-Sketch and pretty much torturing the staff and other patrons with the amount of noise we let out. After all that, we still have tummies to fill.

Fast food has been a staple diet for us since Ramadhan bowed its way out of the limelight so McD and KFC's out of the question. There's no place I know of that serves good nasi campur at night so that was out too. Akim objected to Salmon Steak because it seems it won't be the same without my friends around so Pan Cafe was our last resort. I must say that their Prima Breakfast Set (yes, served for dinner) is a good bargain. Scrambled eggs, a portion of hash browns and a couple of beef bacon strips for 5 bucks? Yummeh.


So then Sunday was expected to be tiresome. The plan was for Hapis, Amir and me to head back to Bota circa 5 but then due to a request the trip back just has to be Monday. That however, brought joy to my heart as I can FINALLY attend Akak's makan-makan do! I can't really remember when was the last time I enjoyed the company of friends. Well, maybe my 'surprise' birthday bash last month could count as one. If the company was good, the food's even better! The beef rendang was rightfully made to perfection. Semi-hard meat and mild mix of spices, nothing could go wrong. And I was amazed at myself for not getting myself lost along the way. Wehoo.

Oh yeah, at last I bought myself a copy of Junk's debut issue. The content's great. Reminds me a lot of dear old TONE but IMHO the layout needs some extra brainstorming. It's too, how shall I say this, space-wastingly rigid? The sampler CD is also cool but maybe it lacks a proper theme of cohesiveness but that intentionally for the 1st issue, I'm hoping to see better days.


I'm not done packing. It looks like I've no intention to end it.

"It's in my professional opinion that you've become a monster."

What I love about wasting time clicking away aimlessly around the cyberspace is the many, many distractions it offer. Online or offline. The thing about 'wandering' is that you make best of what you have right in front of you.

See, all this while I've been a loyal servant to the many wonders of p2p technology. Starting from Napster to Audiogalaxy to Kazaa, it had me fixated with the prospect of having my own media library with only a fraction of my budget harmed. Then came Soulseek which saved my sanity when the RIAA and the rest of the money-making head honchos took Shawn Fanning and co. to -ironically- face the music.

The course of my wandering won't be decently documented if I left out Friendster and Myspace. Aaaand Hi5, Kawanster, Blogspot, LiveJournal, Last. fm and (hey!) Vox. It's where new acquaintances are found undermined interests are sowed and hidden habits unveiled.

Somehow somewhat, I was left out on another movement. Another surged wave threatened to smash my 'video downloads suck major hours and ends up being total crap' to smithereens. Torrents. Bit mumfucking Torrents. As we speak, I now have in my stahs 15, DVD-crisp, excellent rip movies. And it all took an aggregate of 7 days. 24/7.


Thumbsucker was actually an oddball choice. I was looking for recommendations when Li said Thank You For Smoking and Adaptation (which then later spurred the search for Daniel Johnston's docu, Citizeen Kane and the foreign language version of The Science Of Sleep; all to no avail) just might be the ones I'm looking for. Thank You For Smoking was a blast. I think it's Aaron Eckhart at his nonchalant best. I mean, Merchants Of Death? Supercool. Still, I need another movie to make my so-called Raya marathon complete so I turned to aXXo who is infamously the best movie ripper in the world. Thumbsucker was the only one on his list that I've never heard of.

Lou Pucci plays Justin Cobb, a 17 year-old member of his school's debating club whose addiction is to suck on his left thumb whenever he feels like to. Well having said that and judging from the DVD cover you would highly likely draw the conclusion of it either being arty farty or Wes Anderson-witty or better yet, a combo of both. I really didn't care to be honest. It was already 6 in the a.m. when the download's done so I thought of watching half of it then, and finish it up in the afternoon. A move I reckon to be most brilliabt of me in recent years. Heh.

Other than Mike Mills' acute direction/intepretation of the novel and Lou's magnificient potrayal of Justin, the rest of the cast surely deserves mentions for their stellar performances. Keanu Reeves has to be the hippest, most breezy dentist to ever grace the silver screen with his Horatio Caine-ish speech pattern and demeanor. Not to mention Vince Vaughn who in my humble opinion, finally did justice to his own career by staying solid on track all the while. The movie's also interspersed with musical interludes by The Polyphonic Spree and Elliot Smith (with a cover of Chris Bell's Thirteen!)

Seeing Justin transform from a thumbsucker to a hotshot debater to a pothead and eventually turning back to thumbsucking reflects a whole lot on my life as I see it going forward. A closet low self-esteemer with every intention to hide himself by fronting an amiable facade as means to make himself accessible to anyone. Well yeah, the movie ends on a happy note but it is one that will keep ringing in my ears for a while. How I love being single forever.

Hmm.

Anyone here other than me thinks that the recent fasting month's the briefest of all? It felt like it's only for a week but hey, I'm not exactly complaining. Heh.

What I will miss most about Ramadhan is how magical the holy month can be and the wonders it did to yours truly. The hereafter rewards you ask? Sadly no. Although I am not proud of saying this, it's a fact that I am not God's most humble, abiding servant. I'm rather enthralled at how things take its paths. From my hightened concentration in sleep-inducing classes to my generally good daily mood, everything else in between seemed a walk in the park. No, scratch that. It's actually like enjoying an awesome serving of Mi Sedaap. Yes, it's that yummy.

Let's not dwell into food details ok?. But I can't help to talk about the loveliness of how 'cheerful' the gorgeously delicious foods are displayed at the Ramadhan Bazaar in Sri Iskandar and for it to be tasteful just adds a lot of sassy plus points to it. Seriously! Lan's short stint, part time foray as a Bubur Ayam vendor didn't go in vain as his homemade chicken porridge could very well give McDonald's a serious run for their money. Everyday is a sold out day. The quality of Achik's currypuffs have been on a constant high throughout the month, Abang Lebai dishes the best Roti Boom ever in years and where the hell can you get an awesome Carrot Juice for the price less than a Milo Ais other than the one served by Abang Askar? Now don't get me started on the oddball-yet-ball-busting Yong Tau Fu! It's a gift from heaven....

Oops. So much for not rambling on details.


On another note, Ramadan somehow fueled my composing drive and somewhat sharpens my lyrical instinct. Perhaps it's the food I consume. Yummm.

Regardless, I've been so driven that I decided to finally set up a revamped Anjakan Paradigma which now has 4 songs under its belt without the band having its 1st meet up. Telephony Delivery's getting its share of the pie as well as I've got a rough/clear idea of how the soundtrack job for Hafeez's short film would sound like. There's been 2 or 3 suggestive tracks but it is more likely that Mubarak (named as such as it was written over the course of 2 consecutive Ramadhans) will make the cut to be surgically dissected under our attentive care. Other new tracks are shaping up as well, giving us a chance to better use our studio time in the coming months.


All that happening in a single, unforgettable month? Could Syawal be any better?

So far, I'm still smiling.


It's extremely comfy to celebrate the first day of Syawal with my very own family here in USJ. The busy scent of the city is somehow my idea of spiritual bliss. You can take me out of the suburban, but you can't take the suburban out of me. Yes, I am a budak bandar and I'll admit to it again and again and again. Hell, even my mum's kampung's in Kg. Baru/Singapore which hardly qualifies as a common kampung. Arwah Ayah's side in Tapah? I shall not start on that. It's adding insult into lifelong scar.

So this year we decide to have it at Ki's place in Dungun. It is by far, the best Raya I've ever experienced. The only Raya that I actually feel how celebrating in kampung is actually like. Well, we set off on a very funny note actually. We only flew to Dungun on Raya eve, just after break fasting and we left for USJ on the 2nd day of Raya. Yes, we flew Air Asia. How 'balik kampung' was that?

The 2 nights I was there, I finally witnessed and understood the relations my cousins and aunts/uncs have established amongst themselves. One that made me envious. See, I never had that buddy-like rapport with my elderlies. Maybe I am to blame. Maybe I just don't know what went wrong. So that explains why I spent my days there examining the ties between them and it's downright wonderful. I'm amazed at how clockwork-like the whole thing can be. Everysingle day, without a whisper of words, each and everyone of them is somehow synced into the routine with military precision. Be it preparing breakfast/lunch/dinner right down to entertaining guests that came for beraya, it's like living a in a big ass, fancy diner. Everyday is a kenduri day.

I had fun observing the many antics of my cousins. The twins Kakak and Dedek has grown up so much that they look like a scarf-clad cucumber running around the house in their Raya garb. Others are very much their usual self but yet again, Siti grabbed my fancy. I caught her catching glimpses my way and noticed the smiles she made whenever I let out a funny remark or when I litely laughed at a joke while looking her way. Is that flirting? Entah. I can tell you this -potentially sounding cheesily dorkish here- in a nutshell, she's a bombshell in her own way and I find it hard to ignore the fact. Heh.


So as we got back from Terengganu last night, my head was swirling with afterthoughts and anticipation for the coming weeks. Finals are beckoning. My revision progress is still at a standstill. Damn. Blame the holidays. Actually all that excitement costs me a sudden high fever. Probably due to the dry wheather up in the East Coast. I think I'm recovering. Tomorrow will be a continuation of the occasional house visit for Hari Raya. My duit raya collection status is in good health. Whee.

Bismillahirahmanirrahim

Fasting's been rather 'fast'. It's already day 17.



Nothing's out of the ordinary about the current order here in Sri Iskandar. Classes are as usual, my daily routine's still flowing as it is, except for the uninterrupted trip to the nearby Ramadhan Food Bazaar.


That, I tell you. Is the only place you'd want to be if you think of shredding your pahala puasa to shattered, microscopic shreds. Of course, gawking at the many delicacies and gorgeously delicious lauks can do no harm per se, but it's the female crowd that proved to be Superman's dreaded kryptonite. It's funny to come up with a summation that as we're nearing the cornerstone of Syawal, girls seem to be having less and less cloth to cover them up and even lesser decency to -at the very least- have mercy on us boys. Please lah. You think it's that simple not to pay attention at what color your thong actually is? Or how your belly button looks in a certain angle?


I went back to Subang last weekend. Nope, I took the bus. Can't afford financing the Wira alone. Ibu greeted me at the door with a giant mug of orange Sunkist. I was 20 minutes late for berbuka thanks to the insane traffic and worsening haze. I can't really recall if I ever break fast-ed with my friends somewhere around town so I consider Saturday's a first for me. Adam, Azhar, Adib, Naem, Bono, Bob (with friends), Syamil, Awoi and me had a nice one at Salmon Steak. Syamil's been absent from our presence a long while now so it was nice yakking with him again. Oh, I dedicate my Chicken Chop Fried Rice to you Dids. Heh.

It was never in my weekend planner to hit Mokhtar's studio for band practice but Adib insisted over and over again that we must so I gave in without much fight. It was a short one-hour session. I thought it was below par for all of us (sound-wise, attention span-wise) but the guys enjoyed it and seemed unsatisfied with the time frame. Headed to Mango and to my surprise, I settled with 3 ais kosongs. Shoestring budget. Even the supervisor/boss asked questioningly as to why I didn't order my usual 1 Litre Banana Shake. Tsk.


On an unexpected note, Hafeez asked the band to score a soundtrack for his upcoming short-movie entrance for the Anugerah Filem Pendek. Knowing him, I know it'll be an extremely uphill task for us since we somewhat share the same penchant for ambience/brooding music; an ocean where Telephony Delivery's yet to set its sail. Regardless, I'm seing this as the best chance for us to challenge our working ethics. Bend the rules, break the barriers.



Now where the hell is Tash? Gian Yahoo! Pool ni.