Memories in Two Double O Eight

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Yes, it has been a week since we entered a new year, 2009. Somehow I just wanna share some memories in 2008 that happened in my life. So, here it goes :-

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1. March 08' - Getting married on 08.03.08 to the wonderful man in my life.

2. March 08' - Went off to Kundasang, Karambunai & Kota Kinabalu, Sabah for our 1st honeymooning.

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3. April 08' - Having fun with my family at Sunway Logoon Theme Park.

4. May 08' - Enjoying ourselves witnessing sunset at Batu Feringghi, Penang for a holiday (cum our 2nd honeymooning).

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5. May 08' - Having a family gateaway (and having fun releasing turtle(s) to their 'real home' at night) at Impi@na Resort, Cherating, Kuantan.

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6. June 08' - Had an early birthday treat to Istana Budaya with the beloved Husband and enjoyed every single moment watching Musly Ramlee, Liza Hanim, Melissa Saila, Atilia, Emelda (owh man, they are awesome!) casting in P.Ramlee The Musical.

A week later, I bought another 2 tickets as a Father's Day gift to my parents and as much as we love the theater, they also did! We actually spent nearly RM1K for the tickets and its all worth as we love, love the theater!

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7. July 08' - My Boss had declared a day off and a fully sponsored vacation where we spent our 3 days/2 nights at Cameron Highlands with everyone own family.

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8. July 08' - My dear little Niece was born on 14th July, 2008 and made the whole family happy as she became the first grandchild in my family. A few suggestions were thrown to call me Aunty, but I have decided to go with the oldies and called me 'Mak Ngah' as I personally think that anyone else could call me Aunty but not everyone could call me 'Mak Ngah'. So, it is just an honour to me. Heh.

9. October 08' - Our first Raya as Hubby and Wifey.

10. October 08' - We went to Langkawi for another holiday with my parents as I promised to myself to take them for a fully sponsored vacation to their preffered destination. I just could not help but to love the BNM Sri Kijang! Heh.

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11. November 08' - Got to know that I am pregnant exactly on our 8-month-anniversary! The next best thing that ever happened in my life! Do pray for us ya!

*Yes, now I am making this official as I could 'see' my baby's movement during my 3-months antenatal check up recently.

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12. December 08' - Trip to Kuching, Sarawak together with my in laws.

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Last but not least; knowing that your total accumulated claim for year 2008 (minus the fix salary) is about RMXX,XXX really put me in shocked! I could buy another asset and/or traveling here and there from that! But there will always a greatest fear when you are earning more; as L*HDN will never tend to forget their duties. Heh! (Tak suka, boleh?) Grr..

"Selamat Menyambut 10 Muharam!"

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Coming Soon...

Apart from new resolutions and kicking of old habits, a brand new year is also about movie blockbusters. The year 2009 seems to promise great movies, particularly sequels and prequels to past years blockbusters. So here are a preview of what to expect in two-double O-nine:

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans is the third installment in the Underworld series. It is a prequel set prior to Underworld and Underworld: Evolution, covering the origins of some characters. The prequel will trace the origins of the centuries-old blood feud between the aristocratic vampires and their onetime slaves, the Lycans (werewolves). In the Dark Ages, a young Lycan named Lucian (Sheen) emerges as a powerful leader who rallies the werewolves to rise up against Viktor (Nighy), the cruel vampire king who has enslaved them. Lucian is joined by his secret lover, Viktor's daughter Sonja (Mitra), in his battle against the Death Dealer army and his struggle for Lycan freedom.

The Pink Panther 2 is a sequel to the 2006 film, The Pink Panther, a reboot of the popular comedy series. In the new film, Inspector Clouseau must team up with detectives from other countries to rout the daring cat burglar, The Tornado, who has returned after a decade of inactivity. Steve Martin, who will reprise the role of Clouseau. Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai appears in the female lead as criminology expert, Sonia. John Cleese replaces Kevin Kline as Chief Inspector Dreyfus with Jean Reno and Emily Mortimer reprising their roles as his partner Ponton and his girlfriend Nicole. Andy Garcia and Alfred Molina round out the cast as detectives, Inspector Vicenzo Brancaleone and Chief Inspector Randall Pepperidge.

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li is an upcoming film and the second live-action film based on the Street Fighter series of video games. It follows the quest of Street Fighter character Chun-Li, who will be portrayed by Smallville star Kristin Kreuk. The film is based on the personal history of Chun Li and her journey for justice. The film co-starsNeal McDonough as M.Bison, Chris Klein as Charlie, Michael Clarke Duncan as Balrog, and Black Eyed Peas singer Taboo as Vega. Rick Yune was originally cast as Gen but has been replaced by Robin Shou, who portrayed Liu Kang in the Mortal Kombat films.

Monsters vs. Aliens is an upcoming 2009 computer-animated 3-D feature film from DreamWorks Animation. Monsters vs. Aliens is starring the voices of Resse Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, Hugh Laurie, Seth Hogen, Will Arnett, Rainn Wilson with Stephen Colbert and Kiefer Sutherland.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is an upcoming superhero film based on the fictional Marvel Comics character, Wolverine. The film is directed by Gavin Hood and stars Hugh Jackman as the title character. It is a prequel to the X-Men film trilogy, focusing on the mutant Wolverine and his time with Team X, before Wolverine's skeleton was bonded with the indestructible metal adamantium.

Star Trek is the eleventh Star Trek film and features the main characters of the original Star Trek series, who are portrayed by a new cast. It follows James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) enrolling at Starfleet Academy,his first meeting with Spock (Zachary "Sylar" Quinto), and their battles with Romulans from the future, who are interfering with history.

Angels & Demons is an upcoming film adaptation of Dan Brown's novel of the same name and is the sequel to The Da Vinci Code, another Brown film adaptation, although the novel Angels & Demons takes place before the novel The Da Vinci Code. Tom Hanks reprised the lead role of Robert Langdon, while director Ron Howard, producer Brian Grazer and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman also returned. Robert Langdon is summoned by CERN to investigate a murder victim, branded with the Illuminati ambigram, leading him to discover the secret society's scheme to murder four cardinals and destroy St. Peter's Basilica during a papal conclave using antimatter.

Terminator Salvation is the fourth Terminator film and stars Christian Bale as John Connor and Sam Worthington as the Terminator Marcus Wright. It also introduces a young version of the first film's hero, Kyle Reese, played by Anton Yelchin. The film, set in 2018, focuses on the war between humanity and Skynet. It abandons the formula of previous entries in the series, which involved the Terminator and various other characters traveling through time to protect or kill John Connor. Set in post-apocalyptic 2018, John Connor (Christian Bale), the man fated to be the leader of the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators, and the future he was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet's operations, where they find out a terrible secret that may lead to the possible annihilation of mankind. Connor does not start as leader of the resistance but will work his way through the ranks in the film. He is also mistrusted by other soldiers due to his extensive knowledge of Skynet.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is the sequel to 2007's Transformers, which was the first live action Transformers film. Micheal Bay and Steven Spielberg return respectively as director and executive producer, while Shia Labeouf reprises the role of Sam Witwicky, the human caught in the war between Autobots and Decepticons. The film introduces many more robots and the scope has been expanded to numerous countries, the most important of which is Egypt. Sam Witwicky discovers something about the origins of the Transformers and their history on Earth. The evil Decepticons need to capture him for information. The climactic battle takes place at the Giza pyramid complex, where a temple is located within. Lorenzo di Bonaventura explained the film will show the Transformers who visited Egypt before the pyramids were built, and "all our heroes end up here because of the Decepticons' masterplan". Furthermore, Egyptian hieroglyphs resembling helicopters in real life will be explained in the film as being depictions of those ancient Cybertronians who visited Earth.

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs also known as Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is an upcoming 2009 computer animated film to be the third installment of the Ice Age film series.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the sixth film in the popular Harry Potter films series. Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry suspects that dangers may even lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. Together they work to find the key to unlock Voldemort’s defenses and, to this end, Dumbledore recruits his old friend and colleague, the well-connected and unsuspecting bon vivant Professor Horace Slughorn, whom he believes holds crucial information. Meanwhile, the students are under attack from a very different adversary as teenage hormones rage across the ramparts. Harry finds himself more and more drawn to Ginny, but so is Dean Thomas. And Lavender Brown has decided that Ron is the one for her, only she hadn’t counted on Romilda Vane’s chocolates! And then there’s Hermione, simpering with jealousy but determined not to show her feelings. As romance blossoms, one student remains aloof. He is determined to make his mark, albeit a dark one. Love is in the air, but tragedy lies ahead and Hogwarts may never be the same again.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is an upcoming live action film adaptation of the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toy franchise. G.I. Joe features an ensemble cast based on the various characters of the franchise. Set ten years in the future, the film is an origin story, showing the rise of the Cobra Organization. The film focuses on Duke (Channing Tatum) and Ripcord's (Marlon Wayans) induction into the G.I. Joe Team, providing the audience's point-of-view. Locations include the Arctic, Paris, Moscow, Washington, D.C., Australia and the Sahara. The G.I. Joe Team is based in the Pit, while it was indicated Cobra Island will appear.

Astro Boy is based on the highly successful Japanese franchise of the same name by Osamu Tezuka. Set in futuristic Metro City, Astro Boy is a young robot with incredible powers created by a brilliant scientist in the image of the son he has lost. Unable to fulfill the grieving man's expectations, Astro Boy embarks on a journey in search of acceptance, experiencing betrayal and a netherworld of robot gladiators, before he returns to save Metro City and reconcile with the father who had rejected him.

Fast & Furious is the latest film in the The Fast and the furious film series, the fourth produced but sequel to the first and second, and prequel to the third film. The plot connects with the original film of the series from which Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, and Jordana Brewster are reprising their roles. It is not a remake of 2001 film of the same name. There is also a change in the title of the film as the first film in the series is "The Fast and The Furious" as oppose to just "Fast & Furious".

Dragonball: Evolution is an upcoming 2009 American live-action film adaptation of the Dragon Ball media franchise. The story centers around the adventures of the lead character, Goku, from his childhood into adulthood. Actor Justin Chatwin was cast as Goku, and Jaes Marsters will be portraying Lord Piccolo, the antagonist of the film. Goku goes on a journey to find Master Roshi (Chow Yun-Fat) and gather the seven mystical Dragon Balls before the evil Lord Piccolo can. Along his way, he meets Bulma (Emmy Rossum) who then joins him to help him in his mission. When arriving at Roshi's place, he is not welcomed with an embrace but has to fight Roshi. Roshi soon learns that Goku is the grandson of Gohan (Randall Duk Kim) and thus trains him to prepare him for the ultimate battle with Lord Piccolo to prevent him from collecting the powerful Dragon Balls.

The Wolfman is a 2009 horror film that is a remake of the 1941 classic of the same name. The remake is directed by Joe Johnston and stars Benicio del Toro. Set in the late 1880s, the film keeps the plotline of the original, with Lawrence Talbot (Benicio del Toro) meeting his father (Anthony Hopkins) following the death (and in the remake, disappearance) of his brother. The film details events during Lawrence's past that led to his estrangement from his father (which includes Gwen), and the setting is expanded from Blackmore (which was the mythical village of Llanwelly in the original) to London. The official synopsis states Talbot was traumatized by his mother's death as a child, while Gwen Conliffe is his brother's fiancée. Following his brother's disappearance, Talbot hunts a murderer, which turns out to be a werewolf, and the curse is passed on.

Final Destination 4: Death Trip 3D is the upcoming installment in the Final Destination supernatural thriller franchise. On what should have been a fun-filled day at the races, Nick O'Bannon has a horrific premonition in which a bizarre sequence of events causes multiple race cars to crash, sending flaming debris into the stands, brutally killing his friends and causing the upper deck of the stands to collapse on him. When he comes out of this grisly nightmare Nick panics, persuading his girlfriend, Lori, and their friends, Janet and Hunt, to leave...escaping seconds before Nick's frightening vision becomes a terrible reality. Thinking they've cheated death, the group has a new lease on life, but unfortunately for Nick and Lori, it is only the beginning. As his premonitions continue and the crash survivors begin to die one-by-one--in increasingly gruesome ways--Nick must figure out how to cheat death once and for all before he, too, reaches his final destination. The film marks the latest in the highly popular "Final Destination" series, and its first 3D installment, giving horror fans an especially visceral thrill ride

Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian is a 2009 American adventure comedy film. The film stars Ben Stiller, Dick Van Dyke, Robin Williams, Amy Adams, Owen Wilson, Rami Malek, Hank Azaria, Bill Hader, Ricky Gervais, Christopher Guest and Steve Coogan. When the Museum of Natural Hsitory is closed for upgrades and renovations, the museum pieces are moved into federal storage at the famous Washington Museum. The centrepiece of the film will be bringing to life the Smithsonian Institution, which houses the world's largest museum complex with more than 136 million items in its collections, ranging from the plane Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams) flew on her non-stop solo flight across the Atlantic and Al Capone's rap sheet and mug shot to Dorothy's ruby red slippers and Archie Bunker's lounge chair.

Sherlock Holmes is an upcoming film based on Arthur Conan Doyle's detective Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey, Jr. as Holmes and Jude Law as Watson. Set in 1891, the film revolves around Holmes and Watson stopping a conspiracy to destroy Britain.

Goal! 3 is the third installment of the footballing trilogy Goal!, which sees Santiago Munez participates in FIFA World Cup 2006.

Berkunjung ke Bumi Kenyalang

Taking advantage of the long holiday (25-29 December 2008), we decided to take a vacation to Kuching, together with my parents, sister (Kak Liana), brother-in-law (Man) & nephew (Eirfan).

Since Wahida & my parents (who took a late flight from K.Terengganu and arrived at LCCT only around midnight) was not keen of taking the 45-minutes drive back to Bandar Sri Damansara, we spent the night at the KLIA Concorde Inn (which is 15 minutes away from LCCT). And seeing as the flight to Kuching was at 9.45 a.m., it was actually a good idea - we only had to leave for the airport at 8.15 a.m. and we were fortunate that the flight was not delayed or anything.

As Eirfan was the only one who ‘purchased’ the Xpress boarding, someone had to ‘accompany’ him to board the plane. Seeing as the one who has to accompany Eirfan also has the duty to reserve seats for the rest of the group, Man 'volunteered' Kak Liana and I to board first (because he feels that the act of booking seats on a flight are ‘frowned upon’.. hahaha!)

We landed at the Kuching International Airport about 11.30 a.m. and waited for my uncle (PakLong) and aunty (Auntie Ros) to pick us up. [PakLong is a lecturer in UNIMAS and has made Kuching his home for the past few years and Auntie Ros, who is lecturer in UiTM Shah Alam, was there on a visit]. Since there were 6½ of us (the ½ being Eirfan) and PakLong drives a Proton Wira, we had to get another car – so enter Zul, who just started his judicial duties in Sarawak.

My parents decided to to stay at PakLong's apartment at the Riverbanks Suite and the rest of us checked into the Merdeka Palace Hotel & Suites (were booked in advance through the GoHoliday package). Since we booked two rooms, the hotel offered to upgrade the rooms to a 2-rooms suite. After much deliberation (took us almost an hour to come to a decision), we decided to take it. Alas, by the time we got back to the receptionist with our decision, the suite was already reserved by someone else (damn…!). By the by, the rooms we got were also ok, with the exception of the view - which was facing the hotel's parking lot (double damn…!).

Anyway, that night, PakLong treated us to dinner at this interesting eatery called the “Top Spot Seafood Centre”, which is also known as “the Carpark” simply because the place is at the rooftop of a car-park building. A bit noisy but the food was nice.

On the next day, we chartered a van, which came together with a driver, Hj. Razak (013-8957760). And thanks to KakLiana, the whole-day rent for the van was only RM150 – quite reasonable compared to the other rates we came across.

The first destination that day was the Kampung Budaya / Cultural Village, which was a 35-minutes journey from the Kuching town centre. The Cultural Village showcases seven authentic traditional houses (Bidayuh, Iban, Penan, Ulu, Melanau, Cina & Melayu) and occupied by members of Sarawak’s ethnic groups, going about everyday activities.

The Village also includes a multi-ethnic cultural performance in the Village’s air-conditioned mini-theater. And we were fortunate to have witnessed a rare dance performed by Eipan of the “Fun-Fun” tribe.


Next stop was the Muzium Kucing / Cat Museum, which is the world’s first museum for cats and devoted to everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, related to feline – even things which has the term “cat”, such as “catwalks” and “cat burglars”, are exhibited there.


For dinner that night, Pak Long brought us to D’Airiz Café, a Thai-based restaurant, near Satok, for dinner.

The third day was reserved especially for Wahida’s favourite pastimes i.e. shopping. In the morning, we decided to walk and do our shopping at the shops along the Kuching Waterfront (a riverside walk stretching approximately 1km long along the Kuching river, linking various hotels, shops and shopping complexes with downtown Kuching).

Finished with the ‘first round’ of shopping, we met up with Mama and Auntie Ros at the Crown Plaza Riverside. While waiting, we had a snack at the famous ‘Sugar Bun’ (a local fast-food franchise, which originated from Kuching and is very popular among the people of Sarawak, Sabah & Brunei).


For lunch, too lazy and tired to walk to anywhere, we went to the Khatulistiwa Café, a Bidayuh style architecture, which was just next to Pak Long’s apartment building.


The ‘second round’ of shopping was then done at the Pasar Minggu Satok, a weekly, weekend-only market, which offers everything from T-shirts and souvenirs to udang kering and kek lapis Sarawak. According to Hj. Razak, the Pasar opens 24-hours, starting from Saturday afternoon till Sunday evening.

On our final night in Kuching, Pak Long planned a dinner at the Holiday Plaza but wanting to lepak with Zul, Wahida and I decided to visit the well-known “Raja Ayam Penyet”, which is actually a small warong but was packed with people. The ‘King’ specializes in the Ayam Penyet (a simple meal that comprises of roasted chicken, white rice, ulam and a very hot sambal belacan) but also offers a variety of other food as well.

After dinner, we went for an evening walk along the Kuching Waterfront while enjoying ice-cream for dessert. We also ran into Nadzri (my former Perindu hostelmate in UiTM) and his new wife, who was on a work-trip.

As our flight back to LCCT was at 9.05 p.m., we spent our morning shopping at the shops along the Kuching Waterfront (again!). We then checked out from the hotel at about 1 p.m. and spent the rest of the day at Pak Long’s apartment.

Just after Maghrib, we left for the Kuching International Airport (Thanks again, Zul, for the ride). Since there was also no delay for our flight to KL, we arrived at LCCT at about 11 p.m., as estimated.


We chartered a van back to Bandar Sri Damansara and finally reached home at midnight – thus ending our trip to the wonderful City of Cats.