Cambodia Baby!!

In a few hour's time I'll be on a plane to Cambodia!! Yeah!! Cambodia Baby!! My first ever holiday with the gals and the first time ever I'm traveling overseas without a parent. Yes, sad. I know.

But all that don't matter now. I 'm headed to Cambodia!! Siem Reap Baby!!

So this is what I'm gonna do:

I'm gonna stay here

ANGKOR WAT

I'm gonna climb this

TUK TUK

I'm gonna ride this


OLD MARKET


I'm gonna shop here


KHMER KITCHEN

I'm gonna eat here


DEEP FRIED TARANTULA

I'm gonna... err may eat this

"HERB" PIZZA

I'm DEFINITELY gonna eat this...

here!

And then once I'm all "happy", I may even join in doing this.

APSARA DANCE

Once I'm back to normal, I'm gonna go here

(wouldn't wanna get blown up now would I?)

and then take a ride on this.

TARA BOAT CRUISE, TONLE SAP LAKE

So yeah, that's the plan. Sayonara or Chum ree-up lee-ah (in Khmer) people. See you in 5/6 days!!

Voting Time!!

Well, the determining moment is finally here. It's time to see if I have what it takes to win that Makeup Contest. So if you guys liked my interpretation of Princess Jasmine please vote here...

mekap-mekap.blogspot

Please vote for me... it'll do wonders to my self esteem XP

A: Fair Weekend Bazaar @ SOHO KL

Hey hey hey,

Here's an alternative on what you can do this weekend. If you're one of those people who has been blessed by never ending supply of moolah, or has been bitten by the shopaholic bug or just simply love to wander around and people watch, then this may be the place for you!

My alter ego, the ferocious money-making schemer has gotten Nona Stylista a spot at the bazaar. But my other alter ego, the lazy-bum traveler, insists that it should only open on Saturday. So after a horrid death match between the two, lazy-bum traveller won out and the money-making schemer was forced to comply to her wishes.

So it's a one-day event for Nona Stylista. Do come and check it out. There's new items being introduced at the bazaar that's not on the blog yet.

So come one, come all. Come and spend at my retail store!!

Time of Reckoning... or will it be Wreck-oning?!!

Interview day today. Oh boy! Am I nervous?

Nah.

Am I mind-numbingly-out-of-this-world-pee-in-my-pants-shit-in-my-shorts-blood-oozing-out-of-my-nose nervous?

Oh yeah.

If I eff up... I'm gonna do exactly what he did. And worse. I'll dance. That'll make em hire me.

Pat yourself on the back. You deserve it.

I actually attended. I battled extreme midday heat, overloaded paperwork and extreme laziness and made it to the talk. I'm so proud of myself. *pats back*

CAC was PACKED. Despite the stupid narrow-minded comment of some lame-ass bigot, who couldn't differentiate an opportunity even if it hit them in the face, the hall was on the verge of bursting its seams.

Yeah, I was kinda gobsmacked by the thickness of his American accent. So what if he was Obama's walking PR campaign. And yeah, he did kinda hedge a bit during the Q&A session. But man... he has substance!! Had to hold myself back several times from shouting out ala-ala Black Gospel style. Tak Islamic la kalau buat macam tu.

Despite the stony stupor of the audience, IIUM certainly did itself proud in showing the Reverand a fantastic reception. Baguslah cam gitu. Lain kali boleh ajak orang famous-famous bagi ceramah lagi :)

MeKaP-MeKaP Contest

This entry is dedicated to the people of MeKaP-MeKaP.blogspot. May they be awestruck enough to make me the winner of their first ever MeKaP-MeKaP contest. Amin.

Contest regulations states that I must base my makeup on a princess and draw inspiration from her in creating my look. So with that in mind I have chosen a muse that has certainly inspired many young girls. I have chosen Princess Jasmine, of Disney's Aladdin.

Princesses, throughout the ages, have always fascinated girls. I'm certain that 8 out of 10 girls dream about being a princess at one point or another in their lives. In fact, some girls grow up without ever letting go of that dream. Hence it's no wonder that some women expect to be treated like princesses. I too am fascinated by princesses. The princesses that fascinates me however, do not exist in the real world. They were all a figment of someone's imagination brought to life by the geniuses of the animated world.

So out of all the Disney princesses, why Jasmine in particular? Simply because when all the other princesses were sitting around crying and singing their hearts out while waiting to be rescued by their Princes, Jasmine was among the few that took matter into her own hands. She stood up in what she believed in and if matters didn't turn out the way she would've preferred them to she would do something about it. Waiting for rescue was never a part of her plans.

Not to mention that she has a kick-ass pet. A tiger that goes by the name of Rajah. Now doesn't that tell you a little something about Jasmine. So for my interpretation of Jasmine, I drew inspiration from Jasmine's personality as well as her furry feline friend. Both her pet and personality complimented each other superbly and thus I decided to bring both of those factors into my makeup.

Looking back into the origins of Aladdin, the story was said to have originated from the Middle East. However, the original setting of the story is actually in China* which works wonderfully for me as I was also inspired to bring in a little Asian flavour to my makeup. So after a whole lot of research and experimenting I present to you...

*sources from Wikipedia

Jasmine: The Liberated Princess

I decided to play with colours green and gold for the makeup drawing inspiration from Jasmine's outfit in the movie, Aladdin. The smoky eye effect and the heavily lined eyes follows the eye makeup look that most Middle Eastern ladies prefer however I've decided to add a little Asian twist by adding Geisha-like eye makeup on her lower lash line extending the liner towards the bridge of the nose while following the natural curve of the eyes. This also creates a slight feline look which compliments the fact that Princess Jasmine has a tiger for a pet. This look is meant for those with a strong personality, and are brave enough to pull it off.

This look, when put in the modern context, is great for those who wants to make a statement wherever they go. It's actually great for clubbing. For those wearing this look they are guaranteed to stand out from the crowd.

So there it is... my version of Princess Jasmine. It was loads of fun creating this look so it's not really important if I win or not. But of course, who in their right mind enters a competition and doesn't want to win. So pray for me folks!! Oh and do leave comments. Would love to know what you guys think of the look :)

Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. to give Lecture in IIUM

Special Lecture by:

Reverand Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr.,
-President and Founder of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition
- Former assistant to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,


Title:
Building a Culture of Peace and Development in a Globalised World

Date & Time:
Tuesday, 21 April 2009 (1.45pm)

Venue:
Cultural Activity Center,
International Islamic University Malaysia



Who is Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr.?

The Reverand Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. is one of America's foremost civil rights and political figures. Over the past forty years he has played a pivotal role in virtually every movement for empowerment, peace, civil rights, gender equality and economic and social justice.Long before national health care, a war on drugs, direct peace negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis, ending apartheid in South Africa and advancing democracy in Haiti became accepted public policy positions, Reverend Jesse Jackson advocated them and by doing so helped to bring the American public to a new level of consciousness.Reverend Jackson's two presidential campaigns broke new ground in U.S. politics. His 1984 campaign registered over one million new voters, won 3.5 million votes and helped the Democratic Party regain control of the Senate in 1986. His 1988 campaign registered over two million new voters, won seven million votes and helped boost hundreds of state and local elected officials into office. In 1990 Reverend Jackson was elected to the post of US Senator for Washington, D.C.As a highly respected and trusted world leader, Reverend Jackson has acted many times as an international diplomat in sensitive situations. For example, in 1984 Reverend Jackson secured the release of capturedNavy Lieutenant Robert Goodman from Syria and the release of 48 Cuban and Cuban-American prisoners in Cuba. He was the first American to bring hostages out of Kuwait and Iraq in 1990. In 1999 he negotiated the release of U.S. soldiers held hostage in Kosovo.His international efforts continued into the 2000s. In February 2003 Reverend Jackson spoke in front of an estimated one million people in London's Hyde Park at the culmination of the anti-war demonstration against the imminent invasion of Iraq by the U.S. and the United Kingdom. In November 2004 he visited senior politicians and community activists in Northern Ireland in an effort to rebuild the peace process and restore the governmental institutions of the Belfast Agreement.A hallmark of Reverend Jackson's work has been his commitment to youth. He has visited thousands of high schools, colleges, universities and correctional facilities encouraging excellence, inspiring hope and challenging young people to study diligently and stay drug-free.

Reverend Jackson has also been a consistent and vigorous supporter of the labour movement in the U.S. and around the world. He is known as someone who has walked more picket lines and spoken at more labour rallies than any other national leader. He has worked with unions to organize workers, to protect workers rights and to mediate labour disputes. In 1996 he travelled to Asia to investigate treatment of workers in the Japanese automobile industry and in athletic apparel factories in Indonesia.For his work in human and civil rights and for nonviolent social change Reverend Jackson has received more than 40 honorary doctorate degrees. He frequently lectures at major universities including Yale, Princeton, Harvard, Columbia and Stanford. On August 9, 2000, President Bill Clinton awarded Reverend Jackson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. In October 1997 he was appointed as Special Envoy of the President and Secretary of State for the Promotion of Democracy in Africa.Reverend Jackson has been on the Gallup List of the Ten Most Respected Americans for more than a dozen years. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the International Peace Foundation. Reverand Jackson is also an avid supporter of Barack Obama during the 2008 USA Presidential Campaign.

Taken from: The International Peace Foundation Website

Author's note: How the heck did IIUM manage to get this guy to give a lecture is beyond me. Somebody up there in admin must have REALLY superb connections. But seriously, this lecture is a must-go! Rugilah kalau miss.

Time to Slam, Y'all!!

Taken from Facebook Events:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=63429671546#/event.php?eid=63429671546

Poetry Slam is back in Malaysia! Hosted by George Wielgus and Elaine Foster (previous Slam champs in Singapore and KL),the fourth installment of the Slam in KL this time takes the theme 'Pantun'. And for any of you who have forgotten their schooldays, I suggest Wiki it. Totally open to your own interpretation, all Slammers must perform an original Pantun in the first round only. Slammers can perform in either BM or English or both.

Anyone interested to Slam on that night should register before 7:00pm on the 25th. Early Birds can register via FaceBook.

The Slam is free to both watch and participate in but a small donation to go back into the prize fund will be much appreciated!

What is Poetry Slam™?

• Poetry Slam™ is the competitive art of performance poetry. It puts a dual emphasis on writing and performance, encouraging poets to focus on what they’re saying and how they’re saying it

• Poetry Slam™ is a three round poetry contest in which poets perform, recite, or read
their works before an audience under a time limit (usually three minutes each)

• The poems are judged immediately afterward by five people picked randomly from the audience who award numerical values (from zero to ten) to each poem. Individual or group that scores the highest points, wins the competition.


What are the rules?

Though rules vary from slam to slam, the basic rules are:

• Each poem must be of the poet’s own construction.

• Each poet gets three minutes (plus a ten second grace period) to read one poem, if the poet goes over, points will be deducted from the total score.

• The poet may or may not use props, costumes, or musical instruments (this depends on the slam master).

• Of the scores the poet received from the five judges, the highest and lowest scores are dropped, and the middle three are added together, giving the poet a total score of 0-30.

• There are many other kinds of specialised slams – following themes e.g. Dead Poet Slams (classic poets, presented by performers); poetical form slams like sonnet, haiku or pantoum slams; or thematic slams e.g. romantic, environmental slams etc.

• Solo or team competition (up to 4 members).

• Group competition has become one of the hallmarks of international slam culture and it helps to develop a sense of community and team spirit, adding a great deal of artistic excitement to any slam event.


How does Poetry Slam™ differ from an open Mike reading?

• Poetry Slam™ is engineered for the audience, whereas a number of open mike readings
are engineered as a support network for poets.

• Poetry Slam™ is designed for the audience to react vocally and openly to all aspects of
the show, including the poet’s performance, the judges’ scores, and the host’s banter


What kind of poetry is read at Poetry Slams™?

• You’ll find a diverse range of work within slam, including heartfelt love poetry, searing social
commentary, uproarious comic routines, and bittersweet personal confessional pieces.

• Poets are free to do work in any style on any subject if it is not a specialised (thematic)
Poetry Slam.


How do I win a Poetry Slam™?

• Winning a poetry slam requires some measure of skill and a huge dose of luck. The judges’ tastes, the audience’s reactions, and the poets’ performances all shape a slam event.

• There’s no formula for winning a slam, although you become a stronger poet and performer the same way you get to Carnegie Hall — practice, practice, practice.


So to sum it all up... You have to check this out. Probably one of the coolest event to ever hit the Malaysia shores.

Date/Day: 25th March 2009 / Saturday
Venue: Lepaq Cafe, Sri Hartamas
Time: 7.00 p.m.

And its free Y'all!!

p.s. I just found out that Fynn Jamal and Hazlan are in the Slam! More reasons to go check out the Poetry Slam eh.

Major Word Vomit ALERT!!

To make up for my being absent from this blog for the last couple of weeks, I shall now indulge myself with a really looooooooooooong post. Told you there was gonna be a word vomit. You were forewarned!!

(o_O)V

However, since I myself am not that much of a typist I shall make things short by putting in pictures. Plus, it 3.59 am. Why am I still awake? I'm blaming the BBQ Curry Twisties.

Yuni & Osaka

About a month back, my dear lil sis flew all the way back from Tokyo just to surprise our dear mum. After weeks and weeks of planning we managed to pull the whole thing off without dear mum ever suspecting. Now although we tried to keep it just between the siblings but a major operation like that required external helping hands like our dear cousin Ika, and of course my Aunty Mama. Oh and I also had to rope in Nurul's help due to the strange fact that even though we're living in the digital age where everything can be bought/ arranged online nowadays, this one particular bus company does not sell their Ipoh-Singapore bus tickets at their HQ in Kuala Lumpur. So zaman batu.

Anyways, Yuni stayed for over 2 weeks and then she had to fly back. The pic above shows us having fun in TGIF, the night before her flight back. Our farewell gift to her was a huge steak meal. I wonder how long she'll go without meat again. Poor little carnivore, forced to go on a fish & vegetable diet. LoL.

Yuni will be moving from Tokyo Uni to Osaka Uni as soon as she gets back but Osaka seems to be extremely keen on having her over and have been bugging her with phone calls throughout the entire 2 weeks. I guess the Japanese Embassy scholarship really pay these unis extremely well.

Now there's a reason why so much planning had to be done when Yuni came back. She wasn't alone. I mean she had STUFF!! Lots of it!! Aah, the perks of having a sibling living abroad. I didn't manage to take pictures of all the stuff she brought back for all of us but suffice to say there were a lot of Green Tea boxes being passed around. I myself got some really cool stuff like Japanese makeup, cups with Japanese kanji, Japanese perfume and little knick knacks. But my favourites are these two. A delicate Japanese fan made 100% from bamboo and A clutch made from Kimono silk with a matching hand emroidered purse. The fan was extremely handy during those fan-less days at my apartment.

So now Yuni is in Osaka. She's already started class and seems to be enjoying herself. We do miss her terribly but its not like we live during zaman batu where there was no internet. I see her online every night and we do chat regularly. So since she made the effort to fly back to Malaysia I guess I have to return the favour. Hmm... I wonder how much it'll set me back to go to Osaka?

24hr Theater Project

One word... FUN!! That's all I need to describe the 24hr theater project. Wait! One more word... TIRING!! But still... it was loads of fun!! I met loads of cool new people and had gained so many new experiences that there's no way I'm missing next year's project. Although maybe next year I'm gonna try out as a writer. Try to tackle script writing for a change. I'll probably suck but what the heck. If I suck bad enough I may even win the group one of those "fun" awards they give out. This year my group went home empty-handed but Sheena's group won the 'Most Pretentious Play' award. LoL. Even Syd's group won something. Was it the 'Worst Play' award? Haha... but it was all in fun. It definitely made the night interesting. For those who wants to try out something new next year then this is something you should definitely try out. Imagine some of the participants actually slept in Istana Budaya. Talk about dedication.

IIUM Poetry Night

I'll probably wear out the word FUN after I'm done with this post. But yeah... Poetry Night was super duper fun!! I must say, after all that trepidation about being a Poetry lecturer at the beginning of the semester seems a little funny (see there's the word 'fun' again) now. And I think the students had a lot of fun as well. Sheena and I organised poetry night as a way for students to realise that poetry is not at all boring and can only be found on a page. Plus, it's also a fun way to evaluate the students without turning it into dull and dreary presentations. Plus, we also did a good deed and raised money for the Gaza Relief Fund. It wasn't much but I'm sure every bit counts.

There was a little scerfuffle at first with some so-called "trademark" on Poetry Slam. What's with the deal of an organisation claiming trademark on a genre? According to the trademark we weren't allowed to have a poetry slam unless we gained permission from the organisation first. Whaat?? Total bull if you ask me. Thank goodness Sheena and I were not the only ones who feel that way. So after discussing it with Hazlan, who is totally our hero by the way, we decided to go ahead with the poetry slam. And thank goodness we did because some of the slammers chosen to slam were actually pretty good. We may have found some slammers to actually start competing in actual poetry Slams.

So can you spot the lecturer among the students? Coz I cant.

One of the more creative submissions for visual poetry from my class. There were more but because I'm a poor, poor part-time lecturer who can't afford a camera just yet so I really had to rely on other people's pics. But trust me the other submissions were just as good and just as creative. I'm reall proud of those kids.

Responses to the Poetry Night was extremely positive so here's to hoping that Poetry Night will be a semesterly-thing. Or at least... an annual thing. *fingers crossed*

BENL Reunion Charity Dinner

BENL Alumni organised its second reunion dinner in conjunction with the charity drive to raise funds for the Gaza Relief Fund. It was mostly an effort made by the seniors from Pyan's batch but I ended up helping them out since I know that it'll be fun (hmm, I wonder how many times I've actually used this word in this post) to actually get dressed up and catch up with old friends. Unfortunately the first part of the night was not that fun for me as I was the MC. Being MC is okay but damn these people and their demands and last-minute changes. Don't you get it that MCs also get nervous. Gawd... I was so friggin nervous that I totally flubbed Prof. Q's name during the introduction. My own supervisor's name!! Sheesh! Buat malu mak bapak je.

But as the evening progresses I relaxed and so there were less mistakes. Whew! Surprisingly the turnout this year was better. Last reunion about a quarter of the hall was empty but this time it was definitely a full house. To top it off we managed to raise about RM2000 in donations. So Abang Husni and Pyan definitely deserve a pat on the back for a job well done.

They even brought in some great entertainment that night like the traditional Malay percussion group, Dewangga Sakti and the Al-Aqsa Dabka Dancers. One of the Palestinians was particularly good-looking although you can't see him in the pic. Such a shame that he's so young :P.

This is the group photo of most of the alumnus that came. Don't you feel that somehow this doesn't show BENL folks in their true spirit?

Now that's more like it!!

Again, here's to hoping that there'll be more of this kind of reunion dinner thingies in the future.

I've gone Grey

No... I haven't grown old. Yes I'm in denial about that. Yes I got myself grey contacts. I used to wear the same colour years ago and I kinda missed having them so since they're cheap, what the heck. I got them online for only RM38. And they're wearable up to 6 months to a year at a time. Deal or what?! I've already made my second order. Brown this time. Check out the blog:

Geolens2U

But on another note, I seriously need to do something about my online shopping addiction.

I'm err... more Mature.

Coincidentally my birthday this year fell on class day so I decided what the heck, I'll celebrate it with my class. Plus it'll be a way for me to commemorate my first ever teaching job in IIUM. So I threw a small party. Again... it was FUN. I'm simply amazed at how a certain amount of food could disappear in just a matter of minutes and at how fond I can be towards a bunch of youngsters whom I've known for only a few months. But hey, if they say you'll always remember your first love I guess a teacher of any kind will always remember the first class that they've ever tought.

The gals of ENGL 1515:Section 4. Cute aren't they?

My class. I shall miss teaching these kids.


I'm err... more Mature (part II)

The very next day, IIMU threw a birthday soiree for me as well. Shucks!! I really love those folks. I couldn't manage to get a picture of the cake from the previous party (since it was kinda smushed due to a minor mishap plus the fact that it was gone within 10 minutes) so this time I snapped a picture before anything happened. That my dear readers is a picture of a blueberry chocolate sponge cake bought from a small but very good bakery in Sri Gombak, called Hidayah Bakery. Sangat sedap!! Next time you can just forget about Secret Recipe and hunt down that bakery. A 1kg cake will only cost you RM25 at the most.

The picture below pretty much summarises what I ate at my two birthday parties. The only diference was that the food at IIMU disappeared at a much slower rate. I actually got to taste all of the food before it was gone. But still... both party was fun in their own unique way.

Thanks a mundo to Kak Aini for organising the whole shebang. It's people like her that makes me stay at a job that pays me a measly RM15 an hour.

I'm err... more Mature (part III)

I know the pic is blurry but I just love this pic.

The third installment for my birthday took me way out of IIUM and all the way to Look Out Point in Ampang. It was a really sweet gesture made by Nurul, J- her BF, and Shazna (Nurul's sis) but unfortunately I was not told that we were headed to Look Out Point so there I was that night, wearing 2 1/2 inch heels trudging all the way up to the peak. Definitely a workout I tell you. But still... it was fun (^^).

I'm thanking god everyday for giving me great friends and I must say that there's not that many friends of mine who is greater than Nurul. That night was totally a night that I'll cherish. Good company, free food and more cake. LoL. Plus it was a bonus as well that she chose a gorgeous location that I have never been to before. So being there for the first time ever with great friends was the cherry on top of perfectly great night.

I'm not sure where Nurul got this cake from but it was totally amazing. Again, you can never go wrong with chocolate cakes. But I'm guessing that the cake was the cause of all the blurry pictures taken that night. All of us were probably sugar high. Who wouldn't be, we scoffed down half the cake. But here's to Nurul, J and Shazna. Thanka for making that night perfect.

ENGL 1515 Finals

As all good things must come to an end, the ENGL 1515final exams marks the ending of my teaching the section 4 kids. It was both exciting and sad for me since it was my first time ever being the invigilator for an exam rather than siting for one but I'm kinda sad because its the last time I'll see them as my students. Unless! Unless... I ace the interview this 23rd and get the permanent lecturer status!! Woohoo!! Then I'll probably be teaching more subjects!! But I don't want to get my hopes up so I'll leave that story for another day *sigh*.

But the invigilating experince was loads of fun. I'm sure it'll wear off by the time I invigilate more and more exams but I'm just gonna cherish it for now. As for marking the papers... well, I'm having fun procrastinating on that as well. But I'll get to it soon. I will. I will. Maybe tomorrow :D

So this marks the end of my word vomit. For now. I'll probably continue tomorrow. Somehow the word vomit doesn't seem to want to stop but my body is failing my brain. Need to catch some Zzz. A sign of maturity? Hmm... nah!! In denial? Yes, I am.