MOVIE REVIEW 27 - "KUNGFU PANDA 2"

This is the ONE movie that I know I MUST watch this year. The sequel to the first movie of the same title, the journey of Po the Panda warrior continued. This time, however, there was an inner conflict in Po that disturbed him so much. It took Po quite some time to realize that he was an adopted child to his father, a goose and he wondered who his parents were. Thus he started searching, met his ultimate enemy and in the end, found the inner peace, "at such a young age" (Master ShiFu) and he did find out who he really was.

If you like comedy and action and positive values, all-in-one, this IS the movie. It guarantees laughter as well as tears for the soft-hearted ones. I don't mind watching it for the second time, really. I do hope there will be "Kungfu Panda 3"coming after this.

MY STUDENTS AND I DURING TEACHERS' DAY CELEBRATION IN SCHOOL

Better late than never. Here are the photos of my students and I during the Teachers' Day celebration in school. Just look at those happy faces :)

And hopefully I can upload another entry related to the same theme soon.

MOVIE REVIEW 26 - "NUR KASIH THE MOVIE"

So I went to watch "Nur Kasih The Movie" and this was actually a family outing with my sisters, brother-in-law and niece. Now you know the reason why.

To understand this film, you must have the background knowledge of the drama series on television of the same title, or at least the three main characters: Nur Amina, Aidil and Adam. This time, there was more turbulence in the husband-wife relationship and it was magnified by the many flashbacks and flash-forward that at times got me confused. The ending was a bit of a surprise when we were all expecting for Adam to die, but something else happened instead.

The setback: the movie was quite slow and I kept checking my wristwatch, hoping that it could go faster. A must watch for "Nur Kasih" die-hard fans and there are many beautiful scenes shot, especially the ones in Jordan. Now I have to go to Jordan for a holiday.

Anyway, I have supported the local movie industry. Have you?

BOOK REVIEW 14: CECILIA AHERN'S "P.S. I LOVE YOU"

This is one of the 3 books of a box set that I got. The story is about the protagonist, Holly, whose husband died of a brain tumour. [I thought this kind of thing only happens in Malay dramas.] Being a loving husband, before his death, he had left holly notes which had to be opened each month. So Holly's life was in a way controlled by his late husband's instructions written in the notes. Holly's life, which was surrounded by her beloved friends and family members, was narrated and she was having the problem of overcoming the grief of her husband's death. Then, in the end, when she was ready to love again, with the man he had met, everything went wrong when he decided to get back to his ex-wife. Damn! (Pardon my language) Aren't we having enough suffering and devastation in life. I was expecting a happy ending.

I better start reading her second book now, hope there is a better future ahead for everybody.

FAREWELL GATHERING FOR MR. YONG

I went to attend a farewell gathering for Mr. Yong who retired last two weeks. He was the Senior Assistant of the Afternoon Session of SMK Damai Jaya. The gathering was organized by the Majlis Perhubungan PK Petang Johor Bahru. Too bad, not many turned up, most probably it was already the mid term school holiday or people were attending wedding receptions. Anyway, it was not easy to get everybody to be present and we had a proper sending off event on behalf of our other afternoon supervisors.

It must be nice to retire, then you can stay home and do whatever things you want to do. Still a long way to go for me. *sigh*

OUT FOR A STEAM-BOAT SESSION

This is another planned outing with the boys, the SPM 2010 batch, before they all go their separate ways. Their choice: steamboat place at Dataran Bandaraya Johor Bahru.

I must confess that I am not that adventurous enough when it comes to eating out as this was my first time here. Basically what you will get will be lots of processed food, like fish cakes and fish balls, which you have to choose from the rows and rows of plates filled with food on sticks of coconut leaves, until the end you will end up being indecisive of what to eat. Your food sticks will then be dipped in hot water and there you are, it is ready to be eaten with chili sauce.

The meal was simple but good for a change once in a while, dinner without rice. Now I have another option of where to bring my friends who come visiting.

Thanks to all the boys and thanks for the treat, and good luck at your new learning institutions and I hope we can do this when you come back home during the holidays. It is always a pleasure to have people who are really friendly and kind to their teacher and that makes you all special and different from the rest.
*NOTE:
HANIF: this posting is longer than the one on the KFC session. Hope you are happy :)

MEETING ANOTHER EX-SCHOOLMATE

23rd May 2011 - I got excited when Mr. Zulfakrozi buzzed and told me that he was in JB. Another ex-schoolmate from SMS Muar, a classmate to be precise, the last time I met him should be way back in 1986. He could not make it for the reunion we had the day before so we decided to have our own mini reunion.

The time spent was too short so we hoped to see each other again some other time, especially if he is here in JB.

I guess one of these days I will write about my experience living in a boarding school for two years. I have found my lives there horrible but never did I expect so many people were sharing the same view. But for one thing, I am thankful to have some wonderful friends who had made the suffering bearable. So make sure you do not miss it.

SMS MUAR'S BUDIMAN CLASS OF '86 FIRST REUNION

22 May 2011 - This was the very first attempt to get people from Budiman class of 1986 from Sekolah Menengah Sains Muar to be reunited. Again, thanks to Facebook as well as my friends' determination to search for long lost classmates. So the date and venue were booked and hopes were set high to see familiar faces not in cyberspace but in real life.

The early birds started the ball rolling

The guests started arriving at Holiday Villa in Subang Jaya at a slow rate. Then only I realized that how I had missed all my dear classmates so much. The last time I met a few of them was back in 1986. We are all too busy with our lives that we seldom have the chance to reminisce the old good (or bad) time. I found that majority did not change much, physically or in character despite the many years we were separated. But they were amused by the way I have grown taller. I have told you, when I was in school I was just a small sized kid.

the door gift from Mr. Shamsul Akmal

catching up lost time

We had about 5 hours to catch up lost time which was definitely not enough. This however calls for another similar event in the future, hoping to get more people to join in.

Thank you to those who have been working hard to organize this event directly. And thanks a lot to these people for coming to our first gathering ever: (1) Abdul Razak Sapian (2) Shamsul Akmal Shamsuddin (3) Caroline Koh (4) Noryazed Ahmad Jun (5) Rahim Jamian (6) Ahmad Fadilah Md. Aris (7) Halijah Othman (8) Radiah Othman (9) Hafizah Mohd Noor (10) Sapura Md Salehan (11) Siti Zubaidah Ramanoon (12) Mazhaazlinda Harun. We will meet again in the near future, for sure. This was just only the beginning.

TESL CLASS OF '93 GATHERING AT ROYALE CHULAN

21st May 2011 - Another get together for the UPM TESL class of '93 and this time we rocked the Royale Chulan in Kuala Lumpur. Thanks to the organizer for all the effort: Puan Rozana Sani and Puan Rozida Mohd. Ramli to get us back together again. We were also welcoming two friends who came home from Hawaii and Germany for their short holidays.

the early birds, spending our time wisely

a booked table, a place mat and there was a door gift this time

delicious, delicious food

There was no specific agenda. As people arrived, there were lots and lots of handshakes and hugs. We simply took all the food available, sat at our table and ate and talked and laughed, and took photographs, a lot of them. And this process would repeat itself in a cyclical manner right until the waiter had no choice but to shoo us away at 4:00 p.m.

someone brought along her husband

... and someone his son

my BFF

another group photo

with all the men after one had left earlier

And if you wonder, why were there only a few men around, that was the way it was when we were in UPM - the ladies outnumbered the guys at the ratio of 1:12, approximately.

the ultimate group photo shoot at our favourite place - the stairs

We spent four hours there but it seemed so short. But not to worry, I am quite sure there will always be another gathering coming its way.

So thank to all these people who have made my day: (1) Zefri Yusof (2) Shazreen Mohd Shah (3) Fairuz Leman (4) Muzli Mohd Zain (5) Rozana Sani Abdullah Sani (6) Rozida Mohd Ramli (7) Aliza Alwi (8) Norhasni Yaacob (9) Hayati Ismail (10) Mariati Salleh (11) Sharifah Aishah Osman (12) Hanita Kassim (13) Marina Tamrin (14) Fauziah Abd Rahim (15) Maslinda Mohd Dahalan (16) Salmiah Mohd Ghazali (17) Suzanni Amin Leembruggen (18) Adila Ahmad (19) Hazlina Aziz (20) Siti Khadijah Bietz (21) Anita Abd Rahman (22) Zarina Ibrahim. So including me, there were 23 people who turned up this time, should be the merriest ever [excluding the one we had in Holiday Villa many, many years back]. I wonder whether we could have many more to come in the future get together.