It's World Cup season but none of us should become the WC widow....

I have been watching football for as long as I can remember. Having 5 guys in the house, you can't run away from being forced to join them watching football matches on the (then black and white ) TV set. Back in the late 70s I just watched with my brothers but had no clue of the players' names or the colors of their jerseys (dah sah lah TV black and white). But I remember we usually cheered for Germany and England. I could still remember whenever any of my brother's friend or the orang-orang kampung wore the 3stripes Adidas shirt, I would look at them admiringly and thought, 'Woooooo.... Baju Jerman...!'

When I grew up and had money of my own I did stock up a lot of Baju Jerman in my wardrobe simply because of this childhood fondness of the 3stripes. I finally bought Jersey Jerman two years ago which has Podolski's name printed at the back. *Ngeeeeee*

My most memorable World Cup was the one held in Spain in 1982. Names like Zico, Socrates, Kevin Keegan, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (it was damn hard to spell his name then because I was only in standard 2!), Maradona, Paolo Rossi and Dino Zoff were so big then. I thought Dino Zoff was so interesting because he was quite old when he played for Italy in Spain (40 years old) and his name sounded like dinosaur.  Only years later I learned he's actually one of the few goal keepers who captained a team. That's why he was so famous. Heheh.

Brazil - 1982 squad

My brother managed to trick my mom to buy him a World Cup magazine one day and we studied it cover to cover. We memorized names, jersey numbers, their positions and even the clubs they were playing for. I remember Zico was on the cover.We didn't get to watch all matches because we had to wake up early in the morning to go to school. So, we followed the WC results in the newspaper and from repeat games on TV.

We played more football in the afternoon when it was WC season. Badminton rackets were out of sight then. When we played, each of us will pretend to be our favorite player and at the same time tried to become Hasbullah Awang (just imagine, gelecek bola sambil jadi commentator sendiri...) I still remember the brown plastic ball we had and ia telah menjadi seperti belacan during WC season.

We were lucky to have a very spacious laman, it's even bigger than a futsal court. None of us have proper sports shoes and just played berkaki ayam. It was a lot of fun especially when my neighbours' children joined us, so we could have 3 a side games. The only thing I hated was when out of nowhere somebody would shout to me, 'Oi, awak tu pompuan!' Like I needed to be reminded that I'm a girl and couldn't play football? Well, that's sooooo fifties.

I still play futsal/football today whenever I get the opportunity. And I still watch football matches. And now that it's World Cup season, I'm definitely going to be very very happy. Yippeeee!

Today we have History lesson

The only thing I noticed during the match between Man U and Man City last night was the jersey design. I asked Mr. Hubby why were they wearing those plain jerseys. The answer:

The Munich air disaster took place on 6 February 1958, when British European Airways Flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to take off from a slush-covered runway at the Munich-Riem airport in Munich, West Germany. On board the plane was the Manchester United football team, nicknamed the Busby Babes, along with a number of supporters and journalists. 23 of the 44 passengers on board the aircraft died in the disaster.

The match between Manchester United and local rivals Manchester City at Old Trafford on Sunday, 10 Feb 2008, will provide the opportunity for a tribute as fans remember the victims of the Munich air disaster 50 years ago. Before the game a minute's silence in honour of those who died in the Munich tragedy will also be observed inside the ground.

Manchester United players will wear the V-neck tops, a copy of the famous 50's jerseys worn by the Busby Babes, while City players will put on special commemorative shirts devoid of sponsors' logos.

However... result of the match: the Red Devils slipped to a shock defeat 1-2 against City.



The Busby Babes. (Remind me to Google why they're using Babes instead of Dudes.)



Man U on 10th February 2008. ( The V-neck Babes kot? Agak-agak Christiano Ronaldo mesti suka kalau orang panggil dia Babe, kan?)

The day I had to stand by the roadside

I was waiting for cab at Glenmarie, by the roadside this morning for almost half an hour. My ‘Cinoni’ was sent for tyre change and today I have to take public transport. Previously, whenever I had to send Cinoni for service, I’d get one my team mates to pick me up at the service center. Now that they no longer work here, I had to either call for a cab or wait by the roadside.

Okay, the last time I had to do this (standing alone clutching a bag by the roadside – not taxi stand or bus stop) was in 1986. I was in standard 6 then, have to take public bus to go to school and there’s no bus stop in my kampong. Road users were much nicer back then. If they happen to be my close relatives or my friends’ parents, they’d stop and offer me a ride.

It’s not that people who drive in Glenmarie area are bad; I think I was not really lucky this morning. There were many cabs passing by, but they already have passengers. Some were not occupied, but they’re on the fast lane, and since Glenmarie roads are busy in the morning, it’s not possible for the drivers to swerve to the left. Nak mampus kena langgar dengan lori?

Dahlah tak dapat cab, the motorcyclist and lorry drivers keep on honking me and sengih-sengih macam kerang busuk. I checked my blouse, skirt and scarf many times. Who knows, maybe they’re honking me because I’ve worn my blouse ‘Pak Uda’ style (to the uninitiated, Pak Uda is Zami ismail in Pi Mai Pi Mai Tang Tu tv Sitcom. His shirt is always buttoned ‘senget’ly.) But when I think again, maybe they’re warning me not to stand too close to the road because it’s dangerous. Memang dangerous pun, but if I stand too far, I wouldn’t see the cab coming.

After standing there for 20 minutes, I started getting feet cramps. I was baking cookies yesterday and had to stand in the kitchen for quite long. Maybe my feet expected to get some rest today, but had to stand firmly by the roadside, pulak. That was when I started feeling rather desperate. Suddenly I remembered a few comic strips from magazines in the late 70s.

I used to read the magazines over and over again at my late grandmother’s place, so the image sticks in my head until now. There were two friends waiting for taxi, but none would stop and pick them up. So, friend No. 1 asked friend No. 2 to lift her skirt to expose her legs so that it would attract the attention of the taxi drivers. Friend No. 2 did what she’s told to but all drivers started speeding their vehicle once they saw her. As you might have guessed, it was not a beautiful sight, lah that has scared all the taxi drivers away. I was smiling to myself visualizing the comic strip. Friend No. 2’s leg was really hairy; it’s difficult for me to describe it here. He he he he.

That’s not the only that keep on sticking in my head all these years. There’s a jingle I first heard in 1982 that follows me wherever I go, especially to the mall. If you are from the same generation as me, you might recognize this:

Yang mana satu, idaman kalbu,
Tak mau yang ini, bukan yang itu,
Nissan March baru, model seribu,
Satu liter, berbatu-batu.

The Nissan March commercial starred the then-so-sexy Noreen Noor with oh-so-eighties hairstyle. I found the jingles funny because of mix usage of ‘liter’ and ‘batu (mile)’. Malaysia has just standardized to use the metric system for trading in 1981. I think maybe some people were still quite confused with the usage in 1982, hence the mixed jingle lyrics. But until today, I still wonder what is model seribu?

Well, the jingle started haunting me again because I saw this new Nissan March last week. What is this? Model tiga ribu? Quite cute, huh? Hehehehehe…



For the sake of finishing my story, well, I finally managed to hail a cab after 25 minutes standing by the roadside. Luckily, he only charged me RM5.

Hey! Hey! You! You! I don’t like your girlfriend

Caution: Another perasan entry from Makcik. Get your puke bucket, fast!

The title has got nothing to do with the entry. It’s my morning alarm song, which is so ineffective; I always wake up an hour after it goes off.

On Wednesday night, I was staying at a Hostel in Sabak Bernam for some hardware installation work. The Hostel has ASTRO but no AXN. When I realized it I was like, ‘Oi! TV is useless without AXN.’ Yeah, really felt like filling the TV with water, put it on my head and walk barefoot across the desert. So, no CSI lah. Aiyyayai…

After I was done bloghopping (yeah, they have really fast internet connection in the Hostel Room – 2 network ports on the wall, some more!) I switched on the TV and ‘Jangan Tidur Lagi’ was airing.

When I saw Azwan’s MATA LALAT spec and his ear piercing ‘serak-serak karat’ voice, I decided to change the channel, but then I saw the guests for the night were Amani and Datuk CT; I changed my mind. No, I was more like too stunned to press the TV remote button. I just couldn’t believe my eyes; Datuk CT has become so fleshy I thought she looked like me!!!. Huh? (Hehehehe… ke perasanan yang di luar kawalan! As if I was ever slim like Datuk CT.)

One of the hosts, Adlin si mulut-takde-insurance asked a few questions related to her weight. Datuk CT didn’t seem to be bothered at all. She was like, ‘Yeah, I know …. I realized that I’m getting fatter. La la la la la la….’ Of course she didn’t ‘la la la la’ on the show but the way she answered the questions showed that she didn’t really mind having those extra Kgs.

Hmmmm… maybe I should post her some of my pictures and tell her,
‘Datuk, if you don’t do something about it, this is how you’re going to look like soon.’

Frankly speaking, I’m not that worried that she’ll lose her fans or her contracts with Maybelline/WhateverShampoo/Jusco/Hotlink etc will not be renewed. I’m afraid that one fine day, as Datuk CT was strolling along Taman KLCC, happily licking her Baskin Robbins, with a green sling bag from Tropicana Life, baggy EIC shirts, baggy Ms Read pants and of course a pair of really comfy Crocs, somebody would approach her and ask,

‘Hey, will you be free next week to write a technical review on Oracle Database 11g?’

I will be so pissed off, okay. Abislah periuk nasik I! (Ok, keperasanan di tahap Gaban… I know… I know!)

The worst thing that could happen (if Datuk CT becomes fatter) is that people would mistake her for me. Heh….tak caya? Isy, I wish I could have a Photoshop expert manipulate both our pictures to prove that.

Well, if you’ve met me in person you’ll realize the similarities between Datuk CT and me. Okaylah, I list some of them here.

Datuk CT is about 5 ft 5 inch.
- me too
Datuk CT has (almost) flawless, fair, porcelain skin
- me too
Datuk CT orang Pahang
- Me too
Datuk CT has dimples
- Me too
Datuk CT speaks with noticeable Pahang accent
- Me too
Datuk CT has bubbly personality
- Me too
Datuk CT has childish/girlish laugh
- Me too
Datuk CT has black, straight hair
- Me too
Datuk CT wears T-shirt and sarong at home
- Me too
Datuk CT has big butts
- Me too

Okay, at least there are 10 similarities, people. So imagine if she gains the additional 27 Kgs (which is the difference between us now). She will look exactly like me. By then, I hope I don’t get chased by promoters, event management people or recording company lah pulak, kan. Hahahaha.

Undilah adikku yang sorang ni

I hope you're following Nescafe Kickstart on TV3. Hey, I'm such a telly junkie these days... I've been watching re-runs of CSI Miami, I could almost memorise the dialogues... hahahah.

So, this entry is dedicated to Ninie, who happens to be my super junior in STF. Didn't get the chance to meet her in school, otherwise my body dah elastic macam pompuan dalam cerita Mr. Incredible tu dah gamaknya...

If you've never voted for anybody in any of the Reality TV programs, I tell you, you must vote for Ninie. You wanna know why? Because she has improved many people's quality of life and she will continue to do so with her Yoga.




You can vote her

by typing NK NINIE and send to 33511
or dial 13721 and press '2' for NINIE

starting from (Saturday, 7 APRIL 2007) 7.30pm
right after the showing of second last episode of Nescafe Kickstart.

Voting period is one week from 7th April,
until 11.30am on Grand Finale day
which will be showing LIVE Sunday, 15 APRIL 2007.

Don't miss the show people... this show is really about living your dreams. And by now, I'm sure you all know whose dream will help others achieve their dreams, too. Undilah Ninie, yeay!

By the way, I have to confess that I'm so jealous of her because she gets to do the things she loves day in and day out; while I'm stuck here behind this boring cubicle staring at black screen with green fonts most of the times (that's Telnet session, if you'd like to know).

P/s: Akak taknak komisyen dik. Dapat sepasang kasut Adidas yang baru tu pun okaylah, that one ada 28 days trial run, best tuuuuu....

So, you think you can dance? Really?

I bet most of you missed the show on 8TV last night. Hey, it's very entertaining, you know. If you haven't heard a good joke, or watched a hilarious movie lately, you should watch this show!

Other than the usual jokers (MJ impersonators, for sure!), there were many really good dancers who went to the 2 days audition. My favorite has to be the girl who danced to a Kitaro song. I don't know what category of dance it was, contemporary jazz, maybe...

I think for most guys, the Malay Girl from Penang must've been their favorite. Even the male judges were almost drooling watching her. She's hot, and she's got the moves and attitude, I tell you. She danced to a Latino tune, so I don't know whether it was Mambo, Mamba or Merengue; but she's deliciously gooooood!

The judges were most impressed by a classical Indian dancer. I've never watched such show, but I tell you I was not blinking when I watched him performing on telly. Hey, he really has it, the x-factor as a dancer! Sharp and sure movements, good eye contact, unforgettable facial expression.... hmmmm... perfecto! But I think he'll have to dance to other tunes during the callback session (that will be shown next Thursday night!). Eh, wait a minute, I'm suddenly not sure whether he's been called for the callback or going straight to the boot-camp.

Anyway, I think the Malaysian version of this program will be much more exciting than the US one because we are so diversified and more colourful. There was one choreograph that combined Malay Dance/Chinese Dance/Indian Dance/Kadazan Dance movements in one song and it was splendid! So, okaylah...I tabik spring Ahmad 1zham 0mar... heheheh

Oleh kerana semangat yang berkobar-kobar, this afternoon I'll be in Body Jam class...yeay! Shake your bootie, grooooovy Baby!