Merdeka 2008

Happy 51st Merdeka Malaysia!!

Unlucky?

I guess after years & years of driving (i started experimenting with cars and landrovers since i was 10.. growing up as an army brat cocooned in the safety of a secluded army camp had its perks lol), it was something long overdue.

My very first police report!

At 6.45 pm, right under the porch of sunway pyramid's main entrance (that busy drop off area) while i was down to 20 km/h dutifully following the hand-signals of the guard on duty, a taxi hell-bent on getting as many passengers as he could on merdeka's eve, rammed right into the left side of my car, severely grazing and denting my back passenger door!!!

He really got me fuming mad!!! what is it with these taxis? and where did he think he was huh, in a demolition derby or something? of course la kereta penuh sesak but that doesnt give him the license to simply bang into people just because he wanted to get off the drop off zone!! stupid moron, suka2 hati je nak langgar orang. lucky thing the guard who witnessed everything was extremely helpful and sorta intimidated the taximan to provide me with his particulars. thank you mr. guardman, you were a great help indeed sir.

And guess what, the taximan's an ex-cop (he even had a pdrm address on his IC)!! yeah... you would have thought he'd have known better aight? sheeeesh!

Which then brings me to the wild goose chase part of the story. after taking his particulars, i was told to go make a report at the pj police station, the one near the mppj building bcos sunway was under their jurisdiction. and like a stoopid fool (my brains were close to meltdown) i made my way there even tho i had this niggling thought at the back of my head, why was a place that was so close to subang jaya under pj?! true enough once i got there the officers told me they couldnt process my report bcos the pyramid was under the sj police!!

Arghh i was so pissed... this was supposed to be just a simple pick-up of AH and her friends!! but there i was still wandering about with 4 increasingly hungry kids in tow and with night fast descending upon us. when i asked the policeman for directions he was kind enough to sketch it out but for the life of me, i could hardly make out what he drew. so i asked him for the address but unfortunately he didnt know that, neither did he know what area it was in.. an indication of SS something or other would've helped but all he could tell me was, its near petronas & the fire-station. and like a true shah alam native who knew squat about other places bcos she had all she needed where she was, i didnt know where the hell that was either.

After a couple of failed attempts and a u turn later, we finally made it to the traffic section of the sj police dept. he, the taximan who banged me, was also there (haish rasa nak piuh2 je telinga tu)!! and after a long long wait for the computer to start functioning properly so that my report could be processed, all that was needed were some pics of the car and all would be done.

But... upon speaking to the officers and catching that look in their eyes, i eventually realised it wasnt going to be as easy as i had thought. the truth might not always prevail. it was a huge chunk of reality here, where everyone's out for themselves and people can actually lie thru their teeth to get themselves out of trouble.

And telling the truth means shit because how were the officers to know who's telling the truth? they deal with all kinds of people and in all probability the taximan might've even fabricated his report; he did after all have the experience to twist the facts around in his favour. he might even be their friend, who knows. and just bcos i'm a dutiful makcik doesnt mean they see me as one, since they must have met loads & loads of conniving makciks in their lifetime.

I hate the wariness i see in their eyes.

And i'm not so sure about anything anymore... the truth might just be washed down the toilet in this case.

We reached home after 9 pm and all i could do for the poor kids were to feed them with a whole load of pizza. i wasnt in the right frame of mind to be cooking dinner. gawd, i had a full day for sure - i had my bros & sis coming over for lunch & tea, my son appearing for a weekend break, and my hubs arriving back from jakarta.

Oh and the stooopid sunway fiasco of course.

What a way to celebrate merdeka's eve. but at least the kids had fun at the merdeka countdown, watching the fireworks.

WTF?!??

.. the last time was an incessant rattling and it took the toyota people a couple of days to figure out what was wrong AND another couple of days to have it fixed because the flywheel wasnt in stock and had to be ordered from elsewhere.

It was 2 weeks of being 'wheel-less'.. an absolute inconvenience!!

To our dismay the avanza's been acting up again. it's been stalling and dying out on us at every turn, taking its own sweet time to warm up and run as normal. after a while we soon realised it was time to bring in the 'experts' but alas, the same thing happened all over again. when we sent it over, the toyota service people in shah alam couldnt quite figure out the cause of the problem and my son had to drive the problematic car back to kulim (where he's currently teaching) and have the toyota people in penang investigate further (apparently with 'technology' they can access the previous history of our car you see, thus the passing of baton, eheh).

And now they tell us its the gearbox and replacing it would cost us about RM 31,000.00.. WT friggin F?! kereta tu pun baru RM40,000 plus when we bought it, being the 1st batch ever to hit the malaysian shores. ni nak repair at about 75% of its initial cost? come on laaa... wheres the logic la kan? baik cari 2nd hand parts or trade it in for a brand new car!!!

Adoi... macam2. i think the 1st generation avanza was somehow jinxed and toyota isnt doing too good a job of handling it.

Sambutan

.. apart from our own personal physical & spiritual preparation, there are many ways to usher in ramadhan.

Ada yang belanja makan satu ofis la, yang organize group flings kat sunway lagoon/genting park la, yang plan weekend get-away la, macam2. in the case of my golfman pulak how else if not by going on a MEGA golf trip where the itinerary consist of nothing but 3 solid days of golf, golf and more golf!! pulun habis2an la katakan sebab once the fasting starts, prestasi pun nanti kureng skit la kan ;)

So i'll be dropping him off at KLIA around 1 pm today, ETD jakarta 4 pm (rasanye la).. which is going to be quite tight considering AH's classes ends at 2. but my enterprising lil gal has already alerted her bf about it and in all likelihood he'll be there at the schoolgate to teman her in case i'm late. ada la sedikit kelegaan di situ :)

Lately i've been seriously thinking of enrolling AH into one of the self-defense classes around here. considering the current state of madness in our country, maybe its the least i can do in equipping her with a little more confidence & self-empowerment (and peace of mind for me). if the fee's reasonable i might even be tempted to join in, at the very least the workouts would keep me fit :)

She has mentioned kick-boxing but the nearest for that is in subang jaya.. malas la plak.

Hmmm i'd better start scouting around for options.

Sempurna

.. its fascinating how our views on certain things can evolve & change with the passage of time and where feelings are concerned, for me these 2 songs show it best :)

During the early stages of a relationship, we romantically cling to the idea that perfection still exist..
Sempurna
Kau begitu sempurna
Di mataku kau begitu indah
Kau membuat diriku akan selalu memujamu
Di setiap langkahku ku kan selalu memikirkan dirimu
Tak bisa ku bayangkan hidupku tanpa cintamu

Janganlah kau tinggalkan diriku
Tak kan mampu menghadapi semua
Hanya bersamamu ku akan bisa

Kau adalah darahku
Kau adalah jantungku
Kau adlah hidup ku lengkapi diriku
Oh sayang engkau begitu sempurna .. sempurna

Kau genggam tanganku
Saat diriku lemah dan terjatuh
Kau bisikkan dan hapus semua sesalku

Kau adalah darahku
Kau adalah jantungku
Kau adalah hidup ku lengkapi diriku
Oh sayang engkau begitu sempurna .. sempurna
Sayangku engkau begitu sempurna.. sempurna.. sempurna..
(by Andra And The Backbone).

Then as we move along and our feelings mature & deepen, we begin to realise & appreciate the fact that its the imperfections thats keeping the love real...
Sempurna
Akan ku berterusan
Mencari pengertian
Hatimu terhadap aku
Biarku menghapuskan
Sangsi yang berterusan
Darimu terhadapku
Kau mahukan segalanya sempurna
Mungkinkah kau bercanda
Kerna tiada yang sempurna
Fahamilah...

Kau dan aku pasti begini
Menempuhi onak dan duri
Suka duka bersamamu
Dan yang pasti aku kan di sini
Kau dan aku harus begini
Menempuhi setiap hari
Senyum tawa airmata
Dan baru kan sempurna

Kan ku berterusan
Ku cuba memuaskan
Hatimu terhadapku
Kau mahukan segalanya sempunrna
Mungkin kah kau bercanda
Kerna tiada yang sempurna
Fahamilah..

Kau dan aku pasti begini
Menempuhi onak dan duri
Suka duka bersamamu
Dan yang pasti aku kan di sini
Kau dan aku harus begini
Menempuhi setiap hari
Senyum tawa airmata
Dan baru kan sempurna

Berkali ku katakan
Yang aku milikmu
Berkali juga kau bertanya
“Memang aku pernah begitu
Namun dah berlalu”

Kau dan aku
Suka duka bersamamu
Dan yang pasti aku kan di sini
Kau dan aku... Ohh…
Senyum tawa air mata
Dan baru kan sempurna
(by faizal tahir).

Btw have a peek at these short but interesting videos on relationship issues, a refresher perhaps hehe..
http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-have-a-harmonious-relationship
http://www.videojug.com/interview/the-life-cycle-of-a-relationship
http://www.videojug.com/interview/communicating-in-a-relationship
http://www.videojug.com/interview/the-relationship-stress-test

A glimpse

.. i was given a glimpse of what's to come and it's an interesting picture indeed ;)

The day started out as any other. t'was the weekend, as per normal Abe was off golfing and the kiddoes already had their day mapped out for themselves (AF was again going to upsi with his gf, AI was meeting up with friends in kl and AH was accompanying her bf to the dentist before proceeding to klcc). though i was tempted to run i didnt bcos having the house all to myself (with mak & her cats in the background somewhere) meant the perfect opportunity to settle all of my tertunggak chores.

Or so i thought.

The unexpected flat tyre of his gf's car saw a change in AF's plans and instead of driving down to tg malim, they lepak-ed at home watching anime after anime. i wasnt planning on having company so we ended up having a very simple lunch of roasted chicken (which i had bought earlier at tesco), fresh salad, tuna sandwiches and fried spaghetty-o. feeling more than a little guilty for not being a better host, i slowly sneaked back to the kitchen and decided to make some hot-from-the-oven cream puffs for tea!!!

Hehehe... there i was baking away when food was probably the last thing on their minds!! they were obviously enjoying their little get together with AF guffawing away every 5 seconds and his gf giggling along, eyes glued to his laptop (AF has an endless supply of downloaded anime stashed in there). they were also biding time as there was a class reunion they were going to later in the evening.

Anyway, AI came home from his outing with a coursemate in tow (a girl of course) just in time for my first batch of puffs, while AH got back shortly after. and as they all sat eating and goofing around, i had that little glimpse of what the future might have in store for me... a home filled with laughing, loving, happy people (and little ones too hehehe). provided yours truly dipanjangkan umur of course ;)

Ooh but it didnt just end there.. not by a long short.

We were actually left with a lot of uneaten food when golfman, out of the blue, took us out for dinner at VS, taipan (he wanted to entertain a visiting friend from turkmenistan). luckily the food surplus no longer became a problem when AH's bf graciously agreed to stop by after his bout of nite futsal. and his presence at the house completed the picture quite nicely i would say ;) nothing beats the warmth of having a house filled with the sounds of laughter throughout the day.. and nite heheh!!

AF came back from his reunion dinner a little while later and we finally made our way upstairs roundabout 1.30 in the morning. a little tired perhaps but very very happy.

Yup.. the kiddoes, their significant others and lots & lots of little ones hik hik!!

Sweet dreams are made of these ;)

Gawking & Hopping

... are 2 of my fav activities when i'm down with the 2B's, boredom & blues.

I was out food gawking & blog hopping when i chanced upon these tips for couples, married or otherwise. and yes, with 25 years of marriage under my belt, i am in total agreement with all of them.

1.Never both be angry at the same time.
- it was the first marital advice my MIL gave me and has stood me in good stead over the years.
2. Never yell at each other unless the house is on fire.
3. If one of you has to win an argument, let it be your mate.
- somehow whenever i concede, he relaxes, becomes all tender & open to suggestion.
4. If you must criticize, do it lovingly.
5. Never bring up mistakes of the past .
6. Neglect the whole world rather than each other.
- my personal favourite :)
7. Never go to sleep with an argument unsettled.
- what drives me to settle any dispute is the regret & guilt i'd surely be carrying if he never wakes up the next morning.
8. At least once every day say a kind or complimentary word to your life partner.
9. When you have done something wrong, admit to it and ask for forgiveness.
10. Remember it takes two to make a quarrel.

(many thanks to: http://www.snippetsofmylife.com)

Macro, makro?

... one gets your brains in a twist, the other's been swallowed whole by tesco xtra.

Day 2 of excel-2 saw me spacing out into my own world a couple of times. the thing is, whenever my ole & outdated 'cpu' ni dah tak boleh nak proses data yang berlebihan... it 'hangs' or automatically 'shuts down' suka2hati dia je eheheh.

Tapi walaupun it got tougher but it also got fun-ner (the custom buttons with the encrypted macros was really kewl yall). from the 10 odd topics that was covered today, the most relevant to my work were:

- database stats function
- data consolidation
- macros
- calculation with multiple worksheets

All this new stuff (to me la) got me pretty worked up by day's end, macam2 rasa nak buat, but i know the excitement wont last and i also know that if i dont put it to use soonest, all the know-how would just quietly disappear.

Especially semenjak dua menjak ni. senang je nak lupa, susah je nak ingat.

Anyhoo... me & muh gurlie gal decided we deserved a break from all our 'hard' work (its also her exam week) and had us some mighty fine creamed ice at the mall ;) personally i prefer haagan daz but baskin has made itself pretty much at home here, so baskin it is. i dont really mind, as long as its cool, smooth, deliciously creamy.. and has lotsa lotsa chunky nuts!!!! surprisingly AH passed on the green tea (still holding on to the memory of her bday cake i guess hik hik) and had that cheesecake n strawberry/ raspberry/ i-dont-remember-what-berry thingy, while i couldnt help but be seduced by the fat, almond bits that was all over the greenish pistachio ice cream (i actually hate the funny aftertaste that pistachio leaves in the cream but wth, lets live a little).

Refreshed and armed with fresh supply of crunchy seaweed (i'm a sucker for all things crunchy), i'm all set for another nite of channel hopping around beijing. just hope i didnt misplace the remote!!

Berasap

.... weh dah lama tak kursus berasap giler otak!!!!

I'm not a career woman. i've long realised that for me to be totally happy & content, family must come first. so, i maintain a low profile and work enough to keep my brainmatter clear of cobwebs. biar la golfman je yang climb as high as he wants... kita ni jadi his reliable 'support system' cukup la ;)

True to form i normally also mengelat berseminar or berkursus tapi sesekali tu terkena la jugak. and to be honest, berasap-asap pun seronok jugak sebenarnya.

MS Excel 2 - atas skit daripada Excel for beginner la kot heheh...

1. Refresher on Default settings and shortcuts.
2. Custom List - aargh!!
(apa tadi ek.. for the life of me nothing is coming to mind *_*)
3. Abstracting data - using max, min, sum, avg, count, if.
4. Conditional formating - coloured text etc
5. Range, Define - to name range of cells

Eeeeek... lost again!! kejap2 -_-'

6. Formula auditing - to manage & control formulas
7. Watch windows - to identify & isolate existing formulas.
8. Sub-Totals - grouping of data & computing subtotals
(function ni best tapi for me tak brape relevant bcos its restricted to repeated single words)
9. Auto Filter & Advance Filter - manipulating data (very very useful!!)
10. Importing data from Excel into Words and producing multiple letters.
11. Data Validation & circling/identifying invalid data.

Hah... memang berasap hehehe and tomorrow's another day. should i call 'bomba' in advance?

Sea of blue

This morning the streets of shah alam was hit by wave upon wave of runners mostly clad in light blue.

I was feeling a bit masochistic so i drove along the designated routes torturing myself and salivating over the adidas singlets (if only i had myself one of those i would be soooo happy). being on the outside of things felt really different tho and the impatience of the drivers when asked to stop at junctions were almost palpable. yes, sadly there are those out there who dont care a f**k in hell about the rights & the safety of the runners!!

Sabor la sikit kalau ya pun, kan ramai bebudak tu!! its ok if its not your kinda thang mister but puh-leeze, these are PEOPLE running not kambing for gods sake.

Sedih kan camtu?!!

Dah la tak dapat lari..... double sedih jadinye.

Learn to love yall.

AI's gone back to Lendu with his coursemate. looks like he's able to manage his little 'crisis' for now but i still worry over him. sigh.. all relationships carry with it uncertainty & risks but involvement with an older woman brings it to another level altogether.

You ready kah?

You sanggup kah?

This is so dejavu-ish and my mind keeps going back to jireen.

Look, i wish it didnt have to be this way but you know i'm here for you anyway. you're my baby and i love you. just promise me you wont be doing anything stupid k bcos you have to go thru this with your mind clear and eyes WIDE open. theres nothing wrong in pursuing love & happiness but my darling, you must never lose sight of the big picture.

And becoming autonomous is a major part of it.

Inspired

What does a makcik do after spending a good 4 hrs glued to the idiot box, transfixed by an artistic and deeply inspiring display of harmonious creativity & unity?

She gets inspired and runs 8km first thing the next morning :)

I carried the beautiful artistic images with me as i ran. yup the chinese did good... i was especially captivated by the agile & flexible dancers, who used their bodies as paint brushes while they moved to the music. i managed to complete my 2 big loops round the tasik even though i felt close to terpukang by the 7th km. olympic punye pasal ku gagahi jua hehehe!!

Didnt stop me from feeling frustrated over the adidas kotr though. its tomorrow but bcos yours truly missed out on the registration, kena la tenguk je from the sidelines. its actually a great opportunity for old wannabes like me to be a part of the racing community, even if its just for that short period of time. and whats even more frustrating is that the distance for the veteran women's category is just 7km. quite doable for a makcik who hasnt been running consistently since last year.

Tapi nak buat camane kan. nak saje2 lari rasa macam tak sanggup la pulak, without the bib and all. mana la tau kalau2 terpukang menyusahkan orang je or worst kena halau ke apa ke, so duduk je la diam2 kat rumah or just run round the neighbourhood.

Apapun it was great to be out running again today.

Workout Log
AM/tasik - 8km/60 mins
(horrendous timing even for a makcik but at least i kept on running to the finish eheh)

The Olympics

... its 08/08/08 yaaay!!

And making me doubly happy is AH's speedy recovery & AI's unexpected return late last nite :)

I was getting pretty worried over how listless & pale AH was still looking bcos she did take all her meds (walaupun liat). rupa2nye on top of the nausea & fever, she was also missing her bf!!! ish ish ish macam2 la pulak si daro kite ni. lucky thing her bf took the time to drop by right after his exams yesterday so ok la skit kot. at least i could hear her giggling again all the way to the kitchen hehehe.

Thx AZ and good luck with your next paper :)

And who would have thought i'd have my other baby back home again so soon!! selalunye si mamat sorang ni payah sangat nak balik... kali ni its 2 weekends in a row so thats why i'm feeling like i just won the lottery!

And the start of the olympics summore!!

*doing the jiggly*

Just hope our 'cikgu' is doing well back in kulim. ganbatte AF!!! love you n miss you dude.

Enuff yall

.. i aint that stoopid so enuff is enuff ok. enuff with the squabbling, namecalling, backstabbing, blackmailing, coverups. whatever are we teaching the next generation of leaders huh? even if YOU people dont especially care, stop embarrassing the rest of us will ya? its august already and with it the anniversary of our independence. please, dont make a mockery of it.

So ask yourself is the lovin' really gone?
So I could ask myself really what is goin' wrong?
In this world that we livin' in, people keep on givin' in
Makin' wrong decisions, only visions of them dividends
Not respectin' each other, deny thy brother
A war is goin' on but the reason's undercover
The truth is kept secret, it's swept under the rug
If you never know truth then you never know love.

Where's the love, y'all, come on
Where's the truth, y'all, come on
Where's the love?

Whatever happened to the values of humanity?
Whatever happened to the fairness in equality?
Instead of spreading love we're spreading animosity
Lack of understanding, leading lives away from unity
That's the reason why sometimes I'm feelin' under
That's the reason why sometimes I'm feelin' down
There's no wonder why sometimes I'm feelin' under
Gotta keep my faith alive till love is found.

(courtesy of BEP)

Finally out

Yay, Bini Muda Wendy is finally out of the workshop yall!!

- no more sweating bcos of the sekejap ada sekejap takde aircond
- no more rushing in the morning
- no more guilt over golfman taking the jampacked lrt & coming home pooped outta his boots.

But euphoria aside, AH's suddenly down with some kind of 'gastro' bug and i honestly dont know where it came from. one minute she's fine next minute she's bent almost double.

Initially i thought it was just penat or stress or something bcos she was looking a little pale after her tuition & outing, but the tummy aches got pretty physical after maghrib and she even vomited her guts out. of course all i wanted to do was haul her over to the clinic ASAP but things settled down a bit after that and mek esoh insisted on resting. i only relented because she promised to see the doc first thing tomorrow morning.

But if the fever & pain persist i'm still bundling her over to the doc's tonite.

Cant help it, i'm a worrywart :(

I wonder how the boys are doing?

Looking forward

In just 2 days we'll be seeing the start of the beijing olympics and in less than a month we'll be graced by ramadhan.

Aah the irony of ramadhan.

Ramadhan encompasses 1001 blessings but we, always on a quest to simplify matters, have conveniently categorized it as a fasting month and viewed as such. this generally means no eating, which also means shoving all thoughts of it to the back of our minds. but believe you me, that aint gonna happen bcos the focus will definitely be on FOOD!! food, food and more food, the rest is almost an afterthought. yup, at some point or other it'll creep up to the top of our priority list and call it home.

"makan apa ek sahur nanti?"

"jom beli lauk jom!!"

"berbuka nanti mesti masak best2 tau!"

"teringin la plak nak makan kueh lompat tikam, akok, popia, badak berendam..."

"alaaa.. nak masak apa aah?"

"laa beli la lebih skit kuih tu lepas tarawih kan bole makan lagi!!"

"eh ada bazaar baru tau, singgah petang ni nak?"

"kat rumah dah masak tapi saja je nak tambah2 biar meriah skit!!"

"ling, you nak ayam percik ke ayam panggang biasa ke?"

"hari ni buffet kat concorde, esok kat seri melayu, lusa kat saujana.."

See what i mean? one of those things that is good & pure but in the hands of mankind has evolved into something superficial.

So dengan ini saya mengingatkan diri saya sendiri seawal mungkin to CHILL and focus focus focus on the true essence of ramadhan and not be swayed by the onslaught nor drowned in the avalanche of food that will be coming this way very very soon.

Insyallah.

Cukup2 la tu.

Have faith

.. and stop banging your head against the wall.

You have a love worth keeping
You have a love thats true
Her heart's not prone to wandering
Her heart has only you.

Though its natural to wonder
Doubt can wreck one's soul
So have faith in one another
And let the love unfold.

Sincerely,
Aunty

Plans gone awry

.. again kita hanya merancang.

The day started out well. AH suddenly decided to ditch her tennis lessons (ha tido lambat kan dah susah nak bangun) which meant i could go have some mad fun with the other aerobically inclined makciks & pakciks at the dataran, yay!! and who did i find waiting to start off the session this morning? none other than the funky instructor they nicknamed 'too phat' bcos his speciality was hip-hop aerobics. yo man... i was grinning even before the music started. why? bcos it was my kinda workout yall :)

One thing about being in a large group of people.. you can just let yourself go without worrying too much about looking stupid bcos everyone else would be looking just as stupid hahaha. yup it was fun hip-hopping about like a crazed cow yeehaa ;)

It was then that things started getting a lil skewed.

I wanted to run round the tasik but couldnt bcos AH's girlfrens were coming over for some girly-girl time and also some cookie baking while they're at it. so maid-less me had to settle all the chores as well as spruce the place up a bit before they arrived.... which in the end they never did bcos turns out most couldnt make it so the plan was scraped.

Aah well.

I wanted to attend the wedding reception of my old old friend megan (we go way back to primary school) but couldnt bcos the other car was still in the workshop and golfman was using the only wheels available. then there was also the matter of dropping son no. 2 off to melaka so it was another plan down the drain.

Aaaah weeell.

And something's not too right with my hp either. reception? battery? dunno but it sure is acting up.

Aaaaaaaahhh!!

So what happened was we ended up..
1) baking the choc chip cookies ourselves (yummy but the calories ooh the calories)
2) shoving the uncooperative hp into the deepest darkest corner of my handbag
3) leaving for lendu after maghrib (after much dilly dallying)
4) arriving back home around 11pm totally pooped and not at all ready to face another week of daily grind :(

Heck where did the weekend go? I am soooo not looking forward to going thru the whole 'drop-AH-to-school-then-drop-golfman-to-lrt kelana jaya-before-going-to-work' routine tomorrow morning. the kereta panas giler sbb compressor rosak doesnt even sound that bad now.

Cant we just skip the suburbian madness somehow?

Workout Log
AM - 50 mins moderate aerobics

'K' who?

You 'K'? who's K? you ok, me not ok.

Everyone knows about Datuk 'K' (who doesnt aight?), he has after all become a household name no less. but howzabout Uncle 'K' ? have you heard of him?

Anyone?

Well, we had the misfortune of coming in contact with Uncle 'K' tonite and we're all regretting it already.

Both the kiddoes had their own plans for the day but were back in the roost by maghrib. and since AI was returning to lendu tomorrow it was time for our customary 'makan luar'. so with nandos on our minds, we made our way to sacc not knowing that it would be overcrowded due to some sort of promotional event. i had an inkling it was going to be hardgoing when we had problems finding a parking space so the nightmarish waiting line at nandos didnt really come as a total surprise.

Undecided we just stood there.. we were at secret recipe only recently and asiari can sometimes be a bit too bland so it was a toss between the nachos place or the kopitiam place. and since AH was as hungry as a horse (not really la but its fun pulling her leg eheh), we made our way to the kopitiam because it would have a bigger variety of choices.

Hmmphh. if only we knew what we were in for.

Uncle 'K' kopitiam is where dave deli used to be. and while we were waiting for someone, anyone, to realise we were seated and ready to order, i had the sneaking suspicion that it was actually a 'mamak' shop in disguise.

Gawd the service was horrendous. the waitresses were too busy being busy and nobody wanted to catch our eyes let alone smile!! tau la customer ramai but you're in the service industry and it comes with the territory babes... havent you heard of 'service with a smile'? nobody kept track of the comings & goings of the customers and people were being served suke2 hati je, which would have been tolerable if the place was really teeming with people tapi walaupun ramai, the crowd was manageable. yes business was brisk but not completely out of control.

Which is why i cannot understand nor comprehend the total chaos.

The wait was long, the food was lousy, the service abysmal. in fact it was the most unsatisfying RM100+ meal we'd had for a very long time.

Thank you Uncle 'K', you certainly wouldnt be seeing the likes of us again. and maybe you really should do away with the kopitiam facade and just be yourself.