Vientiane, Laos

Actually dah lama I wanted to do this entry, tapi memanjang tak sempat.. so dari hari ke sehari almost dah half a month since I last started this entry.. sorila ye.. the entry is backdated.. Tapi memandangkan hari ni 9th May -- I wish Meor Hamzah Happy 29th Birthday

Here's my entry on Laos --

Setelah sekian lama tak travel, last November I was assigned to go to Vientiane, Laos for a project funded by Asian Development Bank on issues of development in Greater Mekong Subregion -- topic was really boring, tapi disebabkan hotel yang we all lepak for the meeting (courtesy of my boss -- 'courtesy' as in chosen) was really nice, ok la gak...

Vientiane on it's own, tak adela apa sangat, ala2 macam Ipoh town 20/30 years ago.. pukul 5 -5.30 ptg, kedai dah tutup.. malam takde mende and tempat nak pegi takde sangat so kebanyakannya lepak je la..

Anyway, the first night we arrived (I was traveling with Francyne), we were picked up by the hotel transportation free of charge..how cool was that..Hospitality was really great..I recommend kalau sesapa nak pegi Vientienne, boleh la duduk kat The Green Park hotel...The next day after dah check everything was fine for the meeting, Francyne and I went to town to shop - Francyne cakap takut nanti tak cukup time nak shopping later... So we went to this market called the Morning Market -- kononnya Morning tapi sampai ke petang bukaknya.. but as I sayla pukul 5 - 5.30 dah tutup..

Food wise as usual, susah -- but adala a couple of Indian/Pakistan restoran yang halal -- so dapatla cover for one night -- other times -- I am totally vegetarian.. Lagipun stock bawak banyak..

The participants to the project was ok-ok je la.. sebab yg ada pun only 4 of them.. including one from Lao PDR itself.. Ms Malayvieng -- or as we call her Malay..

The hotel.. nice and serene right??

The hotel's restaurant.. Francyne and I will always have our breakfast here.. eventhough matahari dah naik and sometimes terik... still serene and quiet for breakfast..

This is during the first night out. The ADB guys mula2 reluctant to have Indian food (rupanya sebab Indian food kat Philippines teramat la mahalnya) -- but lepas dah try the first night, the next night dah sibuk nak pegi lagi....Anyway, thanks to Francyne yg peka with my requirement -- she yg suggested for us to eat at this halal restaurant.

The next night, Francyne bawak all of us for welcome dinner in town -- kalau tak salah the restaurant name is "Kop Chai De" -- maksudnya welcome ke terima kasih.. i pun dah tak ingat. Ni Jason(ADB) ready to makan the 'cengkerik' goreng during this dinner - at least I think it was cengkerik goreng.. tak tau la plak kalau serangga lain..

After dinner, we went to this bar across the street -- it was Malay's Jazz Bar. This is Malay and Jason sitting and talking in the bar... that was my first time ever in a bar -- luckily it wasn't 'happening' yet as it's still early. But me and Francyne, we were the first ones to leave.. penat la..

Me listening to Tito's experience when he attended one of the Halal conference in Southern Thailand(some years back).. he gave some pretty interesting facts -- although I don't quite look interested in the picture hahaha...mengantuk macamana nak look interested..

How on earth did the topic of 'Halal' came about ? Well, while they were drinking wines, they serve this snack macam beef strips which at that point I ingat pork.. Malay beria-ia suruh I makan, she said "it's beef, don't worry!!" I told her, even if it's beef, it's still not halal because it's not slaughtered the Muslim way.. so that's how the topic started between me and Tito..

Both of us looking very mengantuk--really want to go back to the hotel room and bedebush..However, sebab kat Vientiane takde teksi, we have to naik some sort of a tuk-tuk.. of course who would dare to naik tuk-tuk sorang2 so I had to wait for someone to leave so that I can tumpang..

This was taken during a field trip (on the last day of meeting ) to a "school for teachers" -- ala2 maktab perguruan la yang di'funded' by ADB. The bebudak yang nampak macam students to sebenarnya are going through training to become teachers. Ada sorang tu datang dari jauh di kawasan pendalaman -- 2 tahun belajar baru sekali balik kampung.. kos tinggi and jauh sangat katanya..

Kat atas yours truly with the camera crew from Laos National Television -- I wasn't involved with any of the production part - just coincidentally berdiri kat sebelah diaorang..sibuk gak nak tengok macamana they all operate..

This is the student (sebelah kanan, berbaju putih dan ber'tie') yang I kata duduk jauh di pendalaman.. kesian jugak tengok they all.. But you can see their determination to be good teachers so that they can teach their younger generation and prosper.. He is going to teach English.. He speaks quite well for a Laotian..

Yang dasyatnya lagi.. they all bercucuk tanam and ternak ikan/binatang untuk dapat sumber makanan sendiri.. ye la semua nak beli mana ada duit..

Since we all datang buat field trip ni hari ahad.. you can see la all the students tengah study lepas basuh2 kain and mengemas -- kat belakang tu I am not too sure whether it's the classes ke they all punya dorm.. tak ingat..Tapi rupa dorm they all very macam zaman sekolah kita la kat sini -- katil bertingkat, satu dorm panjang share 20-30 orang.. baju2 sidai merata..

Another angle of the school.. the guy in yellow shirt is Roger from CCTV.

After the school trip, we went for lunch by the Mekong River.. the restaurant is actually floating on the water -- siap ada floating sampan as restaurants lagi..Tapi food wise alamak.. gelinya(paham-pahamlakan).. but untuk mengelakkan daripada host (orang kementerian jugak rasanya) rasa kecik hati.. aku makanla nasi kosong je.. pastu dalam van belasah makan biskut yg dibawak untuk time2 emergency mcm ni..

Kat atas tu, gambar lepas semua orang dah makan by the river..

Lepas lunch, we went to another place some 'irrigation' place that ADB also help funded to ensure farmers has sufficient water to plant their crops..Another big welcome.. siap dapat kalungan bunga lagi -- tengok la kat atas tu..

Next we went out to the fields to meet and try to interview the farmers that actually benefit from this programme.. Malay had to do a report for her news programme malam tu..

Anyway, the reason why I include this photo is talk about the way Lao women dress -- officially every Lao women has to wear the Lao skirt -- ala2 macam batik jugak la.. top tak kisah nak pakai apa pun.. tapi seluar tak boleh pakai.. semua kena pakai skirt..the skirt plak akan diikat dengan tali pinggang besi yg ada kerawang2 tu -- macam my Opah used to wear.. to know the status of the women (whether orang berada ke orang biasa) you can judge from the belt.. kalau besar, colour gold -- ha tu orang kaya la tu.. kalau kecik halus je.. biasa je la..Unfortunately, I tak de plak the proper picture of a full dress Laotian woman.. terlupa nak amik..so this is the best I can show u all la..

The LNTV camera crew did not come properly equipped.. macamana datang buat interview kat outdoor tak ade 'boom' mic?? Nasib baik la participant dari Vietnam si Huy ni creative.. terus create a mic boom out of ranting kayu..

And the interview went well.. I think la..Mana nak paham apa diaorang cakap..

Day trip to Melaka.

Last Saturday we went to Melaka to attend my office mate's wedding. It was Lisa's wedding. Memandangkan we are a team, nak tak nak kena la pegi jugak walau pun Nasir ada banyak kerja..

My boss (Francyne) and family wanted to spend the whole weekend in Melaka, so we sort of promised to meet up at Lisa's house.

We all started the journey at around 12.40pm, the Sungai Besi tol, was as usual jam, so sampai ke Ayer Keroh dah around pukul 3. From Ayer Keroh tu dalam map yang Lisa bagi ke rumah dia, nampak macam tak jauh tapi sebenarnya boleh tahan la jugak jauhnya.. Her house is kat Pantai Klebang..The housing area was really nice, macam ala-ala spa gitu..Sampai2 je, orang pun dah surut (ye la majlis sampai pukul 4, awak sampai dah pukul 3.40, mana tak surutnya). However we were greeted warmly and we saw that a couple of people we know are still around.

Lisa got married to a Frenchman yang mengajar hospitality course kat Taylor's College. Suprisingly Adam a.k.a Bertran looks quite comfortable in the baju melayu, tanjak etc. He also seems at ease with Lisa's relatives and friends.

So, to Lisa and Adam(Bertran) 'Selamat Pengantin Baru' dan semoga berbahagia ke anak cucu..

On the way back, we meet up with Cha kat Jaya Jusco for a chit-chat sambil makan lagi.. Cha pun dah nak pindah next week, so this is the last time la we see her in Melaka.

By 6.30pm we pushed off balik KL.. sampai KL about 10.00pm la gak sebab singgah solat kat R&R Ayer Keroh.. Sebelum sampai kerumah, singgah dulu ke rumah MIL nak pass buah tangan dari Melaka.. Konon nak singgah, last-last sampai habis konsert AF baru we all balik.. Sampai rumah dah midnight.. Fuh.. penat but it was fun..

Enjoy the pictures..

The happy couple...

Lisa tengah menayang inai di tangan to Francyne

Lisa with the kids -- from left Eibhie(anak Francyne), Medina (anak Anita, another colleague) and Anita's niece (behind yg bertudung) Fatimah..

Eibhie got the most attention at the kenduri, most of Lisa's relative sibuk bribe her with goodie bags, sampai mak dia pun heran mana si kecik ni dapat bag bukan main banyak lagi.. lepas satu, satu.. Tengokla dalam gambar ni pun, tengah pegang goodie bag..Ye la mana taknya, her eyes are really blue.. geram nengoknya.. baik plak tu.. nak kat orang.. But when she was younger, her eyes were bluer, now dah a bit greenish/grayish.

The team with spouses -- from left to right - Craig (Francyne's husband and my ex-boss), Nasir, Adam, Lisa, me, Francyne and Eibhie..

Tahniah Yah & Amin

Tahniah to Yah and Amin for the new born baby boy. Yah selamat melahirkan the baby around 1100 am yesterday morning -- 19th March 2008. A good birthday present ye Amin!!

Ye, it was Amin's birthday yesterday, it was also Emi's (Haikal's wife) birthday and the weirdest
-- it was also Awis's new betrothed's birthday as well.. And now the new cucu of Idris Muhammad..

Anyway, congratulations again.. May Allah bless both of you and the new baby..

P/S: Insyallah will upload pics of the baby soon.

Updated on 27th Mar 2008:

Muhammad Aqil Irfan bin Mohd Amin (tak sure spelling betoi ka tak.. kalau tak betoi sorry na..)

Pilihanraya ke 12 – Kita menang sorak, tapi kampung tergadai..

I am not a big fan of politics, in fact this year is the first time that I exercise my right as a voter. Now after more than a week since the results are out, rasa teramat la sedihnya, bukannya sebab BN kalah, tapi sebab kampungku telah tergadai.. Yes I am a Penangite yang membesar di kalangan orang-orang Cina di kawasan Island Glades (where Karpal Singh resides).. For your information, I think in the whole of Island Glades (yang saiznya lebih kurang besar Greenwood area ni) less than 10 malay families saje yang reside there. Setelah sekian lama DAP melobi, mencuba berkali-kali, akhirnya Penang dengan rasminya jatuh ke tangan DAP..

DAP yg merupakan parti serpihan PAP yang memerintah Singapura dapat habuan paling besar jika dibandingkan dgn PAS dan Keadilan. Dari mula lagi pembangkang tahu it's quite impossible for them untuk dapat simple majoriti apalagi majoriti 2/3 yang important untuk realised their manifesto (esp bab harga minyak). DAP of course is more interested to ensure economy kaum Cina terus dilindungi. Sekarang apa yang PAS or Keadilan can do untuk membela nasib orang Melayu dalam memperbaiki taraf ekonomi mereka?

Apalah nasib orang-orang Melayu yang sememangnya telah terpinggir sekian lama di Penang (especially yang di Pulau)??Apalah nasib tanah-tanah rezab Melayu yang ada kat Penang tu?? Adakah Azan akan stop berkumandang di Penang ?? Berapa banyak tanah2 rezab Melayu ni akan diserahkan pada Singapore untuk pelaburan ??

Sebelum ni pun masa under Gerakan, hartanah di bahagian pulau melambung-lambung mengalahkan harga tanah di KL. Mana taknya,c*na dari Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Indonesia dok berlumba-lumba beli rumah kat sana for investment, lama-lama kita Melayu ni, sampai dah tak terbeli, terlampau mahal..Akhirnya, we move out into the mainland..

Tsunami politik/gelombang perubahan dalam demokrasi diMalaysia.

Tu la yang kita dok baca dalam newspaper dan dengar di TV lepas keputusan pilihanraya ke12 diumumkan. Tapi tsunami politik yg digambarkan tu, the damage tak dapat kita nampak dengan clear. We paid dearly. Kesannya dalam bentuk jangkamasa panjang dari segi kepentingan politik dan ekonomi orang Melayu.

Sayangnya orang Melayu kita mengundi ikut emosi. Percaturan untuk buat undi protes actually kesannya lebih teruk dari yg kita jangkakan; of the 3, DAP have the last laugh. Knowing PAS/Keadilan stronghold are mainly in rural area whereas DAP mostly in urban areas DAP realised they got nothing to lose but all for gain. Apa yang berlaku:
- banyak undi org Melayu diraih dari pakatan pembangkang hasilnya Pulau Pinang dikuasai DAP.
- banyak kawasan selamat BN/UMNO dimenangi pembangkang setelah digadaikan oleh undi orang Melayu.
- tiada pemulihan yang dapat dilihat sebaliknya kuasa majoriti orang Melayu kini menjadi lemah apabila terbahagi tiga – PAS, Keadilan, UMNO.

Clearly perangkap DAP yang berbentuk 'overkill' effectnya terlalu luas dan orang Melayu Penang yang dah lama terpinggir akan paling terasa bahang yang jauh lebih teruk lagi because dasar DAP is to hapuskan hak keistimewaan org Melayu. Clearly the Malays voters punye understanding on politics tidak la sebijak mana pun sebab asyik dok fikir pasai kenaikan harga barang, harga minyak & tol, tak puas hati sedangkan itu adalah realiti kehidupan memang sejak merdeka lagi.. Masa zaman baru merdeka dulu, berapa banyak makanan yang parents kita boleh beli dengan 5 sen? Comparekan dengan sekarang ? Of course la berbeza, our economy needs to evolve and this is the effect.

Idea negara 'kebajikan' is actually is a sindiran DAP yg sinis to orang Melayu yang still lengai dan malas nak kerja kuat. The Malays took a very high risk untuk gadaikan their economy future bila termakan dengan helah manifesto pembangkang untuk turunkan harga minyak. This is a reality for Malays to accept – the sufferings will continue...

Memang sedih sangat bila orang Melayu kena fitnah by hindraf as Islam extremis and terrorists. PAS and Keadilan is defending their perjuangan atas nama demokrasi. But what exactly is democracy from western world perspective? Orang Islam yang memakai hijab di US didiskriminasikan and labelled as terrorist. Apa citer ? Wujud ke demokrasi di Singapore sedangkan anak kecik nak pakai tudung ke sekolah pun ditegah.

Hari ini orang Melayu sendiri telah menjatuhkan penguasaan orang Melayu kerana hilangnya semangat persaudaraan/solidarity.

UMNO/BN pun ada buat silap – the leaders are too sure of themselves – angkuh. Akibat keangkuhan mereka tak dapat tengok strategi pembangkang. Padan la dengan muka.. tapi masih jugak tak dapat-dapat the message yang cuba the rakyat (esp the Malays) trying to tell you.

Don't even let me get into the Perak situation. At least (for now) it looked like it's going to be fine under the PAS punya MB.

So now nak tak nak, for the sake of orang Melayu, I have to pay more attention to politics..

Happy Birthday Yone!!

Happy Birthday Yone!!! Memandangkan yone saja yang selalu buat write up untuk yong dengan cha punya birthday, kali ni Yong pun buatkan la satu entry walaupun tengah very the busy one right now.. Tapi gambar2 lama tak dak la, pasal semua dok ada kat Penang.. Yong boh gambaq2 yang dok ada kat Yong la ni ja la na..


I kind of ingat-ingat lupa what happened masa mama nak bersalin kat Yone ni, ye la masa tu, I was already 7 years oldkan, darjah 1. Masa tu sefamili duduk kat Butterworth kat Taman Teluk Molek rasanya nama taman tu (Siap call mama lagi nak check, tapi Abah yang jawab so it's abahnya confirmation a.. kalau salah, nasibla)..Anyway, tengah-tengah malam, abah datang kejut and took us all in inside the car (masa tu me and Meor jela kan..) dengan mamai-mamainya tak perasan wat's the reason, bila kitaorang berenti kat depan private klinik bersalin kat Perai tu, dengan lampu terpasang, baru la I sedar apa sebabnya.. rupanya mama dah nak bersalin..I can't remember exactly what happened the whole night (perhaps because I was busy sleeping) tapi akhirnya pada 7hb March 1981, at around 5pm Yang Khairun binti Abdullah Sani was born. (Alamak just check with Mama, mama kata masa kejadian ni, it was a false alarm, mama tak jadik bersalin, tapi mama spent a night jugak la kat klinik tu)


Among all the siblings, rasanya Yone la yang paling meriah dan bising sekali.. (tapi bila besaq2 ni semua pun bising). Dari kecik sampai besaq.. Masa dia kecik, with her curls, she was well known amongst the family member as 'Kunta-Kinte' (kalau tak salah Ayah Ngah yang start bagi nama gelaran tu kat dia) sempena the citer Kunta-Kinte zaman 80an dulu..


Paling attached the Makcik Jah yang tolong jaga we all semua, ha ni la dia...Sampai bila hantar makcik balik, makcik turun je dari kereta, dia pun start la melolong..So, me being the big sister, kena la tukang jadi pengalih attention (ye la sebab masa tu mama kena dukung Cha yang baby lagi masa tu).. Tapi dalam merengek2 dia pun, bila dia takde, memang rasa sunyi.


Bila dah besar ni, dia la paling terer sekali bab2 menjadi peng'organise' sesuatu event..Contohnya bila buat family day ke, kenduri-kendara ke.. memang boleh harap la my adik sorang ni..Especially bab-bab execution and games..pantas aje. Terima kasih la Yone for being a good sport and supporter in the family ( Yela sekarang ni, dia jela yang every weekend will be there with Mama and Abah, alhamdullillah, jadi anak yang baik..)


Bila balik berjumpa dan berkumpul sekali-sekala, dia la paling riuh sekali bercerita, cerita pasal kerja dia la, student2 dia punya karenah la.. macam2 lagi.. kadang2 tu memang tak kering gusi kitaorang berempat bersembang sampai ke tengah malam pun ada.. Mama sampai siap mengamuk suruh pi tidoq pun ada..


So, anyway Yone.. Happy 27th Birthday.. May Allah bless you and dicepatkan la bertemu jodoh ye hehehe..Amin....(Internet connection very bad la sekarang ni, so sempat upload satu gambaq ja dulu..nanti Yong upload lain k..)

Masa kenduri Yah...Yone jadi 'runner' a.k.a bodyguard Yah..

Trip to Rebung

Last week, a couple of colleagues including myself decided to treat Izzatul kat Restoran Rebung for her farewell and wedding lunch. It waer last day and her wedding is coming on the 2nd of February kat Bukit Mertajam -- sorryla Izzatul, I tak dapat datang sebab kena balik masa Chinese New Year..

Anyway, I chose Rebung sebab paling dekat dengan office and also the tempat, sesuai la jugak untuk mem'belanja' orang kan.. Kak Hanizah was reluctant mulanya sebab kerap sangat dia ke sana.. (K. Hanizah is the wife to DJ Noramin 'Moshi-Moshi' zaman 80-an - Abg A, you should know), so malas la dia.. Tapi sebab Izzatul and Hamidah tak pernah pegi and tak tau that Rebung is owned (or partly owned) by our Angkasawan Negara, bila sampai je, excited la they all. True enough sampai -sampai aje, Chef Ismail dah terjerit-jerit dah memanggil K. Hanizah -- pas tu start la they all punye speaking, padanla K. Hanizah malas nak datang, pening kepala melayan rupanya..

Ni Izzatul and Hamidah, sibuk berposing sebelum start makan..ke dah start makan, tak ingat dah..

'Primadona' tengah sibuk melayan makanan, wakaka..sedap oo..

Ni sebenarnya Kak Hanizah tangkap dari frame gambar yang dah ada kat situ.. memandangkan 'hero' takde, gambar 'hero' aje pun jadikla..

K. Hanizah: Mail, hero mano? Tak ado ko dio ? Chef Ismail: Tak ado, dio pagi tadi bertolak ke Rompin.. Jadi we all, tangkap ajela gambor dengan business partner 'hero'.. Jadikla...

'Sang Pengantin Baru' amik gambar dengan Chef Ismail, isk Izzatul, cik abang awak tak marah ke.. hehehe..jangan mare ye..Selamat Pengantin Baru!!

Filem Cuci -- Goooooddd!!

After watching the Making of Cuci last Saturday, aku terpanggil untuk menonton filem ini lalu ku ajak suamiku menontonnya semalam..

It was quite different from other Malay movies I have watched before (kat cinema la)..To my opinion it was good, funny, dialog kelakar but tak dibuat-buat, dengar selamba aje..and the most important thing ada message yang sebenarnya I think ditujukan khas kepada orang-orang Melayu dan secara amnya kepada rakyat Malaysia...

The story revolves around this 4 adopted brothers (Fairil-Afdlin, Khai-Hans, Jojo-Awie, C'Tan - AC) yang membesar bersama dan bekerja dalam company mereka sendiri iaitu Cuci Cuci Services selama 10 tahun. Tapi dalam masa 10 tahun mereka berkerja tu, tak ada apa2 perubahan yang ketara (improvement or progress in doing business) padahal si ketua - Fairil (Afdlin) yang memang mempunyai impian untuk maju tetapi kurang mendapat sokongan dari adik-beradiknya yang lain. Jadinya dia sentiasa merasa geram dan kecewa dengan sikap yang lain-lain.

Tetapi dengan pujukan, dan syarahan beliau tentang 'Impianku' maka mindset yang lain-lain mula bertukar (kecuali C'Tan yang lebih paranoid dan negatif thinking -- which I think sinonim dengan pemikiran kebanyakan orang Melayu sekarang ni)

Overall, walaupun cerita ni kelakar, ia membuatkan you berfikir, apa la nak jadi dengan negara yang tercinta ni.. Antara mesej yang clear dalam filem ni -- "Kita ada bukan satu tapi 2 buah bangunan yang menjadi kebanggaan negara kita, apasal la kita benarkan orang luar(Bangla and Pakistan) yang mencucinya. kita ni yang patut lebih berbangga dapat mencucinya".

Which I think is true. Tak payah pegi jauh la, dekat area my house tu kalau kita tengok orang2 Indon(Acheh) yang meniaga kedai runcit je - bercambah-cambah.. cepat je diaorang start business pas tu menjadi plak tu.. Of course sokongan kena ada - sebab tu sekarang ni we all berdua memang berusaha bersungguh-sungguh menyokong orang melayu dalam perniagaan mereka..Tak kirala berniaga barang makan ke, menjahit ke, apa-apa saja yang we want to do or need services, we will try our best to give priority to yang sebangsa, kalau tak ade, then baru move on atau pun cancel order, tak payah beli.

I think Hans did a pretty good job in his first attempt at directing. Of course the backing funding helps as well.

So pada mereka yang contemplating nak pegi tengok citer ni ke tak, I would recommend you to try - it's entertaining...

So -- enjoy!!