You know you have had enough when you go to the bank with the hope to bank-in a large sum of money for you future saving, and an partial-bapuk banker just ignores you when there's still 3 minutes left before he is supposed to close his counter.  Tengah berkobar-kobar nak simpan duit and this freak gave me his sour-shitty face, so, here your go, the award of sucker-service to BCB Pasir Gudang.

You know you have had enough when you eat in a fast food restaurant and in the end you get a super-slow food service.  Thirty-bloody-minutes for a simple and tasteless spaghetti bolognaise is not acceptable.  So, the blacklist ribbon goes to Pizza Hut Pusat Bandar Pasir Gudang.

You know you have had enough when you call the LHDN customer service centre to get you reference number and the person speaking to you is very unfriendly and says in the tone something like "ye?  Nak ape?  Nombor IC?  sg..kosong kosong doploh.." and they say that the government service is improving especially during the visit malaysia 2007 year...  Bull-tinja~ 

You know you have had enough when that evening you are very determined to get a super-cheap 1gig pen drive, and when requested to be served, the sales peep at that place say "Akak gi dekat sana, cari mamat India yang pakai baju t-shirt kaler biru putih tu, dia yg ada kunci almari nih.. ada dia dekat sana, situ tu... haa, pergi la cari dekat situ ek."  Okkay, who's the customer here now???  You just told your customer to look for somebody who she haven't even met, and don't even know how the hell that 'mamat' looks like, and there is plenty of people wearing baju t-shirt biru putih, and her 'situ' and 'sana' is just the direction of her jari telunjuk -- and you call yourself a salesperson?  You gotta be kidding me.  Congratulations, you just make the supermarket you're working with poorer by RM39.90 and still counting.  Very pround to announce the gold medal winner for super-sucker-unbelievable service goes to TESCO Seri Alam electrical section!!  Applause, applause!

So -- there you go.  This is the customer-service in Malaysia.  Well, maybe they should change the customer-service term to customer-source-of-loathing-service.  Haha, typical service.  I believe this lack of manners attitude is everywhere, not Malaysia alone.  But still, we can't make that as an excuse to treat everybody else badly.  I mean, the customer is the one who have to spend their money to buy your product.  The money is for your own living jugak.  No customer, no gaji woo.. 

What I did when faced with such situation is -- go find another place with a lot better service.  Example number one, when Celcom service stinks like some rat in the drain, go to Maxis.  Why?  With celcom, VERY SELDOM i manage to check my credit balance in times of desperate needs.  Somehow Maxis pun dah start cari pasal with their 1-week-conformation-to-claim-free-sms-thing, maybe I need to find a new service, cheaper, better...if any~

Example number two, when BCB and that partial-bapuk treats you like shit, go to Maybank instead.

Example number three, if TESCO Seri Alam expects you to "go find yourself your own service", you just leave that place and instead, go to the lousy computer shop at Pusat Bandar who'll treat you better than that certified supermarket.  Yeah, you get the pen drive with slightly higher price, but they give you the service, and also they'll acknowledge you about gadgets that can be used with your purchase.  Macam Meg Ryan says in the "you've got mail" movie -- "They have cheap books and legal addictive stimulant","They don't have the service, WE DO.."

See -- I am a very good example why any customer-service oriented business should not piss me off..

I am blank beyond belief..

.....

blank..

What do you call that thing when you are out of idea and (...) what...?  (As I said earlier, I'm blank. pardon me for all the dot dot dot thing going on!)  Mental block?  Idle brain?  Something like that.. 

I've been listening the The Wonders/Oneders of "That Thing You Do" for the x-times considering I am super blank to find new and fresh idea for this thing that thing that thing laah..  Anyway, the song doesn't relate to how I'm feeling right now, it's just the upbeat tunes brings up my mood.  The THING is; the boss asks me and Faizal (da' newbie guy) to come out with different concepts of an aesthetic laptop packaging.  Including the project leader, there'll be 3 head/brain to think about this single thing.  And the problem I'm facing is to come out with something different that  have not crossed another 2 head's mind.  Huh? 

Have you guys watched "The Runway Show" where all this fashion people try to come out with their very own creative design?  No, I'm not a fashion designer, I'm a technical designer, but somehow the way I'm working is more or less very much similar with them.  The problem is, I'm trying to be creative, and the machine in this place pulls my idea to the ground and spat to my face saying "let's face reality, we're a rotational-limited-functionality machine, we can't make that". 

Anyway, I went back home yesterday trying to come out with multiple concepts.  What I did is to stick to one idea, and from that single thing, I come out with another concept that is more or less similar but not so similar with the first idea.  (What am I trying to say...)  So, from that ONE thing, it evolves into another THREE different thing.  So, when I showed the 3 different thing to my boss today, he say "That's ONE concept".  And I say "No, that's THREE", and he say "NO..It's ONE..  Give me more". 

And aku jeling Faizal, Faizal jeling aku...  And he said jokingly "so Mas.... jom kite buat 40 concept.."  Huhu!

And right now I'm sitting here -- totally BLANK.  If I want to buat lubang here and there or bunga-bunga sana sini, that would be simple..  Is lubang-lubang or bunga-bunga can be considered as a new concept?  I need something new, fresh..  And I am BLANK...~~

So as I sketched few different things, sambil conteng-conteng buat muka smiley face, my boss pass by my place and saw that silly cartoon I make on the paper, and showed everyone.  He says aloud 'thinking inside and outside the box' and joined their laughter...  Yo, intimidating occay!!

To sit here, trying to explore new methods of packaging and can't get a single boombastic idea from my head for the past 4 hours -- Aku rasa macam nak termuntah darah hijau..~~

Kelmarin, my mak and abah turun Johor, and I kinda spent the evening with them.  And terharunya diriku ini bile abah states to his friend "takdela, turn sini nak lawat sedara sorang tu, meninggal.  Sambil-sambil tu jumpela anak ni, dah lama tak jumpa, nak hilangkan rindu sikit."

Huhuhu...  me like it!  Tu la, sejahat-jahat aku pun, sayang lagi mak abah dekat aku.  Lalalalalalalala... 

Biblio-phile

http://bibliophilism.blogdrive.com

I've bought another book.  Walaupun dalam purse ku cumala tinggal RM50 for me to survive one week.  Huhu, the temptations is too great.

Looking back at the book collections that I have -- with various genre -- various author -- it makes me feel pround to own that much.  Maybe one day I'll make out my very own little library so that anak cucu ku dapat mewarisi harta pusaka ku -- buku.  Huh -- if only they are the reading type lah.

I like new books.  I like 2nd hand book if I don't have enough money.  I hate the fact that most of the time I spent my money reading some crap book.  Sometimes, the synopsis get over the real story.  But, that's just marketing strategy.  Good summary, people buy.  Bad summary, no buyer.

Somehow, don't you find it quite annoying when reading good + marvellous + promising book review from some official site/media, and in the end -- the story is so crappy that you feel like throwing the book to some pile of cat's shit?  Like this one time, I wanna give a shot on Sidney Sheldon's daughter, Mary Sheldon.  Sidney praises his daughter's book with statements such as "very POWERFUL plot", and when I expect to have something similar with Sidney's writing, I only end up with total disappointment of her crappy way of writing and weak plots.  I mean, why must they be a hypocrite in this industry?  I know that's HIS daughter, but then, truth to be told, she doesn't write like some pro.  Eventhough you are a daughter of a famous writer, doesn't mean you can write as good as your papa..  

So, never believe the review from a well known publisher -- they do that because they get free reading and extra money for their review.  Instead, read one from ordinary people, who have to spend their own ringgit and cent to buy some freaking book.  Hehe, mcm promo lak.  It would be nice if more people can join this eeny-tiny-community~ 

Emak once said "Ni, baca buku tebal-tebal nih, Quran dah habis baca belum?" -- Ngeeeeehehehe...  Trying mak, trying.  Have you guys read Quran like you read a book?  I've tried, but somehow bile dah nak dekat sampai middle tu, letihnyerrr...  When the devil trying to mencucuk-cucuk-cucuk, a simple sentence pun jadik susah.  Ngeeeehe~

A good friend of mine from UM, Si Kudut (that's what I called her sometimes) -- well, this is not entirely the story of Si Kudut, but in fact it relates to Si Kudut's boyriend/soon to be husband, we call him PakCik because Si Kudut is well known among our batch as MakCik.  Where am I getting with all this craps?

Anyway, Pakcik is a true fan of Star Wars.  He is willing to spend thousand of ringgits and even dollars to purchase another limited edition of any Star Wars item,  I guess, with all that money that he's using to purchase all those stuff, he can sponsor a grand wedding for both of them.

As for me, I'm not really into the Star Wars thingy, unlike my big brothers.  The only thing that I like about Star Wars is the cute bear-like figure -- the Ewok thing, and the big fat Jabbar.  

However, back to Pakcik.  Unlike my big brothers, Pakcik is an all time Star Wars collector.  MIniatures especially.  I once asked Si Kudut, what is he doing with all that miniature-not-suitable-for-eat-but-display-only-item?  Makcik says "Er...for display..?"  Owh, yeah..display!  Why didn't i think about that.  Pbelrgh!  I guess when they get married, Pakcik is going to decorate their room with miniature items -- watching their every moves.  I mean every moves -- hehe (evelish grins).

So, I guess this sites (easterntoys) is specially dedicated to people like Pakcik.  They sells many collectible item, especially Star Wars outfit.  However, I'm looking forward to the idea of Pakcik wearing a Darth Vader clothes or even Chewbacca costume.  That would be interesting.  But to think about it, this is Malaysia dude, not Japan's Harajuku.  The mentality is still not ready towards a hip environment. 

http://www.easterntoys.com/

Reading back the entry, it makes me feel like I'm writing a Karangan Darjah 5... Huhu -- well, me not journalist, me not a writer, me not good with words.  Me is me.. (^o^)

I miss emak..

Really really really miss her..

Teribbly misses her..

Baru je like -- what -- 3 weeks tak jumpa mak.  It's not that I'm not used to all that, but this is the precise moment when the heart, the soul could not contain it much longer.  Macam sebijik mangkuk, when filled with soup, and if you over-fill it, it will spill.  Same goes here, there are limits to certain things, and I guess mine has reached its warning sign.  And mangkuk aku cumalah duration sebesar 1.5 years.

Not that I'm having any trouble at the workplace or anything.  Work is fine, collegues is superb, friends -- well, not bad,  food is more than enough -- praises to God for His blessings.  But, something is still missing -- And I am missing my emak.  How can you not miss her when u only come back home once a month, and that ONCE a month only consists of penginapan 2 hari 1 malam dekat rumah sendiri.

All this started when I re-joined (see the bolded part) the usrah thingy.  The usrah is plain, and not that tantalising, as usual.  But then, the naqibah really reminds me of emak.  Her features, the way she wears her tudung, the way she talks, the way her spectacles fell upon her nose, and even the clothes she's wearing is very much like emak when going to masjid for maghrib prayer.  And all I know, the next day, even the makcik that cycles on the side of the road looks like emak -- although I've never seen emak cycles all my life!  That is obviously the warning sign.

I do realise that I'm not that good of showing my appreciation with emak around.  But the thought that she is REALLY around, really soothes me without she ever need to do anything hard.  I tried to show all that by making cookies, and bake some lousy cakes since that would be the only thing that my other siblings not-really-capable of doing.  The only creative part that I inherit from emak.  That is just my way to show that I love being around her.

Pernah sekali, almost give-up on my studies -- over pressured with various tasks -- and suddenly kring, kring, emak calls, and just hearing her voice is enough to boost my energy back to its optimum level. 

I'll never forget the time when I had my chicken-pox and emak is the one who'll wipe my body patiently, and changing the cadar everytime.  And she'll take extra leave when I have a fever and sit on the dining table next to me with some sweet medicines, and let me play around with the "this is hipopotamus" flash cards.

I made a promise to myself that I'm going to buy a very big and spacious house with its very  own wakaf and fish ponds and plants and let emak and abah stays there happily ever after without having to worry the next spot to stay when they're travelling jb-kl everytime.  But I'm terribly afraid if I could not make it, if I'm not fast enough, if their age ends, if I'm not able to repay every single thing that I owe them, if I didn't manage to qada' my solat and they are the one that have to bear the torments -- all the what if's possibilites might happen and it will happen, one way or another.

Aku baru perasan, I don't really have any picture with emak alone-alone kind of pic.  The only one that I have is when I'm a baby, or mase umur 3 thn, and my favourite would be one when I'm 5 years old.  I should photograph those moments.  Serious, I should. 

I really envy those who still stays with their parents.  Please, cherish every single moments, before everything is too late.  Make them happy with each breath that they take.  Remind yourself that it's not easy to give birth to a big baby like u peeps. 

I love you emak.
I do.
And I will always treasure this feeling.
And I'll forget about my past heartache -- for the ache of not being around you is much more painful.

Yeyyy..Minggu depan balik KL!!