Friday, November 25, 2005

Shock Shock! Horror Horror!

Why oh why can’t Malaysians make a decent horror movie? I mean is it really that hard?
I went to watch Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam 2 (“PHSM2”) starring the lovely Maya Karin as Meriam/Maria, Ida Nerina, Kavita Sidhu and Rosham Nor last night. Btw, I am not going to write a review about the movie because it’s just not worth my time. Actually, I couldn’t even if I wanted to because there’s just too many characters and even I get confused with some of them like which one is the Pontianak and which one is the daughter of the Pontianak. It’s the sequel to the 1st Pontianak movie whereby it was supposed to explain what happened to Meriam’s child i.e. Maria and who she really was. Remember the story people used to tell you that if you want to see a Pontianak take her human form then u gotta stick a nail behind her neck? Well, you can see how it is done in the movie.
I went with my parents and my 6 cousins, eldest being 16 years old and youngest is 7. My parents don’t ask for much, they prefer I occasionally take them out to watch any new Malay movie that is showing in the cinema, the last one being Anak Mami Kembali during recent Hari Raya holidays. Basically my dad will watch anything that has to do with Penang people or Penang dialect. So anyway, there we were in the cinema and the opening scene itself had my cousins jumping out of their seat. It showed the Pontianak @ banshee shrieking while flying and landed on the roof of a car terrorising the passengers. I think Maya Karin’s portrayal as the Pontianak was commendable. That’s about the only good thing I can say about the movie i.e. Maya Karin’s acting. The storyline was disjointed and the script was really bad. Most of the time I couldn’t make sense of the story and it was not even scary!! The thing is, if you’re a fan of Maya Karin and wanna see her in her scary make-up, donning the white robe and flying all over the place then go see the movie. But if you are expecting to see like a real horror movie then forget it. You might as well watch Skeleton Key or The Exorcism of Emily Rose. At least THAT one is a true story.
I have always been a fan of horror movies. When I was small about 7 years old, my parents brought me to the cinema to see my first Indonesian horror movie called Dukun Lintah. OHMYGOD!!! Now THAT was scary. I had nightmares for a very long time. I couldn’t sleep alone because I was imagining them leeches coming at me. Every night I would knock on my parents’ door and begged them to let me sleep with them on the bed. It got so bad that I would even daydream about them leeches. My mom had to tell me everyday that the leeches were not real and made of rubber and wouldn’t hurt anyone. She also had to repeatedly tell me that there was no such person that would go around summoning leeches and targeting them at people they hate and that I would be safe as there are no leeches in the city. She said leeches could only be found in the paddy field. To this day I still shudder by the mere mention of that movie or leeches for that matter. Ooohh…remember Sunderbolong (like Pontianak but scarier)? It’s about this pregnant woman who was raped and murdered by 5 men who broke into her house while her husband was out of town on business. So this woman became a Sunderbolong and hunted the men who had wronged her and killed every single one of them. I watched that movie when I was in my teens and I can still remember that scene where she gobbled like 100 sticks of satay together with the gravy and everything would just come out again from her back. Euwwww…that was gross but scary nonetheless! Indonesians make the best horror movies I think. Maybe it’s because their movies are mostly about black magic. Even the Korean ones like The Eye or The Cello or The Phone or the Japanese’s Ring-O and Ju-On fail in comparison. The Thais are also making more horror movies like Nang Nak (Nakkk…Nakkk…Nakkk. Argh!! So damn annoying!) and of course Shutter (Holy Shit!! This story was really scary. I slept with the lights on for 3 days after watching the dvd and had begged my brother to leave his 6 month old son to sleep with me and keep me company. I kid you not!).
So anyway, back to PHSM2, Malaysians have a long way to go before we could be at par with the Indonesians or the Koreans in terms of making good horror movies. Maybe because I have been watching them since I was small that I am now immune to them. Nothing scares me anymore. Hmm…well, lemme correct that. Scary movies don’t scare me anymore. Must be careful when you say something like this. I don’t want the real “thing” to suddenly appear and scare the living daylights out of me!!!

Thursday, November 24, 2005

What's Done Is Done, Right?


Dammit!! Arghhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! I’ve been such a terrible friend!! I feel sooooooooooo guilty!! Last night, out of the blue one of my ex-schoolmates sent me this text message (and I didn’t even know I had her number can you believe it?),

“Hello Sher, just wanted to know how you were doing. I’m doing okay. Heard from N that you buat open house last weekend. Ooohh tak jemput kita pun. U forgot about lil ol’ me, didn’t you? :-) Just wanted to wish you Selamat Hari Raya and Maaf Zahir Batin. Take Care. Regards, S.”


I just came back home from watching Harry Potter & The Gobs of Fire at GSC 1 Utama when I saw that message. *Gulp*. I thought I did invite her. Didn’t I? Oh damn maybe I didn’t! But we weren’t so close anyway so would she really terasa not getting an invitation? S is good friends with N. Why oh why didn’t N extend the invitation to S? I mean I am not really particular who comes to my house anyway. I text N back and told her that I am sorry that I didn’t invite her but it wasn’t on purpose. It’s just that I totally forgot coz I’m old and all. Then I text N and asked her why she didn’t invite S to the house (errmm, not trying to shift the blame here but they are good friends so N must have mentioned about my open house to S). A few seconds later, N replied and said that it was inappropriate for her to invite S coz it was my open house and not hers. Mana boleh simply invite anyone she said. Seriously, I don’t mind at all. It’s Hari Raya anyway and the more the merrier I told her. Argh! Drama at 1.30 in the morning la pulak. N then said that she did mention about my open house to S but S said she doesn’t feel right going since she wasn’t invited. Okay, so I guess me and her haven’t reached that level yet. That level where we can just go to a friend’s house uninvited and raid their fridge.


Sigh. What’s done is done. But I felt really crummy last night. I was so careful not to leave out anyone when I sent out the invitation. Guess I wasn’t careful enough. From her sms, S didn’t sound like she was angry that I didn’t invite her, did she? I mean can you get angry at someone for not inviting you over to their house for makan-makan? Wanted to call her back last night but it was too late already. Maybe I should call her today and explain. Think I should? Arghhhhhhhhhh!!!! Nak balik tido la macam nih!

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Joke of The Day


A friend just forwarded this joke and it cracked me up. Mostly coz some of it are so true!

21st CENTURY LIFE LESS


Our communication - Wireless
Our business - Cashless
Our telephone - Cordless
Our cooking - Fireless
Our youth - Jobless
Our religion - Creedless
Our food - Fatless
Our faith - Godless
Our labour - Effortless
Our conduct - Worthless
Our relation - Loveless
Our attitude - Careless
Our feelings - Heartless
Our politics - Shameless
Our education - Valueless
Our Follies - Countless
Our arguments - Baseless
Our commitment - Aimless
Our life - Meaningless
Our bosses - Hopeless
Our Salary - Very less !!!!!!!


=========================================

Why, Why, Why

Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are getting weak? (hahaha…this one is very true!)



Why do banks charge a fee on "insufficient funds" when they know there is not enough?


Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?


Why doesn't glue stick to the bottle?


Why do they use sterilized needles for death by lethal injection? (yeah, coz it wouldn’t make any difference anyway)


Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?


Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks when you throw a revolver at him?


Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?


Whose idea was it to put an "S" in the word "lisp"?


If people evolved from apes, why are there still apes?


Why is it that no matter what color bubble bath you use the bubbles are always white?


Is there ever a day that mattresses are not on sale?


Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something new to eat will have materialized?


Why do people keep running over a string a dozen times with their vacuum cleaner, then reach down, pick it up, examine it, then put it down to give the vacuum one more chance?


Why is it that no plastic bag will open from the end on your first try?


How do those dead bugs get into those enclosed light fixtures?


When we are in the supermarket and someone rams our ankle with a shopping cart then apologizes for doing so, why do we say, "It's all right?" Well, it isn't all right, so why don't we say, "That hurt, you stupid idiot?"


Why is it that whenever you attempt to catch something that's falling off the table you always manage to knock something else over?


In winter why do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we complained about the heat?


How come you never hear father-in-law jokes?
And my FAVORITE......



The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four persons is suffering from some sort of mental illness. Think of your three best friends -- if they're okay, then it's you.

MARI BELAJAR BAHASA MAT REMPITS PART 1


Kona baring = lowering your body while taking a sharp turn. It is suppose to defy the laws of gravity or some s**t like that


Wa caya sama lu = I dig you/u are alright


Perghhh! = Wooooh!


Hampeh = Useless


Fullamakatak = Goodness gracious (or smthing like that)


Lu pehal mamat = What’s wrong with you, man


Mat Skodeng = Peeping tom


Blahlah Lu = get out of my face


And of course my personal favourite would be :


JAWA PON JAWA LAH, JANJI ROCK!!

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Does Friendship Lasts Forever?

Sigh…Today has not been a productive day at all. Came to work, had breakfast and called a few people then surfed the net for few hours. Have you ever experienced those days when you just don’t feel like doing anything? Work is piling up but you’re just not motivated enough to do it? Yeah, yeah I know people say you gotta love what you do or else you’re gonna be miserable and you wont function as efficiently as you should have. I don’t hate my job. I have a “love-sometimes annoyed” relationship with my job.

Ever wondered how it would be like if we don’t have to work at all but getting paid handsomely every month? Able to go for long holidays and get to pamper yourself by going to the spa and at the same time shop till you drop. I’m not someone who would whine about how her job sucks coz God knows I hate whiners. I have a friend, let’s call her Miss R who kept telling me she’s too busy to meet up because she has a lot of work to do. I can understand that her job is pretty demanding coz she’s in Marketing. But I mean seriously, are there people out there who worked from sunrise to sunset and not have time to socialize at all? I can understand if occasionally you’ve been given a special project by your boss then you have a deadline and you’re suppose to finish the project within the time given but do you get special projects like that everyday? Can’t you at least spare half an hour with a friend over a cuppa?


Anyway what bugs me about Miss R is that whenever she has a problem be it with her boss or with her bf, she expects me to drop everything and tend to her emotional needs. And I would always be there for her, at 3am with a cup of hot tea and box of tissue nursing her wounded heart. And when she is emotionally well again, she forgets about me. Maybe I am too nice. Maybe my shoulders are too broad that everyone feels that they can just come cry on it anytime it suits them. Thinking that we’ve been friends since secondary school (that’s a looooooooooong time, heh…), I would always call her up to ask how she was doing. Every time I called her, she would say how much she misses me and that we HAVE to catch up real soon. Every time I make the plan she would agree to it and then 20 mins prior to meeting up, she would call me and apologise profusely that she has to cancel. EVERY TIME. So, after so many last minute cancellations, I just don’t bother anymore. If she wants to see me then she would call and I would be more than happy to meet up with her. However, that rarely ever happens unless she’s in need of an emotional support, which of course then she would call.


Another friend, H told me that you gotta cut off toxic friends like this. How could I? We’ve been friends for more than 15 years!! But I cant be the only one that treasures this friendship. H is right I suppose. I have to slowly let go. That’s the only way not to get hurt. That’s the only way to make Miss R realize that she cant take friendship for granted…not anymore…