Lagenda Budak Setan

Dear Diary,

I remembered reading this novel when I was a teenager. It was a big hit back in the 90s. So, when I saw on television it was being adapted into a film starring two good actors as lead roles, I made a mental note to watch out for the release date. On June 3rd, Lagenda Budak Setan hit cinemas nationwide.

Going to the cinema is a rare treat for me after becoming a mother. The last movie I watched on the big screen was 2012. It was ages ago. After one postponement and much persuasion, I convinced hubby to be my date to watch Lagenda Budak Setan. Take note that hubby is not a big fan of Malay film.

It was a sad love story. Very sad indeed; so much so, that my tears were streaming down my cheeks almost for the entire half of the movie. I am a sucker for sappy love stories, I guess. The film broke a record for me because hubby was seen wiping tears from his eyes. Wow, that was something huh! When I asked what makes him cry, he replied he pities Ayu. She had to go through so much suffering.

These are my opinions on the movie. Akasyah really loves Ayu. I mean really really loves her! Ayu is the world for him. Kasyah is willing to accept Ayu even when she’s no longer a virgin, even when she has a different face and even when she lost her memory. Along the same line, he is willing to face all hurdles that come his way (finishes his studies, waits for her, helps her remember, etc). The scene in which Kasyah receives the news that Ayu marries Azmi touches my heart. He was so heartbroken. It makes us wonder the power of love, to think that he was a woman-hater once. He could have any other woman if he wants but he still loves Ayu wholeheartedly. On my way home, I wonder to myself – does hubby love me as much as Kasyah loves Ayu? I know he loves me but the movie just makes me wonder to what extend his love for me is.

For me, Azmi also loves Ayu in his own twisted way though. He conveys his love through anger and violence. There are sadistic men like this out there you know. What I couldn’t fathom is Ayu’s mother’s actions. Why does she jeopardize Ayu’s happiness by forcing her into marrying Azmi?

The soundtrack Bila Cinta is melodious. It heightens the audiences’ concentration and also sets the mood for the movie. Both hubby and I keep humming the melody in our car on our way home. The sceneries shot are beautifully and serenely captured.

In contrast, there are also a few aspects of the film that I don’t like. Well, these are based on my experience. I’m not saying that I’m an expert on film critics….these are just my opinions as a viewer. Some of the plots seem rushes and not portray smoothly. There are also too many subplots crammed into one film. Another thing is that there are too many close up shots of the actors. It makes my visions somewhat asymmetrical when Farid is tall and Lisa on the other hand is short. There are scenes where Farid’s head are only half shown. The most spoilt element is when the director switches the leading lady. The chemistry and the feelings are just not the same. No offense to the new actress!

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All in all, Lagenda Budak Setan depicts a great love between a man and a woman who are willing to sacrifice everything in order to be together.

* Pictures courtesy of Yahoo! Images

Wedding Marathon

Dear Diary,

School holidays were over a week ago. All school going children go back to their schools and resume their education.

During school holidays recently, I was on a wedding marathon. We were invited to 7 weddings. 4 were held in Kelantan, 1 in Seremban, 1 in Subang Jaya and another 1 was in Puncak Alam. It has become a trend nowadays where people like to get married during school holidays.

Imagine all the food that I enjoyed for the past two weeks. The amounts of nasi minyak, meat and manisan that went down my throat and became “spare tyre” make me cringe thinking back. Hubby complains he cannot fit into some of his favorite pants. He starts going back to the gym and swimming again. My two kids also had their fair share of boiled eggs and sweets given as bunga telur. What’s important all the memories shall remain in our hearts.

There are many differences between weddings held in villages and towns, at home and hotel/hall. The feel is just not the same. Each has its own uniqueness and kemeriahan.

I pray all 7 masjid built stay strong forever, the couples calmly face whatever hurdles come their way and they live happily till the end of their lives. Amin….

The Engagement

Dear Diary,

(continued from The Proposal)

1st of April 2001 is another significant date in my life. It was the day I got engaged.

After Asar, Mr. F’s rombongan meminang arrived at my house. The delegation comprised of his family and close family friends. Mr. F was not one of the entourage. His family’s spokesperson initiated the merisik cum meminang process. The discussion was jovial and friendly in manner. Both sides discussed all the important details for example maskahwin, wedding date and hantaran amount after my father accepted the peminangan. After everything was agreed upon, I was led to the main hall.

My emotion was like a roller coaster as I walked the short distance between my bedroom to the living room. I was very shy in my cream colored baju kurung and my face was down most of the time!! I must have been blushing throughout the whole ceremony. I was seated on a tikar sila. Next, Mr. F’s mother slid both my jari manis with a ring. I got two rings; one is a belah rotan for the merisik and another one is a diamond ring (Wow! K.M. Oli Mohamed tau!) for bertunang. She and few of the women then took turns feeding me with a teaspoon of sugar. The next agenda was exchanging of hantaran from both sides. To end the lovely evening, all guests were invited to a delicious buffet outside.

Alhamdulillah, the ceremony went well. I was officially somebody’s fiancé.

ps: to be continued in The Preparations

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Pulau Kapas, Terengganu May 2010

Dear Diary,

Last month, we had a family vacation. My parents in law planned a getaway for the whole family to Pulau Kapas. In the end, it turned out to be like a small family reunion since lots of my husband’s relatives joined the trip. There were 1 family from Kota Bharu, 2 families from Kuantan and 4 families from KL. All in all, there were 29 of us.

We shoot off to Kuantan early in the morning and had lunched at Cik Ngah’s house (my hubby’s aunt). After lunch, we continued our journey to Jeti Pulau Kapas in Marang. The jetty was the meeting point for everybody.

Around 4:30 pm, we boarded a boat and sailed to Pulau Kapas. We stayed at Kapas Island Resort. It was a chalet like resort with many fruit trees. The food was a disappointment for me. They served a variety of dishes but the taste was a bit bland. The barbecue was delicious though.

The guys got to go for candat sotong and had a friendly match of volley ball. As for us ladies and the children, our days were spent mostly at the beach. My children were sunburned after spending their every waking hours frolicking on the beach.

The crystal clear water, white soft sand and breathtaking sunsets made the holiday so much more memorable. There were groups of fishes swimming among us. The mosquitoes were huge! Personally for me, Terengganu beaches are the best and most beautiful in west Malaysia. The best beaches in the whole of Malaysia are in Sabah.

Enjoy the pictures….. ;)

Report Card

Dear Diary,

One week before school closes, I received a memo from my son’s teacher. On the last day of schooling parents are required to go to the kindergarten to collect their children’s report cards. Wow, kindergarten also has report cards now huh. How competitive! A world of difference from my kindergarten days, of course it was decades ago hehe.

On June 4th, my hubby and I went to Imran’s school. I was very nervous and anxious. You see, Imran is a clever boy (according to my standard that is) but he’s playful and careless. A bit lazy sometimes. Hubby laughed at me saying I was overreacting as if I were the one who is getting the results. As a mother maybe I can’t help being overly worried, I guess. Aren’t all mothers like that? I know Imran can excel but it would be a waste if he was careless since our education system emphasizes on academic excellence.

After waiting a while, it was our turn to meet with Miss Wong, the class teacher. First, she explained each exam paper that Imran took, his mistakes and his scores. Like I predicted, most of his mistakes were due to carelessness. I also enquired about his behavior at school and raised my concerns over his Bahasa Melayu’s spelling capability. Miss Wong explained Imran is well behaved (thank God!) and concurred he sometimes have difficulties in spelling. Another weird habit of him is he doesn’t like to be touch by his friends. Hmm, that’s something new. I wonder why it is so. Furthermore, he usually takes about 10 to 15 minutes of “quiet time” every morning before he warms up and starts interacting with everybody else. This one he takes after me hehe.

The highlight of the meeting was the report card. I couldn’t believe my eyes when Miss Wong showed the report card. Imran got 5th in his class and 6th overall. His marks were good. He even scored full mark in some of his subjects. Imran, on the other hand, was a bit disappointed because he didn’t get a trophy. There were trophies for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. He saw two of his friends holding trophies. Never mind dear, you can always try harder next time. There will be yearend exams to look forward to, I consoled him. For me, 5th place is a special gift from him to me.

Tears blurred my vision as I made my way to the car. MAMA IS VERY PROUD OF YOU DEAR!
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The Proposal

Dear Diary,

(continued from The Verdict)

Mr. F gave me a call a day after we came back from KL and we talked as usual. Then, out of the blue he surprised me with a question. 1000 dollar question!!

“What do you say if my parents go to your house?”

Oh my God, was he popping THE question? Was I jumping into conclusions? Was this for real? Was he proposing?????

I didn’t know how I felt at that particular moment. I didn’t know how to response. All sorts of reactions and mixed feelings jumbled up on my mind. Pretending not knowing where the conversation might lead to, I replied, “Sure, no problem. Why can’t they? Tak salahkan ziarah-menziarahi?”

What if I got the wrong impression? It would have been a huge embarrassment for me. Mr. F laughed and casually pursued, “I nak hantar rombongan meminang le. How about they go in two weeks time?”

Speechless and stunned, I stumbled for an answer, “I’ll ask my parents.” I didn’t know what else to say. I was dumbfounded. His question caught me off guard.

After hanging up, I immediately called my parents and told them the news. Well, well, my mother calmly said, “Baguslah. Let them come. They’re welcome.”

It took a while for the news to sink in and it took me a few hours to fathom what was going on. Wow, it was really happening!! Allah has a unique way displaying His blessings on me. When I least expected it and when I was ready to give up on love, something wonderful happened. A GUY PROPOSED TO ME!

To tell the truth, after going out on the first date in KL I’d been performing solat istikharah asking for Allah’s guidance regarding my jodoh. I asked Allah to show me the easier way and make it easy for me if Mr. F is my jodoh. It just felt right this time around. I guess my prayers were answered.

Everything from that day onwards went on smoothly. Both families discussed and agreed for rombongan merisik cum meminang to come to my house on the first of April. April Fool’s day….what a coincidence.

ps: to be continued in The Engagement

* Pictures courtesy of Yahoo! Images

Kelambu

Dear Diary,

When I was tucking in my two angels to sleep last night, I saw a mosquito flying around looking for its victim. I victoriously vanquished that little creature when suddenly a thought crossed my mind. KELAMBU or mosquito net….

Yeah, a piece of cloth (usually white and see-through) that is hanged like a tent in the middle of the room for people to sleep in. I wonder will my kids ever get a chance to see a kelambu or even sleep in one. I haven’t come across a kelambu in a long time. I don’t mean fancy kelambu that is used to decorate bridal’s room nowadays. What I’m talking here is the old fashioned kelambu. Do people even use kelambu in these modern days?

I reminisce my childhood. I used to sleep in kelambu whenever I balik kampung. Windows were even opened to let the night air breezed in. It never failed to bring about a cool and cozy slumber.

Life was so much simpler then. Only minimal need (in some occasions none at all) for aerosol spray or mosquito repellent. Pollution was less and we inhaled better quality air. Those were the good old days….

* Pictures courtesy of Yahoo! Images

The Verdict

Dear Diary,

(continued from The Matchmaking)

One whole day passed by without any questions thrown at me concerning the meeting at City Bayview. Over tea the next day, the adults were anxious to know my verdict of Mr. F. I casually said he looked okay. Well, what else could I say? Not even one word was exchange between us. It would be unfair to give judgment when I hardly knew him. They let out sighs of relieve because they were very afraid I would reject him right away. They said I am a very determined person, if I said no it means no. Whew, at least he still got a chance. Weeks later I found out three couples (my parents, Pak Lang & Mak Lang, Pak Ngah & Mak Ngah) were sleepless the night we came back from Bayview. They were worried I would blow this one off. Well, well, they fell in love with Mr. F at first encounter, liked him very much and loved for him to be part of our family. To my surprise, the feelings were mutual on his side (according to Auntie Lin that is). To give him a fair chance, I suggested to everyone to give us some time to get to know each other before making any conclusion. “Tak kenal maka tak cinta” as the saying goes….

Exactly two weeks after the dinner, a trip to KL was planned by Mak Lang and Auntie Lin to coincide with Mr. F’s family trip to the same destination. Surprise, surprise! After the Bayview dinner, Mr. F and I had been talking through telephone. A friendship was blossoming. Frankly speaking, I like the way he sounded. It looked like a promising start to something special….

The day arrived and KL here we came. We stopped at Tanjung Malim for lunch….at Yik Mun Restaurant which is famous for its pau (its chicken pau is the best for me….marvellous). It also has very tasty mee hailam. These two items are attracting hubby and me to keep coming back here, even that means we have to steer off Plus highway (exit Tanjung Malim).

Mr. F’s father was kind enough to book us rooms at Istana Hotel where his family was also staying. Wow, a bonus! I got to stay at a 5 star hotel. The hotel was superb. All of us had dinner at Parkroyal Hotel. The dinner went well except for all the teases that I had to endure. After dinner, we watched live band performance at the lounge. Since the music was loud and conversation was impossible, Mr. F suggested for the two of us to walk back to Istana Hotel. We had a nice talk walking back to the hotel and the talking continued at Istana’s lounge till wee hours of the night (around 2 am if I am not mistaken). Well, that was the first time for both of us really talked face to face.

When I went up to my room, everybody was still awake waiting for me. So, I had to face a grueling questions and answers session. Mak Lang and Auntie Lin kept pushing me to tell how I felt about this guy. Hellloooo…..do you guys need an answer this very night? At least give me some time to digest this experience. Forgive me…. I didn’t have the answer right away. It was my life and it was a big decision. I knew they wanted to hear that I love Mr. F. All I could say was from everything I was seeing I was starting to like this guy. Very much so….

The next day, Mr. F and I went on a real date. Just the two of us….. First we went to Jusco Bukit Raja. We had lunch (couldn’t remember what we had hehe) and watched a movie. It was Gerak Khas the Movie, a movie by Datuk Yusof Haslam. He even bought a pair of shoes for me. How sweet of him…and that was only the first date. Later, he showed me around UiTM Shah Alam campus. Then, off we went to Sunway Pyramid where we met up with the rest of the group. Only years later I found out the reasons my beloved brought me to Shah Alam and Klang areas on our first date. He didn’t know the roads in KL so much that was why he brought me to places where he was familiar with. He studied in UiTM you see.

At Sunway Pyramid, all of us had dinner at the food court. After dinner, we parted and headed back to Penang.

I WAS ON CLOUD 9…….

ps: to be continued in The Proposal

* Pictures courtesy of Yahoo! Images