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http://poissondepisces.fotopages.com


C u guys there! i would alternate my blogging here and there!

cheers!

Sneeze! Cough! Cough!


Hello people! I guess some of u might have been wondering what happened to me right? I have succumbed to a spell of sneezes and coughing, and not to miss an itching throat.

The past week had been a slow and interesting one. First of all, I managed to finalize the costume for Alan as Irene. I had presented the rough drawing to Ali, the costume tutor. We worked out the technical part of the building of the dress. I also managed to get the fabric swatches for the dress. What’s left now is the final rendering and the technical drawing for the dress. I have planned to start the pattern drafting this coming week and most likely, by Thursday or Friday, I would be able to buy the fabric..

The weather this week had been quite mild, roughly at about 7 degrees Celsius average. But as for today, according to the forecast, the winds from the Antarctic would be blowing in this direction, thus, bringing extremely cold wind. This would cause the temperature to drop dramatically and snow would be expected this coming week.

With my runny nose and cough, I wonder how would I face the remaining days of winter. Probably my last winter for a looong time!

This week to I had decided to go to Amsterdam in April, just for a short visit. I would be staying with a friend of mine. Hope what ever is planned would materialized!

Anyway, I’m looking forward for this coming week. Hope my weekly goals would be met. Oh yes, Eid-ul-Adha is on Sunday the 1st. My aunt would have arrived in Jeddah by the time I’m writing this.

Looking forward to update my activities tomorrow!

Cheerio

WEDDING

Well, I got busy on Friday, started off by going to ASDA and bought remaining stuff for the big cook out. After Friday prayers, I went to get the chicken and chicken liver from Bismillah, a halal meat shop.

Only at about 3 pm did I arrive at Kak Fiza،¦s house. I started work with the cherry tomatoes, trying to make roses out of them, but my attempts were foiled due to the condition of the knife. Later on that evening, Zam and I peeled onions and garlic and I machined them fine into paste. By this time, Kak Fiza had already cooked the chicken liver, yummy! I slept at about 1230am that morning. Oh yes, I also managed to do 2 bridal bouquets for Anne and Nani.

Woke up at about 8 am and after washing up, we started the cook out with the chicken. We improvised the Ayam Golek recipe to suit the occasion. The cook out went fine and later on Syafiq came to help. He did the watermelon and honeydew dish. We then decorated and did the food presentation.

The Menu for the Main Table

1. Ayam Golek (decorated with an egg as the chicken head)
2. udang mahkota alam (prawns on pineapple)
3. udang bungkus and sweet sour dip
4. sayur campur
5. nasi minyak


For the reception, I wore a white baju melayu leher sejari, samping songket minang and songkok Johor. As usual, I was the centre of attraction!!! Thanks to my 5،¨ songkok Johor! ƒ؛

I was also asked to perform something that night, I wanted to do the Terinai Negeri Sembilan, but I did an excerpt of the Zapin Johor instead. I used a bunga pahar as my hand prop, as the song came to the end, the egg stuck onto the bunga telur just popped out from its netting case and flew across the floor،K..and everyone laughed،KI did as well،KI just smiled!

I،¦ll continue with the other happenings of the wedding later, need to call my mom.

xxx

2.99 p/mtr

yesterday, I managed to ask the bank about my missing credit card in the mail. They said It should arrive in a day or two…hmmm

I also checked out Mandor’s yesterday, and ended up buying 10 mtrs of raw silk. I would be using that fabric to make baju kurung for my dance troupe when I go back to KL at the end of the year. It was a real good bargain. Not only that, the bargain section has many interesting fabrics from a certain London fashion house. All selling for 99p 1.99 and 2.99 per mtr. Gosh! Spent a chunk of money on that! He he he….me and my fabric fetish!

Went to Kak Fiza’s last night to discuss further regarding the stuff that we’re going to cook later today. Hmmmmmmm….

That’s about it…have to get ready to send my stuff to Kak Fiza’s and go to ASDA to get some stuff.

DRAG

Sounds ‘sesuatuh’ right? Anyway, this morning I went to see Ally, the costume tutor regarding my future placements. I told her my background and my interests. When I told her I was able to construct a costume, she asked me whether I was interested to help her out making up a costume for Ali De Souza’s film project.

Of course I would be interested. What more, it would be a dress for Alan Cross! He would be in Drag again! I was even told today, that a new fabric shop just opened at East Claremont Street. Have to recce for fabric tomorrow morning.

Din moved out as well today, he has moved to Parsons Green Terrace in Meadowbank. We also went to ASDA to get provisions. I bought myself a black tie, studded with diamontes. On the way back, we got on the wrong bus, and so we ended up at Nicolson Street instead of Meadowbank. We then took a taxi back to Din’s place.

Anyway, today I got really chatty with Brian, one of the carpenters who replaced the doors in my flat, he even confronted me with a certain issue ( I think somehow its kind of inappropriate to say it here) and I gave him this look and he confirmed it himself. I even made for him Malaysian coffee and gave him a keretek cigarette. Both being very potent! He liked it!

That was my day today, nothing much, but I enjoyed every bit of it.

STORMY MONDAY

Dark clouds encompassed Edinburgh today, thus gushes of strong gales blew and bringing down droplets of icy water. THE WHOLE DAY......

Din matriculated this morning at the Corstorphine Campus, whilst I visited the college nurse to have my blood taken to check for glucose, cholesterol and liver function. I also went to the library and borrowed four books on the subjects of costume design and theatre. I just felt this urge of urgency to start reading again. I even checked my college email, and I found so much junk mail, so I cleared them.

At about noon we got on the taxi to Gateway. I left Din with Douglas Brown, his supervisor and I went in to see Pauline, Francis and the new costume tutor. I would meet up with the costume tutor to discuss further plans on Wednesday. I would also present my first two projects to Pauline and Francis to determine the method of my final MFA presentation.

I even met the Screen Practice MFA students, and I guess I have so much to catch up with them. I also manage to get two bouquet holders and some kapur sirih (lime).


As for dinner I cooked lamb in pureed tomato and herbs with lots of coriander leaves and cashew nuts. I made buttered rice to go with it. I guess I would make cheese and cucumber sandwiches tomorrow.

That،¦s my Monday،K.hope everything would fall into place for me in times to come.

ƒ؛

Back To Uni

FRIDAY

AM
I brought my guest, Din, to the International Office at the main campus. He met Rita and Peter and had a chat while I checked out the college nurses office and re-activated my Uni email. I even went to the Uni Jobshop to look for a second part time job and at the same time looked for possible jobs for Muti and Shana.

PM
Brought Din to HSBC to open his bank account. Was back at home by 4-ish, sempat jugak singgah kedai beli periuk untuk masak ayam golek minggu depan. I shaved and got ready for work.

It was a horrendous night of FAME. The Playhouse was packed (3000 audience) and not a single seat was spared. Had lots of audience who were not able to read i.e. instead of seating at row M they sat at row F !!!! ergghhh! There were even people taking photographs in the audience! And it was at my level!! God!

It was really a tiring shift, got home at 11 and ate ayam masak kicap and I slept soon after watching Sex In The City.


SATURDAY

AM
Had a peculiar dream last night. I was dreaming about my family, relatives and friends in Malaysia. I really felt sad when I woke up. I even hugged my mom and cried, for no apparent reason. I guess I was homesick.

Anis made fried rice for breakfast, and after breakfast we headed off to HSBC again for Din to submit his degree to complete his application for a bank account. We then (moi, Din, Muti and Shana) took the bus to Parson Green Terrace to check out Shana،¦s flat. Din seems satisfied with what Nasar (Shana،¦s landlord) has to offer.

Got home at 12 and got ready for work. I،¦m working 2 shifts today, and both shifts with full house. They missed my name in the rota for this afternoon،¦s shift, but in the end, I was to replace someone else،¦s shift. It went fine in the Stalls, except for this lady who was suppose to be seated at row U 28, I mistakenly ushered her on the wrong side of the auditorium, well it was partly her fault as she came in late into the auditorium. The rest of the afternoon went fine, sold ice cream and all. ƒ؛

The evening shift was even better; I was stationed at Circle High. Before the doors were opened, we had a fire drill. I did not really focus during the practice. Anyway, it went on fine. As the doors to the auditorium opened, the people in my section just came in and I had no latecomers! It went smoothly for me tonight. I got myself a FAME t-shirt and CD at discounted price. Well, that،¦s the end of the run for FAME in Edinburgh. I find it aspiring as it has some relevance to what I،¦m studying now. PA! HARDWORK!!!!
I also took a ،¥Colour Of Your Heart،¦ quiz،Khere is the result.



Your Heart is Red


What Color is Your Heart?
brought to you by Quizilla


Cheers!

RAINY WINDY DAY

Woke up today with a sore throat…inflamed tonsils…ughh..had to take some erythromycin.

And today I fetched my sister’s friend who is pursuing his MSc at my university. I left for the airport by bus at Waverly Station at about 945 and got to the airport by 1025. By then the flight had already landed. As I walked towards the baggage claim, I happened to bump into my sister’s friend. I then took him back to my flat. At that moment the electrician was around, sanding off excess plaster on the ceiling. What dusty mess they left behind – again!.

After resting for about an hour, I brought my guest out for lunch at Kebab Mahal. We had a small portion of mixed kebab. After lunch we walked around Old Town, The Royal Mile and then to Princess Street, just to familiarize him to Edinburgh City Centre.

As the day was as gray as ever, we decided after I did some grocery shopping, we would just retire at home. Thank goodness the people who were supposed to fix the fireproof doors did not come today! I prepared the guest room next and asked my guest to rest.

Che’ Amud, my guest’s uncle had given him packets of Brahim Asam Pedas paste and had requested me to cook it for dinner. With some salmon fillet I bought earlier at Tesco’s I made the instant Asam Pedas with ladies fingers. I also made stir fried vegetables and cooked rice.

I finally got to watch the talked about Juara Lagu 2003. My mom taped it for me and passed it thru my guest. I must say that Misha Omar did a superb job and me, being such a drama queen, was overwhelmed when she belted out Bunga-Bunga Cinta. I even shed a tear when she was announced the winner! Gosh! After watching her performance live at Bleu Bar in September, I know that I would be her big fan. I hope she stays the way she is. I am even more excited to watch her acting in Yusof Haslam’s Gerak Khas the movie 3 (me????)

Anyway, today had been a nice day for me, despite the gray skies and drops of rain.

Cheers

Another Boring (and I really mean it!) Day

It’s not as bad as it seems actually. At least, I got out of the flat! I went to Uncle T’s for lunch. Had baked potato with spicy avocado, sounds nice huh? Uncle T’s café serves Mediterranean food and it is all Halal.

As I walked back, I stopped by South Side second hand book store, just going through the art and design rack, never knowing of coming across useful books. Well, nothing there today. I continued walking upwards Nicolson Street and I stopped by Jordan Valley to get my supply of Kipas Udang soy sauce, to my dismay, the shop would re-open on the 9th!

I met Shad outside B-Wise and we went in to look at the stuff on sale, nothing that interests me, or Shad. She went off for her Spanish class and I headed to RB. There, I bought 2 pieces of chicken breasts for dinner. When I went home, the flat was in TOTAL CHAOS…and I was not feeling that well too. I chucked the stuff in the kitchen and went to Zam’s room, and collapsed for an hour, waking up to see the electrician still around.

By 6 pm they had cleared off everything, and I was quite relieved to retire to my own room, where the carpeted floor was covered with dust and peeled paint! I logged on then and chatted with some friends on Yahoo Messenger. My scalp was irritatingly itchy, so I decided to take a shower.

At about 7, I started to cook dinner; it is just a simple dish of chicken with honey and coriander sauce, straight from the packet. Well I had my dinner, on my own, watched a bit of telly and then started to blog in.

There is still so much things to do tonight, as I have a guest tomorrow coming in from KL. Allright then, my flat mate is making uneasy noises…have to go and start sprucing up the flat.

Cheers

TONGKANG PECAH

Today, the landlord had asked some ppl to come n rewire, fix fire proof doors, heat detector in order to get a CF for this flat im in.

The whole flat is a total wreck! They drilled and made holes in the ceiling. I was not even told to cover stuff around the flat..so almost all the surface covered with dust…

Arghhhhh!

I wasted the whole day doing nothing. Just waited and watched the two Scottish blokes fixing the heat detectors….

So, that’s my Tuesday…..

Its going to be like this for the next 2 days. Must start with my reports….have to draft them 1st as well.

Cheers

CANON i250

I finally bought the printer today. It cost me GBP49, cable GBP13 and insurance GBP12. My HSBC acct is now in overdraft! Gosh. But im happy as I could print out pics from my past productions for my portfolio.

And later in the evening, I was online with new friends on yahoo messenger chatroom. Met an old friend as well.

Later in the evening I went to ASDA with Mahmud. Did some more shopping, this time I bought a new duvet, the cover, bed sheet n pillow case.

That’s my Monday, nothing much.

KENDURI KAHWIN (4/01/04)


Well, planning to go St James to buy the i250 canon inkjet printer but at about half past 12, on a grey Sunday, Kak Fiza called, there was to be a meeting at Kak Rose’s
house in Mussleburgh.

And so, I chucked aside whatever was planned earlier because I felt I had this obligation to call upon Kak Rose’s house as she is the mother figure for Malaysians here in Edinburgh. I got there at about 3 30 with my flat mate, Zam. We thought we were late, but actually the meeting was still on. Kamil passed me the working paper for the wedding reception of Anne and Nani, as I went thru the list of committee member’s, I spotted my name under the heading of LAUK DAN MEJA PENGANTIN. Aiyoooo….masak lauk pengantin? Ok la….my team consists of Kak Fiza and Syafiq (siapa, I don’t know, haven’t met this guy yet). Well, I’m game.

Kak Rose consulted me regarding the types of dishes we would prepare for the main table, and she also showed me the serviette napkins for the main table. Well, I guess I’ve got to divide my time properly now, and write down or print out all the recipes
Needed, list down the ingredients and send it off to Kak Rose.

oh yes, the reception would be on the 17th at the Inch Community Centre, Liberton.

The rest of the day was spent eating nasi lemak, sambal udang petai, sambal kentang, roti kirai etc and also watching vcd’s of weddings……

Uncle Duncan (Kak Rose’s hubby) sent us back at about 6-ish.

That was my 1st Sunday of 2004.

Slept early last night, at about 9, probably due to the nasi lemak etc. Woke up to go to the toilet at about 3 am, and cant sleep. I felt melancholic…hmmmm….why??? started sending text messages to my mom, just to comfort myself, and eventually fell asleep and woke up at 8 30!!!

Today (5/1/04), I would definitely go to St James, get the stuff I needed and start off doing my journals for my projects. Would update later. Oh, btw, was online with Jess in Surrey earlier on.

SHOPPING SATURDAY (updated early Sunday morning)

It،¦s the first Saturday in the New Year, and I decided to go shopping with my flat mate. At first it was just supposed to be window shopping because there were other things that I intended to buy, but it turned out o be a 'mini' shopping spree for me.

We went to Princess Street, right in the heart of Edinburgh City Centre. We just walked from our flat; it،¦s roughly about 10 minutes to get down to PS (PS????). The first stop was Top Man and Top Girl, the sale had died down and the discounted stuff is pushed to one wee corner of each department. We separated and started going thru the racks of discounted clothes (Why does ladies wear always have the best bargains? I saw a size 12 corset top, made of lace of diamante for GBP3!!! Ridiculous ain،¦t it? )
There was not much left at Top Man, but I was really attracted to this blue denim single breasted jacket. It was GBP80 before discount, and on Boxing Day it was brought down to GBP40, and now its only GBP30!!! I had to have it, and so I bought it. At the back of my mind, I was feeling a bit guilty splashing money on the jacket (I paid GBP27, with a student card) because I knew I needed a new printer. Well, that was not the end of it. As for my flat mate, she just purchased a shirt for GBP3! We both went up to Burtons next (and she to Dorothy Perkins). I browsed the shirt racks, and ended up getting a sheer black voile with metallic pin stripe shirt at GBP13.50. Nothing much left actually, but most of the shirts I wanted were not on sale, I guess I have to wait till July for the summer sale. My flat mate ended up buying a pair of shoes and jeans for GBP27.

And we walked again, window shopping at Monsoon, nice and pricey stuff they have there. We then crossed the street to Jenners, I wanted to look at the pots and pans, but cant find the department in this oldest and tangled department store. By this time I was quite tired, I get tired easily lately. After Jenners, we walked up to BHS, nothing much there. Up next was NEXT, as I entered the Men،¦s department and went to the sale section, I was quite surprised to see last years stuff there as well. Thank god nothing caught my attention, and so I went down to the ladies department and looked for my flat mate. I then, made my way to the T-Mobile shop to upgrade my Nokia 8310 to a Motorola V300, for Free!!!! Hooray! ƒ؛ All smiles for me!

It was then 1 pm already, and our tummies need to be filled up. My flat mate has required the taste of Harry Ramsden،¦s Fish n Chips, and so we retraced our steps and went to Princess Mall. As we walked in, a guy came out with a Large McD cup،Kand I could guess he was having a milkshake،Khmmm،K. As my flat mate queued up to buy her portion of fish and chips, I went to McD and got myself a large milkshake. Bliss! We also noticed 2 Malaysian families sitting down at the eating area. I tak tegur pun, just can،¦t be bothered. We then walked back to our flat and stopped by the Pakistani owned Sweet Palace to see what they had. I got myself chicken curry on pilau rice. Nice stuff they have at this shop, which is just below my flat. They even sell 'pan' or sirih in Malay.


I find that shopping in the UK, especially for clothes is an experience that I would not forget. The range of styles, textures and colors just do not match of those in Malaysia. The prices? Well, here, it،¦s really worth to buy stuff during sale periods and I am just so glad H n M men،¦s department is not in Edinburgh!

=========================================
And last night, I worked again at the Edinburgh Playhouse. The usual shift of selling programmes, checking the gents, auditorium duties and selling programmes again and checking the gents again. That was my 1st Saturday in 2004. More to come!

BREAD CRISIS

Well, it’s the second day of 2004, and the issue is buying bread. Its just another lazy Friday, and most of the shops are still closed, I guess in this part of the world, the only time the shops would be closed is during Christmas and New Year…,

I was craving for bread today, so as Tesco’s opens its doors today, I blatantly walked in, with a blue basket in hand…..and headed to the bread section. Aiyoh!!! IT WAS CLEAR! With only particles of breadcrumbs left! I assume everybody had bought the bread prior to the 1st of January. Aiyaaaa….leceh la like this! I badly wanted to do something with the bread. To my surprise, all the naans and chappatis were also cleared! I ended up buying other stuff but I still had to buy bread!

I went to the Pakistani shop under my flat, hoping that they still have some bread to spare, well I was devastated again, there was none left! So, I crossed the street to Alldays…UGH! The shelves was empty as well! Ho-Humm! And I crossed the street again to Farm Foods…at least they still had plenty of bread on the shelf… As I scrutinize the ingredients, alamak…stabilizer E472!!!! Alamak…there is also no indication that it is suitable for vegetarians. Kensel!! Sheesh…never knew it was so hard sourcing for bread during the new year period! I walked up Nicolson Street and found that Scotmid is still closed. Hmmm…Sabar aje lah!

I retraced my route to Bismillah, where the shop owner ( a Pakistani) addresses me (and also other Malay guys) as Shah Rukh Khan and Lelaki Kacak (alamak….sehsuai ke ????) I looked at the middle shelf in the small shop! There is the ROTI !!! and only 3 loafs left!

I left Bismillah with a big smile…as I carried my loaf of bread in plastic bag, heading back to my flat in the freezing weather. What a crisis!!!

productions to design anyway.....

==============================================

overall, 2003 for me is just like a sweet and sour dish. The taste buds go wild upon chewing the mixed morsels of spicy capsicums, sweet pineapple pieces, sourish tomato bits and the crispness of the battered fish..........banyak sangat perkara yang berlaku.

Anyway, its winter now.....Hogmanay 2004 sucks, because theres no fireworks display to mark the beginning of this new year. Probably it would be another sweet and sour fish dish? I would not know. Insyaalah, I would keep on blogging and tell more about my last 9 months in th UK.

hmmmmmm.........

Assalamualaikum warrahmatullah, sempena menyambut tahun baru 2004 ni, saye kinda nak start blogging balik, this would be my last 9 months in Scotland. Ibarat ibu mengandung, i hope i tak gugur ke ape2 ke dalam mas 9 bulan ni.

Tanggungjawab yang i pikul ni quite heavy, i kinda see that its SO BIG when i return to Malaysia in Sept or Oct 2004. I would be a somebody in the academic field, especially in my field Performing Arts, i know the expectation that is expected of me in the future and i am quite scared to face it, kurang yakin probably, but i guess, this fear would have to be dealt with. Tak cuba tak tahu.

Looking back at 2003, personally macam-macam saya timba pengalaman di perantauan. Tahun 2003 juga banyak membuat saya mencermin dan memuhasabah diri saya dan begitu banyak kenangan pahit dan manis yangsaya tempuhi. What ever it is, I am so greatfull to Allah for giving me a chance to experience what i've experienced thru out that 12 month period.

Among my sweet memories include my attachment as a costume designer for Mak Yong Raja Tangkai Hati in August. I finallyhad a taste of being a designer in our very own Istana Budaya. Eventhough the work process differ so much from my text books (hmmm....) but, i have faith that in years to come, it would be at par with American and British standards ( pls dont get me wrong ok! bukan nak membanggakan depa! tapi sebab cara kerja depa tu dah terlalu established, che' tak tahu nak kata ape la kan....) Anyway, i strongly think that the ministry should send more people abroad to experience what its like working behind the scenes of a production.

Walaupun i am not that happy dgn results of the costume i designed (mainly because some of my ideas 'tidak boleh dipakai' < hmmm....bukanke idea itu very personal?>) but maily sebab i did not get a hand at all in the making up of the costume and accessories. Takpelah, in future there would be moreproductions to design anyway.....

==============================================

overall, 2003 for me is just like a sweet and sour dish. The taste buds go wild upon chewing the mixed morsels of spicy capsicums, sweet pineapple pieces, sourish tomato bits and the crispness of the battered fish..........banyak sangat perkara yang berlaku.

Anyway, its winter now.....Hogmanay 2004 sucks, because theres no fireworks display to mark the beginning of this new year. Probably it would be another sweet and sour fish dish? I would not know. Insyaalah, I would keep on blogging and tell more about my last 9 months in th UK.

hmmmmmm........