Jom Makan! @ Hillside Corner Restaurant, Bukit Antarabangsa (UPDATED)

Salam,

Tonight we were having lunch with Ayah at our usual eating spot. Where else the nearest to home is Hillside Corner, Bukit Antarabangsa. So in this post I will update with other dishes we tried. Unfortunately I didn't manage to get the prices except for the Assam Laksa.

Yes Nana ordered this one:

Assam Laksa

RM 8.90

Nana: It's tasty! The portion is generous too. Yes of course they should, it's RM 8.90 for laksa which the cost of its ingredients are not that much.

Me: Yup it's tasty. Thumbs up.

Nana about to devour her Assam Laksa

Nana's poses for the Assam Laksa ad

Ngaaa!!

Isyy lantok kome la! :p

Ayah just couldn't be bothered but layan je la :p Ha see how I told you that Ayah is currently so into his F1 Racer shirts :)

Fried Rice (Couldn't recall which type)

Me: Ok ok je la, nothing to shout about. Should have ordered the Assam Laksa instead.

Crispy Chicken Wings

Ayah: Ape ke he nya macam terbako je ayam ni? (Why do they look like they are burnt?) A bit over-cooked.

Me: Any chicken is good for me. Yum yum.

Ayat-Ayat Cinta; the best love fiction I've ever discovered so far.

Salam,

Recently (In June, please bear with the system I use to update blog, which is always about a month late) I've watched the Indonesian da'wah movie Ayat-Ayat Cinta (Sentences of Love) after quite a few recommendations from those who have watched it or better yet, have read the novel.


The great novel written by Indonesian author, Habiburrahman El Shirazy. Ya Akhi you're a genius!


I THANK ALLAH FOR GIVING ME THE CONSCIENCE TO WATCH IT.

I am not exagerrating, I truly mean it. By the way I was really glad that I never had the chance to read the novel first, so the movie experience was not spoilt by any previous knowledge about the synopsis. Coming back to the movie, from my perspective, I discovered that the movie was beautifully made, artistic cinematography which mesmerized me and yes definitely effective acting by the actors especially the main character Fahri (played by Fedi Nuril), which touched my emotions bigtime.



An image of my Fahri and I in the future? Wallahua'lam bil sawab :)

Knowing Fahri made me wept profusely in the cinema (in fact, I EVEN CONTINUED WEEPING AT HOME). After knowing Fahri, I just could not help feeling filthy and hideous. Fahri was the portrayal of a very noble Muslim who's so afraid of committing sins. From what I've learnt about the Prophet Muhammad SAW, Fahri resembles many qualities of him and of course as Muslims know our Holy Prophet SAW is the reflection of the Holy Book al-Qur'anul Kareem. Nobody is perfect except The Prophet Muhammad SAW, and yes Fahri portrays a personality which is almost perfect as a human being and more importantly as the servant of Allah SWT.




The gorgeous Fahri (more beautiful on the inside) looking hot in his aviator sunglasses.

The story in the movie (there are many differences comparing to the novel, yes of course I think the filmakers have had done an almost flawless job adapting the novel since it is impossible to squeeze in the whole novel into the normal duration of a movie) is about an Indonesian post-graduate student in the Al-Azhar University, Egypt. Basically the movie revolves around his life as a student, facing all the challenges as an Indonesian in a foreign country. Secretly, he is admired by many gorgeous women, both physically and internally but they all kept their love buried within their hearts without ever telling Fahri. It's just not mere admiration, but all of them has the greatest desire for no other man than Fahri to be their husband. Fahri on the other hand, only knew that he will get married one day insya Allah, but never attempted to commit into any out of marriage relationships or better known as coupling. As a good Muslim he is, he even asked his closest lecturer to keep all the love letters he received from his admirers because he was so afraid to be defeated by temptation and the deceiving whispers of the Satan or Syaitan.

Maria, Fahri's bestfriend secretly loves him.

One day as Allah has fated, he married a woman which was introduced by his closest lecturer. Aisya, a pious Muslimah who's from a Turkish+German+Palestinian mixture, extremely beautiful and wealthy as well. When he tied the knot, many of his admirers felt tortured for their loss. An Indonesian student, Nurul; his Christian (but perhaps more Islamic in character than most Muslim girls by birth) neighbour, Maria Girgis and a neighbour whom was abused by her family, Noura. However Noura could not control her feelings of sorrow took the wrong step by accusing Fahri for raping her when he had rescued her from her abusive family.

Fahri deep in thoughts, wondering who his soulmate as fated by Allah would be.

Now the movie comes into a twist when Maria, who was in a comma due to her ultimate breakdown knowing about Fahri's marriage, would be the only person who could save Fahri from a heavy sanction from the Courts. Aisha, as a wife who loves her husband more than herself perhaps, sacrificed her soul as a woman by requesting Fahri to wed Maria as his second wife in order to wake her up from her comma. Fahri definitely refused but he knew he had no other choice and wed Maria. As the movie goes on, Fahri was acquitted from the accusation and more conflict begun when it revolves around the issue of polygamous marriage in Islam.

His beautiful akad nikah/ solemnization ceremony with Aisha.

I love the movie because it's actually like reading a da'wah book, but it gives it a splash of entertainment by creating these noble characters making us feel that we could relate with these people. The movie highlighted the issues of proper relationship among non-mahram man and woman, bribery, the proper treatment towards non-Muslims who respect Islam, polygamous marriage and how Fahri's love towards Allah exceeds his love towards anyone else. Many times in the novel it is mentioned that Fahri confesses " My first love is Allah, second is The Prophet Muhammad SAW, then my mother, my mother and my mother and finally my father," indeed this is a Sunnah of The Prophet. The issue of Noura slandering Fahri also reminds us of the history of Prophet Yusuf A.S being falsely accused of sexually harrassing Zulaikha, when the truth is Zulaikha wanted the stunning Prophet Yusuf to be hers.

Fahri sobbing in prison while his cellmate told Fahri that he might have been arrogant before this so he shall repent to Allah.

If you read the novel, every statement written by the author about the reality of Islam was consolidated with the verses of Al-Qur'an, Sunnah (traditions of the Prophet) and many opinions of Islamic jurists as his authority. He also narrated his story by including many mesmerizing poems be it from Indonesian poets and Western poets as well. Indeed reading the novel too, makes me smile and cry with Fahri and without doubt makes me fall in love deeper with him.

Maria is now Fahri's wife, and Fahri is falling for her.

As to how the novel changed me into the better I guess, well I just feel more confident that I can survive without committing into any relationship out of wedlock with any guy. I am not against coupling no, because heck I was in many relationships before the last one, but now I am feeling strongly that I don’t have to practice dating and coupling. The current Suraya feels she doesn’t have to be in a relationship with any man till the day she marries insya Allah.

Aisha was heartbroken witnessing the intimacy between both Maria and Fahri, and decided to leave home to attain some tranquility of mind.

Take Fahri for example, he as a man, when he feels strongly that it's the right time for him to get married, by Allah's wonderful ways he discovered an angel to be his wife. So he just proposed her, get married and they started to taste the pleasure of love after being lawful man and wife. They did not risk themselves of committing many sins which most couples would do because the temptation of Syaitan is always there, and most importantly to me they didn't fear the fear of losing the person they love, you know all those what ifs eg. What if I'm not going to marry him/her? What if something bad happen and I am going to lose him/her?

Maria on her last days realizing that by being Fahri's wife, not necessarily mean that she is the one fated by Allah to win Fahri's love.

So as a conclusion, I am trying to make myself busy with my 21.5 credit hours this semester (phew!) and make-up jobs on almost everyday on every weekend (alhamdulillah). Actually there's another role model (I prefer to keep his identity as a secret) besides Fahri that motivates me not to be in a relationship especially while being a student. He's graduated with flying colours and currently busy with his job as well as preparing for his PhD. He's incredibly goodlooking, intelligent, energetic, funny and religious from my observation, and since the days he was pursuing his law degree till now he never had a girlfriend, but I believe this kind of people, they would just get married when they feel that they have found the perfect candidate.

Insya Allah, by praying to Allah constantly my Fahri will one day discover me, he will come to me, propose my hand for marriage from my parents and we'll get married.

As a du'a (prayer) of the Qur'an states in Al-Furqan (The Criterion) verse 74 & 75 go:

And those who pray " Our Lord! Grant unto us wives and offspring who will be the comfort of our eyes, and give us (the grace) to lead the righteous." Those are the ones who will be rewarded with the highest place in heaven, because of their patient constancy; therein shall they be met with salutations and peace.

Amin ya rabbal al-amin.

Di Mana Kedaulatan Bahasa Melayu??? (Where is the sovereignty of the Malay language?)

Salam,

I recently went to Pavillion, Bukit Bintang on Labour Day public holiday (please ignore the date above because I had wrongly saved the draft). Actually I have noticed this on the first time I came to Pavillion and I would like to highlight it in this post.

On my previous post Jom Makan! @ Yoshinoya, Signatures KLCC I have mentioned about how more and more shopping malls, residential areas and condominiums in Kuala Lumpur are registered by using English names instead of Malay names. I mean we live in Malaysia, supposedly we are proud to use our national language to reflect our identity.

Seriously, names such as The Curve, Pavillion, Mid Valley Mega Mall, The Gardens, Star Hill (translation for Bukit Bintang, what for?), Berjaya Times Square (Oh come one this Times Square is nothing near the one in New York I bet) are really bugging me. Why can't we name our malls with Malay names instead? Take Indonesia for example, their shopping places be it the traditional or modern exclusive malls are named using Bahasa Indonesia proudly, regardless whether they might sound funny or not, it's their language so they are proud of it. Names such as Blok M, Mal Kelapa Gading, Mangga Dua, Gelodok, Tanah Abang; well do they sound anything English? Not even Dutch I bet if we want to look back at their history. Even their them park is named as Dunia Fantasi. Why not Fantasy World? The answer is plain and simple; because it's not Indonesian. We must also realize that not only in Indonesia, but as well as in Thailand, Japan, France, Germany and many other European countries, they are all very proud of their language.

Residential areas and condominiums which are erecting nowadays, well just look in KL places named nearby KL Pac for instance; Sentul Park, Sentul East & Sentul West, what's wrong with naming them Taman Sentul, Sentul Timur or Sentul Barat? Hey come on, Sentul is Sentul, I don't think some 'classy' English names could uplift its class. Please. Yes to name more, Beverly Heights (Ya Allah ni lagi perasan) , Platinum Victory, 20 Trees, Armani Damansara (Oh sungguh Itali) well what for? To give a classy feeling? KONON!

Yes back to the photos here, these were snapped at the food court in Pavillion, Food Republic (again again, in English). Check out the photos here to understand more:

The words Food Republic are beaming brightly in blue and white neon lights on an a very dark board giving it a good contrast. You could see the words literally from a mile away.

Next to the Food Republic words, are displayed in a much smaller font are the words 'Medan Selera' which means food court in Malay. Letters in BLACK on an ALMOST BLACK board. Don't you think that they don't even have to put any effort of putting them up. What for?? I think it's just meant to insult Bahasa Melayu which is supposed to be the national language.

Come on, please, DBKL tolonglah buat kerja! Yes for you who have been reading my blog I use English most of the time, the reason is because by using English it would be easier for readers all over the world to discover my talent in make-up. Further more, I write mostly about the attractions in Malaysia especially because I am proud of our culture and heritage, thus by writing in English, indirectly I could promote my beloved Malaysia to the world. However honestly if you meet me in person, I am a person who speaks Malay most of the time, because it is my mothertongue. Bahasa menunjukkan bangsa kan?

Yes another thing I would like to point out is dedicated to our respected leaders especially our Prime Minister, Pak Lah. He was the one whom launched the opening of Pavillion, well if I were him I would instantaneously asked the administrators of Pavillion to change its name. Unfortunately, even on the news Pak Lah speaks English when he is interviewed (sadly he is always asked by the reporters in Bahasa Melayu). It is very painful to see him speaking in English, while Bahasa Melayu is communicated by the translations at the lower part of the screen.

How ironic, is MALAY the SECOND LANGUAGE in MALAYsia?

Seriously I hope that we would not turn out to be the next Singapore nauzubillahi min zalik. By protecting the sovereignty of our language, in a way it means we as Malays are protecting our rights in other matters as well.

Renungkanlah, memang Melayu takkan hilang di dunia, tapi apa guna kalau sifat-sifat keMelayuan itu lenyap dari jiwa bangsa kita? Tak guna kalau jadi Melayu kalau kita hilang jati diri kita dan masih dijajah mindanya. Renungkanlah saudara-saudaraku yang tersayang terutamanya para pemimpin. Celikkanlah mata, celikkanlah hati.

Peter Pan's Concert @ Stadium Negara (Sunday, 27th April 2008)

Salam,

This is the treat I told you my beloved cousin, Kak Nurul was giving us. She treated both my sis and I for Peter Pan's concert for their recent Malaysian tour. I am a fan of Peter Pan's songs especially..oh so many to mention because many of them have been dedicated to me by the few men in my life. Hahaha, ok I'm not a playgirl but just that it's a coincident that they chose Peter Pan's songs to dedicate to me. I love them all, I mean the songs hehe, and the songs which have been special in my heart are Tak Bisakah, Ada Apa Denganmu, Mungkin Nanti, Tentang Kita, Mimpi Yang Sempurna, Ku Katakan Dengan Indah and the most special one I guess is Menunggumu. *sigh* Well you know who you are who have burnt them in a mixed CD for me, and of course for those who have sang them to me. I will not forget a single thing :)

My ticket

Ok now Sue don't get all emotional coz you know you'll be all teary-eyed in no time. Ok back to the concert, yes I watched Peter Pan live before at their Hari Yang Cerah showcase at Ruums, KL. Back then the album was just newly released so the new songs were unfamiliar to me, so tonight it should be better because I know more of their latest songs.

So after I finished my theatre training, I went home to fetch my sis and rushed to Kak Nurul's house. I didn't even have time to bathe and I couldn't even be bothered to put on any fresh make-up so just imagine how smelly I was, and of course unattractive would be understating my appearance at that time. :p

Kak Nurul's hot hubby (Ok Kak Nurul, yes Abang AJ is hot :p) sent us to the stadium. It was funny and adorable looking at my nieces, Misha and Minda telling their mummy, "Mama be sure that you won't come home late!" in a bossy way.

Kak Nurul and Nana all excited for the concert

With our busy manager :p

We sat at the RM 35 tickets area. I was really glad though because I was too tired to be among the standing crowd. I just wanted to enjoy some good live music with my loved ones here. It's always fun to hang out with Kak Nurul because despite the fact that she's the eldest female cousin in the family, she's the youngest at heart (Ok it's a tie with my sis Nana) and she's damn hillarious.

Well, Nitrus was the first opening act. They performed alright and I think the frontman has a good control of his vocals.

However I was screaming my lungs out when Hujan appeared on stage, and of course when the tune of my favourite jam Aku Skandal was played. In fact I was more excited to watch Hujan more than Peter Pan. Oh my God, Noh is not really like drop-dead gorgeous but his charisma on stage, man, I was just speechless. His boyish bowl-cut hair, over long fringe covering his eyes just made my eyes glued on him. And man, he was the SEXIEST everytime he shook his head to the back quickly to remove his hair a bit from covering his eyes too much. I screamed everytime he did that. Haha talk about exploding female hormones inside. Istighfar banyak-banyak Sue.. gugur iman kang :p

Another thing which was awesome about Hujan, ok about Noh again, his gruffy vocals really cut-through the music. Awesome. I love Hujan's energy, they jumped up and down really high on stage like Energizer bunnies haha. They, especially Noh reminded me of the showmanship of MY Duta from Sheila On 7 (hehe, forever and ever!) and Armand from Gigi. You know, their high effort to be incredibly energetic makes u feel worth it to buy tickets for their performances. Also I was proud that AG from Coco as one of the sessionist in Hujan, ok I don't know him personally but he was one of the back-up vocals when I performed with Waheeda on Pentas Idola in 2006. Kalau tak silap it was him. It's amazing to see that Hujan is really doing well now, and for those who said that they are demanding, I opine that they have the right to demand for their rights. If they deserve to be well-paid so do that. Please treat our local bands with more dignity, respect and acknowledgment. Stop paying too much for foreign acts especially Indonesian artistes when they are just known by one or two hit single.

And to Hujan, jangan sombong noo... :)

Yup now Peter Pan appeared. Mula la peminat-peminat fanatik Indon makin meghoyan. Adoii. The fanatic Indonesian fans from the RM 35 seats jumped down like cavemen to the RM 70 tickets area without any care. However, the RELA men really guarded well because they were facing the audience sitting instead of facing the stage. It was satisfying when I saw the bouncers pushed those intruders back up to where they belong. Yes we should be strict with this kind of people. Funny thing was when I remarked, 'Whoa, diorang lompat jauh tu." (Whoa they jumped really far.) Kak Nurul in a cool tone just said, " Sue lagi kan dari seberang diorang boleh naik bot ke sampai berenang, takde mende je lompat takat jauh tu." (Sue, even from across the ocean managed to enter Malaysia by boat and even swam, that kind of jump is nothing to them.) Haha true that.

Some of the fanatic fans, well I call them the rambut gondrong ones, some have taken off their shirts which was annoying of course. Fortunately at my area, all the fans were really cool and calm and remained seated without going overboard. Even the two Indonesian guys seated next to me were kind of cute and kept recording the concert using their phones. They were even a bit started looking at Kak Nurul and Nana being more hysterical than them :p

One thing which still remains as a curiosity in our minds is the phrase 'Baru Kelintheng!' written on most of the Indon guys' T-Shirts and gigantic banners they brought. We kept wondering what does it mean, Kak Nurul assumed that it means 'Baru la rock kot..' haha. So any Indonesian here perhaps, what does it mean actually?

As for Peter Pan's performance, the music was awesome. Disappointingly, the sound system was a bit upsetting because we kept hearing Ariel's voice kept breaking. Like it was not smooth and clear. Or was it just his vocals? Hmm since Noh's was excellent. Though I think it must be the sound system because Ariel's face looked from time to time like he was disturbed with it and kept fixing his earplug.

Ariel's communication skills were still at the same level, kept saying 'Are you having fuuunn???' and kept dedicating most of the songs to his mantan-mantan pacar gue (to my ex lovers.. haha an obvious player). Yeah, another thing I noticed about Ariel's performance was that he kept 'giving' the mic to the audience and asked the audience to sing along with him at the first few verses of his songs, when it comes to almost the end, then only he would really sing by himself. Haha yes another thing that made us tickled was Ariel kept saying "Ok ayuh kita lanjutttt!" meaning let's continue. It's just that he said that too many a time that we couldn't help laughing.

By the way, for the fanatic audience that were really all out enjoying themselves especially the Indonesian blue collar workers in Malaysia, I understand why they were really acting all hysterical. Perhaps this was the only night where they could really, I mean really release all the stress they're facing due to over-loaded work, financial problems or whatever problems they were facing. So I was glad that they really enjoyed themselves. Just as long as they didn't cause any nuisance at the concert.

In fact, at one of the constructions sites near MRR 2 nearby home, I saw on the wall of one of the huts the workers live in there, there's a poster of that Peter Pan's concert. I would just smile thinking that we were at the same concert, enjoying ourselves to the max. :)

And oh yes, Makasih banyak ya Kak Nughul! :)

Checking out Koi Fish @ Sentul Park Koi Centre (Sunday, 27th April 2008)

Salam,

After we left Berjaya Times Square, I went to KL Pac for my Children's Theatre training. Dayana accompanied me since she wanted to check out the place. So she patiently waited for me for an hour while snapping photos of me teaching the students with Ms. Nala Nantha and Lawrence. Thanks Dayana!

Muka dah macam belacan and darker after the exhausting treasure hunt. With my adorable students during their cookie break; from left: Lavynia, Dawn & Grace.

Now Lawrence was playing us the Toy Land story CD while we listened intensely.

I was the Giant among the lot.

Now we are acting out the Toy Land story.

Fly!!! We are Gliders now kids!!

Before the class ended, we danced the Hockey Pockey Dance.

You put your wholeselves outttt...sloowww motiooonnn kids...

And now you put your wholeselves in fast! And shake it all about!!! Yay! :p

After the class has ended, I brought Dayana to the Sentul Park Koi Centre which is located in the same compound of KL Pac. In fact it is only at the opposite of KL Pac so we just had to walk there.

Tada! A traditional Japanese restaurant hiding behind its gates. I love the beautiful green landscape here.

Dayana poses next to the pond.

Now it's my turn.. still trying to pose soberly.

Beautiful (and of course pricey I bet) Koi fish in the pond. Well the Koi Centre breeds the Koi fish for sale. Mostly Chinese purchase this fish because they believe that Koi fish brings luck and prosperity. By the way, the traditional Japanese garden is just picturesque.

Ok so here is the place where the centre breeds the Koi. The technology they use is quite modern to my opinion. By the way, the workers there were really proud when they saw us admiring the Koi fish. Indeed good job you guys :)

Ok it's Dayana posing again in front of the restaurant.

Yes yes it's me again.

Well well, we found some big rocks positioned as an artwork at an area nearby the pond. Now Dayana is giving some manja pose haha :p

Ok now I know we're too tired to care, now Dayana pretends to be some sort of a warrior being cautious of any coming enemies.

Yup me too! Any rival coming towards our direction here Dayana???

My day doesn't end here. Not yet. My cousin Kak Nurul is giving my sis and I a treat. Next post please!